The Politics of Mass Society
By: William Kornhauser
Edition: First edition.
Publisher: Taylor and Francis
Published: 2017
Place of publication: London
Language: eng
Number of pages: 272
ISBN-13: 9781315133980
Subjects: Totalitarianism; Democracy; Mass society; Totalitarisme; Société de masse
Description: "The Politics of Mass Society explores the social conditions necessary for democracy and the vulnerabilities of large scale society to totalitarian systems. Mass movements mobilize people who are alienated from the social system, who do not believe in the legitimacy of the established order, and who are therefore ready to engage in efforts to destroy. Contrary to the psychological approach prevalent in European doctrines of mass movements, Kornhauser persuasively argues that social order is the critical factor. The greatest number of people available to mass movements are located in those segments of society that have the fewest ties to social order. The book draws on a wide range of materials--from classical political theory contemporary sociological analysis, historical and intuitional studies, public opinion surveys, and other published and unpublished data. Kornhauser selected political phenomena in organizations, communities, classes, and whole societies. He examined support for communism and fascism in a variety of countries in relation to rates of urbanization and industrialization, employment, and suicide and homicide among other phenomena. In his new introduction, Irving Louis Horowitz identifies Kornhauser's book as a seminal work of the great tradition in political sociology in the mid-twentieth century. Kornhauser points out that modern democratic systems possess a distinct vulnerability to mass movements. He spells out and identifies factors that tend to increase or decrease this vulnerability--not least the health and strength of elites. In this way, the book reveals new clues to the origins and nature of mass political movements. The Politics of Mass Society remains the most complete analytical account of the sociological approach to mass society in advanced industrial societies."--Provided by publisher.
Table of contents: title: Chapter Introduction to the Transaction Edition; title: chapter Preface; title: chapter Acknowledgments; title: chapter Contents; title: chapter List of Tables; title: chapter Introduction; title: part PART I THEORY OF MASS SOCIETY; title: chapter 1 Two Views of Mass Society; title: chapter 2 Conditions of Mass Society; title: chapter 3 Structure of Mass Society; title: chapter 4 Culture and Personality in Mass Society; title: part PART II SOCIAL SOURCES OF MASS MOVEMENTS; title: chapter 5 Political Vulnerability of Mass Society; title: chapter 6 Discontinuities in Authority; title: chapter 7 Discontinuities in Community; title: chapter 8 Discontinuities in Society; title: part PART III SOCIAL COMPOSITION OF MASS MOVEMENTS; title: chapter 9 Social Classes and Mass Movements; title: chapter 10 Unattached Intellectuals; title: chapter 11 Marginal Middle Classes; title: chapter 12 Isolated Workers; title: part CONCLUSION; title: chapter 13 Mass Society and Democratic Order.