The Time of the Tribes

The Time of the Tribes: The Decline of Individualism in Mass Society (Le Temps des tribus : le déclin de l'individualisme dans les sociétés de masse) is a 1988 book by the French sociologist Michel Maffesoli. It argues that mass society, rather than creating a mass of individuals, has resulted in a type of tribalised society. The book and its subject, labelled neo-tribes, have had impact in sociology and other fields. Maffesoli argues that mass society contains a paradox created by the tension between mass culture and the human propensity to form groups. Rather than producing homogenous individuals, mass society has led to the creation of many small groups: a form of tribes (tribus) which are defined by lifestyles and common taste. The humans of a mass society belong to multiple tribes which they move between and exist within as part of their everyday lives. Maffesoli discusses the dynamics of the tribalised mass society using the terms puissance and proxemics. Puissance ('power', 'might') stems from the emotions at the centre of a tribe, and Maffesoli uses it in contrast with pouvoir ('power', 'authority'), which is at the centre of politics. Because puissance and pouvoir operate in different ways, a tribalised society creates a crisis for certain aspects of political life. Proxemics concerns the sense of being near other humans; it is what brings a tribe together by creating a feeling of belonging and solidarity. Following Max Weber, Maffesoli associates the plurality of values in a tribalised society with polytheism and argues that what Weber called disenchantment is followed by re-enchantment. The Time of the Tribes was published in French in 1988 by Méridiens-Klincksieck as part of the book series Sociologies au quotidien. It was translated into English by Don Smith and published by Sage Publications in 1996. The ethnologist Jean-François Gossiaux wrote that the theses in The Time of the Tribes are unoriginal and what distinguishes the book are instead the value judgements apparent in the author's tone and in neologisms such as "bourgeoisisme", which groups together capitalism and Marxism.