Revisiting Gustave Le Bon’s crowd theory in light of present-day critique

Abstract

In establishing a valid crowd theory, it seems to have become comme il faut to criticize French mass psychologist Gustave Le Bon’s mass theory. In this respect, football fan studies are no exception. A repeated criticism of Le Bon echoes in publications from scholars who analyse football fan behaviour through the Elaborated Social Identity Model (ESIM). Pioneered by Clifford Stott, the logic of the ESIM has gained ground when interactions between football fans and authorities are to be explained and understood. Therefore, it is tempting to think that the ESIM delivers a solid theoretical understanding of crowd or mass behaviour that proves Le Bon’s crowd theory wrong. However, in this paper, we challenge this perception not only by questioning Drury, Reicher and Stott’s interpretation of Le Bon, but also suggesting that the dialogue strategy that is based upon the ESIM, in fact, validates Le Bon’s theory.