In a world where everything feels so scattered—like a Bukowski novel, where the pieces are glued together with broken dreams and cheap whiskey—there exists a framework that ties it all together.

Not in a grand, shiny, overblown, Hollywood sort of way. No, it’s subtler than that, more insidious even.

It’s the framework of society itself.

Émile Durkheim’s theory of social facts suggests that culture is not just some abstract collection of ideas we pick up like a thrift store sweater.

No, culture is alive, autonomous, and far more controlling than we care to admit.

We’re not just victims of our own choices; we’re puppets to invisible strings, designed not by some higher power, but by society itself.

The Autonomy of Society: A Double-Edged Sword

In Durkheim’s vision, society is not just a group of individuals coming together in some fragile contract to uphold common values.

No. Society is a self-sustaining entity—an autonomous force with its own authority and rules, operating completely outside the control of any one individual.

Society is not merely a backdrop to our individual lives; it is a powerful force that dictates the very rules we live by, whether we recognize it or not.

It’s almost as if society is alive, breathing, expanding, suffocating us with its rules and norms.

This might sound a bit overdramatic, but for Durkheim, this concept was foundational.

Social facts—the norms, values, and structures that govern our behavior—are autonomous because they exist independently of the individual.

Imagine them as the weather: you can’t change it, but you can damn well be sure it will change your plans.

The Social Facts That Rule Us

What exactly are social facts?

Well, they’re the norms that shape society, invisible to the naked eye, but far more powerful than anything tangible.

These facts guide our behavior, our expectations, and even our desires. They are not created by us, nor are they dependent on us for existence.

They exist in the collective consciousness of society, passed down through generations, embedded into the fabric of our social structures.

Take the rules of politeness.

Do you ever wonder why you’re supposed to say “please” and “thank you” when asking for something?

Or why eating with your mouth open is frowned upon in almost every culture?

These are the social facts Durkheim is talking about. We follow them without thinking, and we get uncomfortable when someone doesn’t.

We’re not born with these rules in our head; they are programmed into us by society.

And yet, we don’t challenge them, not because we’re brainwashed—but because they’re invisible and we’re too absorbed in our own individual dramas to question them.

Table 1: Examples of Social Facts

Social Fact	Explanation
The Workweek	Society mandates that work is done in specific time slots, typically Monday to Friday, 9am to 5pm.
Gender Expectations	There are socially constructed norms about how men and women should behave, dress, and express themselves.
Education System	Formal education is necessary to obtain any meaningful job, an ingrained belief across cultures.
Religious Rituals	Rituals, like prayer or fasting, are expected in certain faiths, often regardless of personal belief.

We’re Always Following, Never Leading

Here’s where it gets really dark, like reading John Fante on a rainy night, drowning in existential despair: social facts are subconscious.

We’re not consciously aware that we’re following the rules set by society; in fact, many times we’re so far removed from it that we believe we’re making our own choices.

Society imposes these norms upon us, and we internalize them without questioning. We don’t ask, “Why do I feel weird when someone cuts in line?”

We just feel it, and the feeling is enough to make us abide by the rule.

It’s automatic, like breathing. You don’t consciously tell yourself to inhale, right? You just do it.

When you walk into a room and instinctively take off your shoes, or you don’t speak out of turn at a formal dinner, those are the invisible forces of society taking control.

The sad part? You never asked for them. They just are.

Social Effervescence

In his work on religion, Durkheim made a fascinating claim. He argued that social facts, though generally subconscious, come to life during moments of social effervescence.

Think of a football game where everyone chants in unison, a concert where thousands of voices harmonize, or a protest where the collective energy can overwhelm even the most disenchanted individual.

These moments allow us to experience the “collective consciousness”—the very essence of society.

It’s a fleeting moment when we become aware of the force that’s been pushing us all along.

But this awareness is short-lived. Just as quickly as we feel connected to something greater than ourselves, we return to our individual, isolated existences.

And in this return, society quietly continues to dictate our lives.

Table 2: Moments of Social Effervescence

Event	How It Highlights Social Facts
Religious Services	The collective worship experience where individuals feel unified in belief and action.
Sports Events	Fans experience unity and shared identity, following unwritten rules of behavior and loyalty.
Political Rallies	A large group gathers with common goals, and there’s a palpable shift in consciousness.
National Holidays	Collective celebrations, like New Year’s Eve, reflect society’s expectations of joy and togetherness.

Explaining Durkheim to a Kid: “Okay, Imagine This…”

Let’s take a simpler route. Picture a game of tag. Now, in this game, there are rules: you can’t go outside the yard, you have to tag people to make them “it,” and there’s always one person who’s “it.”

You didn’t create the game, did you? It was there before you started playing. You don’t question it either. You just play by the rules, even if they don’t seem fair.

Society is like that. It’s a big, invisible game with rules everyone must follow.

You don’t make the rules, but you’ve got to play along to be part of the game.

Voices of Opposition: Challenging Durkheim’s Vision

Despite Durkheim’s compelling theory, there are many who argue against his view of society.

Take, for instance, Friedrich Nietzsche, who saw society as a force of oppression, stifling the individual’s will to power.

Nietzsche would argue that Durkheim’s idea of social facts merely confirms society’s control over individual creativity and freedom.

To Nietzsche, society was not an autonomous force to be revered, but a collection of chains that needed to be broken.

Similarly, modern postmodernists like Jean Baudrillard argue that society’s influence isn’t just invisible; it’s hyperreal, in the sense that it has manufactured our desires and identities to such an extent that we can’t distinguish what’s real from what’s socially constructed.

This creates a different kind of oppression: a simulacra of society that controls us by controlling our perception.

The existentialists like Jean-Paul Sartre might also take issue with Durkheim, focusing on individual freedom and choice.

For Sartre, society could never be autonomous; it is the individual’s freedom that creates meaning. Durkheim, in his bid to define society as autonomous, seems to strip away the core of human agency.

The Dark Conclusion: An Existential Crisis

It’s tempting, in moments of despair, to think that Durkheim was 100% right—that we’re all just playing roles in an eternal puppet show, with society pulling the strings.

After all, if our thoughts, actions, and choices are shaped by invisible forces beyond our control, then what does that leave us with?

Nothing but the abyss. We live, we follow, and we die—insignificant in the grand machinery of existence.

But the darkness is not total.

Perhaps, as Sartre would argue, even in the face of this overwhelming absurdity, we still have the power to choose.

It is in our choices—small, defiant, or courageous—that we create meaning.

Durkheim’s theory of social facts may imprison us, but it also gives us a reason to break free.

In the end, it’s our choices that will decide the future—whether we remain bound or whether we step into the unknown.

The facts we follow, silent and still,
Guiding our choices against our will.
But in each choice, a chance to break,
To forge a path, for freedom’s sake.

– Anonymous