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Social facts, social solidarity, Suicide: A Study in Sociology
Durkheim argued that society is more than the sum of its individuals — it generates its own "social facts" (norms, values, institutions) that exist independently of any one person and exert real constraint over behaviour, and that institutions persist because they perform necessary functions holding the social order together (social solidarity). His study of suicide famously showed that even this seemingly private act varies in predictable patterns with the strength of a person's social ties.
French sociologist regarded as one of the founders of modern sociology, who held the first academic chair in sociology in France.