Michel Maffesoli, founding member of the FEDE’s Academic Council, a sociologist specialised in the imaginary, a professor emeritus at the Sorbonne, and an internationally recognised author, has just published his latest book. A socio-philosophical enquiry in 190 pages, it is entitled L’ère de soulèvements [the age of revolt].
30 years after the publication of Maffesoli’s prophetic political work Le temps des tribus [the time of tribes], this new book conceptualises what he calls ‘soft totalitarianism’. In explaining and justifying the meaning of this term, Professor Maffesoli argues that the totalitarianism he is referring to, which is an informed reworking of what common knowledge calls ‘politically correct,’ is set to undergo attack from various directions.
Michel Maffesoli’s analysis should inform our understanding of the gilets jaunes [‘yellow vests’] movement in France and the even more radical black blocs movement. Regardless of whether or not we agree that (instated) power is completely disconnected from popular power (the people, who can potentially instate), Michel Maffesoli’s book makes a weighty contribution to the existing landscape of socio-political analysis.
