Just as he was preparing to celebrate, bigly, the holiday season at the White House, President Trump has to deal with yet another massive financial crisis caused by shenanigans on Wall Street. After a day where the Dow Jones average dropped 5,000 points, he finds himself unable to sleep as thoughts of the economic crisis weigh on his mind. Grabbing his favorite bathrobe, a can of Diet Coke and his smartphone, he makes his way down the central hall of the White House to the Gold TV room, hoping the late night rerun of Hannity will calm his nerves. Suddenly, he is visited by the ghosts of several Classical Sociological Theorists, Karl Marx & Friedrich Engels, Emile Durkheim and W.E.B. DuBois or Charlotte Perkins-Gilman (you get to choose which one of these final two “ghosts” actually appears to Trump). One after the other, the ghosts of these theorists attempt to persuade Trump to make specific changes to American society based on their own theories on the division of labor and social progress…
In your essay, detail the differences between Marx/Engels and Durkheim on the importance of the Division of Labor for society. Consider how these differences affect each of their “ideal” visions of social progress. In what ways might, either DuBois, in reference to Race, or Gilman, in reference to Gender, critique both Marx & Durkheim’s views? Also, be sure to conclude by discussing which theorist Trump will choose to follow in order to make “America Great Again, Again.”