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

Abstract

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.