Emile Durkheim and Karl Marx Over time, sociologists have studied our social behaviors and developed theories to explain those behaviors. Two of the best-known sociologists are Emile Durkheim and Karl Marx. One of the most important things that they both studied and that we looked at in class is capitalism and the division of labor and how it affects the individual and the collective. Although their ideas were different, they each presented evidence to prove their theories on this topic. Emile Durkheim, French sociologist, philosopher and social psychologist is considered one of the "fathers" of social sciences and sociology. He attended the University of Paris and the University of Bordeaux, where he studied social sciences. As a college student, I work at the Kroger Deli, which is a very task-oriented job. Some days can get very busy not only waiting for customers, but also unloading orders that come in from the places we buy our products from, producing different types of food, working a cash register, and still maintaining a clean workplace. In this type of work environment, it is essential to have multiple workers present to ensure tasks get done. Basically, in our department, we have a division of labor in a microcosm where we all have to put in a certain amount of time and effort so we can get a paycheck every week. Of course there are problems that come with people working together as a collective to get things done, but most of the time it creates a sense of social belonging. This may depend on who is working that day and what kind of worker they are, but I believe there are good and bad works in every job. He worked closely with a famous German thinker, Friedrich Engels and wrote several books and different ideas about society and their findings on social topics. Marx's ideas on capitalism and the division of labor were opposite to those of Durkheim. Being a conflict theorist, he argued that the division of labor caused several problems that affected both the individual and the collective, such as recurring crises in the economy and alienation. He said it would create inequality between social groups because of how the system works. Marx focused on change and how changing certain aspects of society could improve the way it works so that it is fair to everyone. According to Marx, social life originates in material life and progress lies in the transformations of material life and that change is driven by contradictions. This includes both material and intellectual life, prosperity and prosperity