The Age of the Crowd: A Historical Treatise on Mass Psychology

The Age of the Crowd is at one level a historical account of the development of mass psychology, and at another an analysis of its implications for present-day political and social life. It was the prophecy of Gustave Le Bon in 1895 that the twentieth century would be 'l' age des foules' that gave Serge Moscovici the title for his book, and it presents a systematic exposition of Le Bon's ideas and those of another seminal figure, Gabriel Tarde, demonstrating convincingly their influence on the theories of collective psychology advanced by Sigmund Freud. These theories - today either neglected or simply accepted as received wisdom - are re-examined by Professor Moscovici in a fascinating commentary on modern political life: Hitler, Mussolini, Lenin, Stalin and Trotsky all in some way applied them in their leadership styles with consequences that are all too familiar. The scenario painted by this volume is a disturbing one. Serge Moscovici's acute analyses of mass phenomena - whether crowd violence. In Poland or Iran, or mass hysteria in sports stadiums or at rock concerts - raise fundamental questions concerning the foundations of democracy.

Table of Contents:
Author's note; Introduction; Part I. The Study of the Masses: 1. The individual and the masses; 2. The revolt of the masses; 3. What do we do when faced with the masses?; 4. Eastern and western varieties of despotism; Part II. Le Bon and the Fear of Cowards: 1. Who was Gustave Le Bon?; 2. The Machiavelli of mass societies; 3. Four reasons for saying nothing; 4. The discovery of the masses; 5. Mass hypnosis; 6. The mental life of crowds; Part III. The Crowd, Women and Madness: 1. Collective matter: the impulsive and conservative crowd; 2. Collective form: the dogmatic and utopian crowd; 3. The leaders of the crowd; 4. Charisma; 5. The strategies of propaganda and mass suggestion; 6. Conclusion; Part IV. The Leader Principle: 1. The paradox of mass psychology; 2. Natural crowds and artificial crowds; 3. The leader principle; Part V. Opinion and the Crowd: 1. Communication is the valium of the people; 2. Opinion, the public and the crowd; 3. The law of the polarisation of prestige; 4. The Republic in France: from a democracy of the masses to a democracy of publics; Part VI. The Best Disciple of Le Bon and Tarde: Sigmund Freud: 1. The black books of Dr Freud; 2. From classical to revolutionary mass psychology; 3. The three questions of mass psychology; 4. Crowds and the libido; 5. The origin of affective attachments in society; 6. Eros and mimesis; 7. The end of hypnosis; Part VII. The Psychology of the Charismatic Leader: 1. Prestige and charisma; 2. The postulate of mass psychology; 3. The primal secret; Part VIII. Hypotheses About Great Men: 1. 'The man Moses'; 2. The family romances of great men; 3. Creating a people; 4. Mosaic and totemic leaders; Part IX. Secular Religions: 1. The secret of a religion; 2. The prohibition of thought; 3. The cult of the father; Conclusion: the planetary age of the crowd; Notes; References; Index of names; Subject index.