Collective consciousness

Collective consciousness refers to the shared beliefs and moral attitudes which operate as a unifying force within society. This term was used by the French social theorist Émile Durkheim (1858-1917) in his books The Division of Labour (1893), The Rules of Sociological Method (1895), Suicide (1897), and The Elementary Forms of Religious Life (1912).

In The Division of Labour, Durkheim argued that in "traditional" or "simpler" societies (those based around clan, family or tribal relationships), religion played an important role in uniting members through the creation of a common consciousness (conscience collective in the original French). In societies of this type, the contents of an individual's consciousness are largely shared in common with all other members of their society, creating a mechanical solidarity through mutual likeness. As societies develop and become increasingly individualised, the organisation of the division of labour replaces this with an organic solidarity, displacing the need for collective consciousness. With this diminishing of the collective consciousness, individuals are left open to anomie, the lack of a sense of shared values and an increasing sense of purposelessness.

Other uses of the term
The term "collective consciousness" is also referred to in Sahaja Yoga as an outcome of meditation and "self-realization."

Various forms of what might be termed "collective consciousness" in modern societies have been identified by other sociologists, going from solidarity attitudes and memes to extreme behaviors like groupthink or herd behavior. It has developed as a way of describing how an entire community comes together to share similar values.