An awareness or ideas SHARED by many people. It may be based
on a SHARED
memory of and pride in specific events, which become myths and symbols of
belonging.
Durkheim was interested in explaining the factors that contributed to a groups collective identity. He looked for shared experiences, practices, and ideas that helped solidify a group so that they could act as a single body or unit. Collective consciousness is a stronger concept than just know about the same things - it addresses the way shared experiences motivate people to behave in the same or similar ways to all the rest of the people in the same group that they belong to...
