The Sociology Book

291

See also: Ferdinand Tönnies 32–33 ■ Pierre Bourdieu 76–79 ■

Zygmunt Bauman 136–43 ■ Benedict Anderson 202–03

W

e live in “the time of

the tribes,” according

to French sociologist

Michel Maffesoli. In a world of rapid

change, characterized by risk and

unpredictability, individuals need

new ways to find meaning in their

lives. New collectives, or tribes,

have emerged, says Maffesoli:

they are dynamic, fleeting, and

“Dionysiac” (after the Greek god

Dionysus: sensual, spontaneous).

A shared social experience, or

collective aesthetic sensibility,

is far more important to the

tribes than individuality, and the

repetition of shared rituals is a way

of forging strong group solidarity.

The rave movement of the 1980s

and early 1990s, featuring “raves”

(parties with rhythmic music

and a specific dance style),

was characterized less by a

common identity than a shared

consciousness (love of rave music

and dance). Not as fixed as class-

based subcultures such as punk,

the movement exemplifies the

tribal forms of solidarity described

by Maffesoli. Unlike traditional

institutions and ties, these new

forms of belonging and community

are actively achieved, rather than

being something one is born into.

Maffesoli sees the modern-day

tribes as short-lived, flexible, and

fluid rather than fixed, so a person

can move between different

groupings in everyday life and

achieve a fulfilling plural existence.

Tribal membership, says Maffesoli,

must be worked at and requires a

shared belief or consciousness to

maintain coherence. ■

THE ROLE OF INSTITUTIONS

THE TIME OF

THE TRIBES

MICHEL MAFFESOLI (1944– )

IN CONTEXT

FOCUS
Neo-tribalism

KEY DATES
1887 Ferdinand Tönnies
identifies an important shift in
social ties from Gemeinschaft
(community) to Gesellschaft
(society).

1970s and 1980s Building
on the work of US sociologist
Robert Merton, subcultural
theorists argue that youths
form ties based on class
and gender.

1988 French sociologist
Michel Maffesoli’s The
Time of Tribes: The Decline
of Individualism in Mass
Society is published.

1998 British sociologist
Kevin Hetherington expands
Maffesoli’s concept and argues
that neo-tribes, a reaction
to the fragmentation of
postmodern society, are
communities of feeling.

The metaphor of the tribe...

allows us to account for... the

role... each person... is called

upon to play within the tribe.

Michel Maffesoli