The rise of post-modern tribes (Interview)

His book Le Temps des Tribus (The Time of the Tribes: the Decline of Individualism in Mass Society) was published in French in 1988 and in English in 1996.

Q: What is your definition of “urban tribes?”

A: These are groups from the second half of the 20th century of people united by different affinities and the major movements of youth rebellion, such as in 1968.

Their members share the same tastes, such as the same sexual or religious orientations.... It’s difficult to list them but you only have to go to a big city, open your eyes and look around to see them.

Q: Why is this phenomenon of “tribalism” appearing at the moment?

A: In 2,000 years of history, we find that societies evolve in cycles of around three-and-a-half centuries. At the end of a cycle, the model is tired, just like a machine.

Thus, the middle ages gave way to the Renaissance, which itself gave way to modernity (considered by historians to have started in the 17th century) and so on. This is what we call crisis. Today everyone has reduced (this latest crisis) to its economic dimension, but in fact, it is in our heads, in our way of thinking, of organizing ourselves.

The US sociologist Pitirim Sorokin uses the term “saturation” to describe this phenomenon. It’s a bit like when you add salt or sugar to a glass of water and up until the last grain, you do not see that the water is saturated.

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