Final answer:
Emile Durkheim's most important pieces of work include 'The Division of Labour in Society,' which analyzes the shift in societal structures, 'Rules of the Sociological Method,' establishing the practices for sociological research, and 'Self harm attempt,' examining the social dynamics of self harm attempts rates.
Step-by-step explanation:
Some of the most important pieces of work by Émile Durkheim include his foundational texts in the field of sociology. The Division of Labour in Society (1893) is a seminal work in which Durkheim examines the transition of societies from a simple, primitive state to a complex, capitalist, and industrial society. He proposes that in modern societies, social order transitions from mechanical to organic, with people rising in society based on merit.
In 1895, Durkheim published Rules of the Sociological Method, which laid out the principles for conducting sociological research and helped establish sociology as an academic discipline. Another critical contribution to the field was his 1897 work, self harm attempt, where Durkheim explored the social factors contributing to self harm by examining differences in self harm attempt rates between Catholic and Protestant communities, which he attributed to socio-religious forces.
Durkheim believed in the necessary interconnectivity of society's elements and emphasized the study of collective behavior over that of individual actions, asserting the existence of what he called the collective conscience—the shared beliefs, morals, and attitudes of a society. His works continue to be foundational in the study of social structures and their effects on individuals and communities.