The Time of the Tribes The Decline of Individualism in Mass Society [Paperback]

In this exciting book Michel Maffesoli argues that the conventional approaches to understanding solidarity and society are deeply flawed. He contends that mass culture has disintegrated and that today social existence is conducted through fragmented tribal groupings, organized around the catchwords, brand-names and sound-bites of consumer culture. The book provides a rich backcloth against which to consider the rise of `identity politics' and the `proliferation of lifestyle cultures'.In this exciting book Michel Maffesoli argues that the conventional approaches to understanding solidarity and society are deeply flawed. He contends that mass culture has disintegrated and that today social existence is conducted through fragmented tribal groupings, organized around the catchwords, brand-names and sound-bites of consumer culture. The book provides a rich backcloth against which to consider the rise of `identity politics' and the `proliferation of lifestyle cultures'.`An adventurous and stimulating discussion. Essential reading' - Journal of the Royal Anthropological Institute

`This book is not a piece of conventional social science, and it should not be judged against standard criteria. It is less a theoretical introduction than a pamphlet. This is not to minimise its role, for pamphlets have an important function in political and public discourse: they thematise problems, they exaggerate and they focus attention on repressed or latent knowledge.... Social scientists should read the book because it presses them to think about the alternative between tribalism and argumentative discourse and to make a choice' - Klaus Eder, Work, Employment & Society

`A very welcome and entirely original addition to this literature. Maffesoli's at times frustrating, at times brilliant essay... I recommend his discussion of tribes and lc~