Émile Durkheim’s late work focuses on représentations collectives, social facts that embody sui generis social forces and that direct behaviour in meaningful ways. The focus on représentations collectives raises questions, but also opens doors for Durkheimian sociology. Many would contend that Durkheim’s focus on représentations collectives introduces a hermeneutical and ideational element that is at odds with his positivist approach. His study of représentations collectives also point to a potentially broad application of his method to the study of culture as a causally autonomous factor in social life. This article will discuss the social fact in Durkheim’s late work in light of these issues. It will argue that représentations collectives are social facts, ‘things’ in Durkheim’s terminology, that are rooted in ritual. They have an objective existence and are causally efficacious, which makes them the object of positive sociology; there is thus no tension between ‘early’ and ‘late’ Durkheim on this point. It will also argue that due to the causally autonomous and inherently meaningful nature of représentations collectives, Durkheim’s approach adds to the Strong Program’s research agenda, albeit with more of a focus on ritual and emotional energy. In so doing the article seeks to build a bridge between the Strong Program and the interaction ritual approach developed by Randall Collins.

埃米尔·杜尔克海姆（ÉmileDurkheim）的后期工作集中于代表集体，体现特殊社会力量并以有意义的方式指导行为的社会事实。对代表集体的关注引发了疑问，但也为涂尔干社会学打开了大门。许多人会争辩说，涂尔干对代表集体的关注引入了诠释学和概念性元素，这与他的实证主义方法背道而驰。他对代表集体的研究也指出他的方法在文化研究中作为社会生活中因果自主因素的潜在广泛应用。本文将针对这些问题讨论涂尔干（Durkheim）后期工作中的社会事实。它将辩称，代表集体是社会事实，是涂尔干术语中的“事物”，植根于仪式中。它们具有客观存在且因果有效，这使它们成为积极社会学的对象。因此，在这一点上，“早期”和“晚期”涂尔干之间没有紧张关系。它还将论证，由于代表集体具有因果关系的自主性和内在的意义，，涂尔干的方法增加了“强化计划”的研究议程，尽管更多地侧重于仪式和情感能量。为此，本文旨在在“强壮计划”与Randall Collins开发的互动式礼仪方法之间架起一座桥梁。