Mass society is a concept that describes modern society as a monolithic force and yet a disaggregate collection of individuals. The term is often used pejoratively to refer to a society in which bureaucracy and impersonal institutions have replaced some notion of

traditional society In sociology, traditional society refers to a society characterized by an orientation to the past, not the future, with a predominant role for custom and habit. Such societies are marked by a lack of distinction between family and business, with th ...

, leading to

social alienation Social alienation is a person's feeling of disconnection from a group whether friends, family, or wider society with which the individual has an affiliation. Such alienation has been described as "a condition in social relationships reflected b ...

. In a sense, all societies are mass societies, but the term typically refers to

developed countries A developed country, or advanced country, is a sovereign state that has a high quality of life, developed economy, and advanced technological infrastructure relative to other less industrialized nations. Most commonly, the criteria for eval ...

that possess a

mass culture Popular culture (also called pop culture or mass culture) is generally recognized by members of a society as a set of practices, beliefs, artistic output (also known as popular art pop_art.html" ;"title="f. pop art">f. pop artor mass art, somet ...

and large-scale social, political and economic institutions which structure daily life for the majority of people. In modern times the term has taken on more importance and broader scope with the advent of

mass media Mass media include the diverse arrays of media that reach a large audience via mass communication. Broadcast media transmit information electronically via media such as films, radio, recorded music, or television. Digital media comprises b ...

and the

internet The Internet (or internet) is the Global network, global system of interconnected computer networks that uses the Internet protocol suite (TCP/IP) to communicate between networks and devices. It is a internetworking, network of networks ...

History

Descriptions of society as a "

mass Mass is an Intrinsic and extrinsic properties, intrinsic property of a physical body, body. It was traditionally believed to be related to the physical quantity, quantity of matter in a body, until the discovery of the atom and particle physi ...

" took form in the 19th century, referring to the leveling tendencies in the period of the

Industrial Revolution The Industrial Revolution, sometimes divided into the First Industrial Revolution and Second Industrial Revolution, was a transitional period of the global economy toward more widespread, efficient and stable manufacturing processes, succee ...

that undermined traditional and

aristocratic Aristocracy (; ) is a form of government that places power in the hands of a small, privileged ruling class, the aristocrats. Across Europe, the aristocracy exercised immense economic, political, and social influence. In Western Christian co ...

values, and replaced

monarchy A monarchy is a form of government in which a person, the monarch, reigns as head of state for the rest of their life, or until abdication. The extent of the authority of the monarch may vary from restricted and largely symbolic (constitutio ...

with various forms of liberal

democracy Democracy (from , ''dēmos'' 'people' and ''kratos'' 'rule') is a form of government in which political power is vested in the people or the population of a state. Under a minimalist definition of democracy, rulers are elected through competitiv ...

. Political theorists such as

Alexis de Tocqueville Alexis Charles Henri Clérel, comte de Tocqueville (29 July 180516 April 1859), was a French Aristocracy (class), aristocrat, diplomat, political philosopher, and historian. He is best known for his works ''Democracy in America'' (appearing in t ...

analyzed mass society and pinpointed its beginning in the French Revolution. Various

conservative Conservatism is a cultural, social, and political philosophy and ideology that seeks to promote and preserve traditional institutions, customs, and values. The central tenets of conservatism may vary in relation to the culture and civiliza ...

theorists developed concepts of mass society in which it replaces aristocracies with the "

tyranny of the majority Tyranny of the majority refers to a situation in majority rule where the preferences and interests of the majority dominate the political landscape, potentially sidelining or repressing minority groups and using majority rule to take non-democrat ...

" or "

mob rule Mob rule or ochlocracy or mobocracy is a pejorative term describing an oppressive majoritarian form of government controlled by the common people through the intimidation of authorities. Ochlocracy is distinguished from democracy or similarl ...

" and

José Ortega y Gasset José Ortega y Gasset (; ; 9 May 1883 – 18 October 1955) was a Spanish philosopher and essayist. He worked during the first half of the 20th century while Spain oscillated between monarchy, republicanism and dictatorship. His philosoph ...

, for instance, lamented the decline of

high culture In a society, high culture encompasses culture, cultural objects of Objet d'art, aesthetic value that a society collectively esteems as exemplary works of art, as well as the literature, music, history, and philosophy a society considers represen ...

Marxist Marxism is a political philosophy and method of socioeconomic analysis. It uses a dialectical and materialist interpretation of historical development, better known as historical materialism, to analyse class relations, social conflic ...

accounts, such as those of the

Frankfurt School The Frankfurt School is a school of thought in sociology and critical theory. It is associated with the University of Frankfurt Institute for Social Research, Institute for Social Research founded in 1923 at the University of Frankfurt am Main ...

, critiqued the prevailing forms of mass society as one dominated by a

culture industry The term culture industry () was coined by the critical theorists Theodor Adorno (1903–1969) and Max Horkheimer (1895–1973), and was presented as critical vocabulary in the chapter "The Culture Industry: Enlightenment as Mass Deception", o ...

that served the interests of

capitalism Capitalism is an economic system based on the private ownership of the means of production and their use for the purpose of obtaining profit. This socioeconomic system has developed historically through several stages and is defined by ...

. However, Marxism-Leninism created its own form of mass society called

bureaucratic collectivism Bureaucratic collectivism is a theory of class society. It is used by some Trotskyists to describe the nature of the Soviet Union under Joseph Stalin and other similar states in Central and Eastern Europe and elsewhere (such as North Korea). T ...

by its critics. The idea of historic processes being driven exclusively by " laws of dialectics" highlighted the role of masses as the main field of social change, as opposed to individuals whose role is always negligible. Mass society as an

ideology An ideology is a set of beliefs or values attributed to a person or group of persons, especially those held for reasons that are not purely about belief in certain knowledge, in which "practical elements are as prominent as theoretical ones". Form ...

can be seen as dominated by a small number of interconnected elites who control the conditions of life of the many, often by means of persuasion and manipulation. This indicates the politics of mass society theorists – they are advocates of various kinds of cultural elite who should be privileged and promoted over the masses, claiming for themselves both exemption from and leadership of the misguided masses. "As technological innovation allowed government to expand, the centralized state grew in size and importance." "Since then, government has assumed responsibility for more and more areas of social life: schooling, regulating wages and working conditions, establishing standards for products of all sorts, and providing financial assistance to the elderly, the ill, and the unemployed." "In a mass society, power resides in large bureaucracies, leaving people in local communities with little control over their lives. For example, state officials mandate that local schools must meet

educational standards Learning standards (also called academic standards, content standards and curricula) are elements of declarative, procedural, schematic, and strategic knowledge that, as a body, define the specific content of an educational program. Standards are ...

, local products must be government-certified, and every citizen must maintain extensive

tax A tax is a mandatory financial charge or levy imposed on an individual or legal entity by a governmental organization to support government spending and public expenditures collectively or to regulate and reduce negative externalities. Tax co ...

records. Although such regulations may protect and enhance social equality, they also force individuals to deal increasingly with nameless officials in distant and often unresponsive bureaucracies, and they undermine the

autonomy In developmental psychology and moral, political, and bioethical philosophy, autonomy is the capacity to make an informed, uncoerced decision. Autonomous organizations or institutions are independent or self-governing. Autonomy can also be ...

of families and local communities." Mass society theory has been active in a wide range of

media studies Media studies is a discipline and field of study that deals with the content, history, and effects of various media; in particular, the mass media. Media studies may draw on traditions from both the social sciences and the humanities, but it mos ...

, where it tends to produce ideal visions of what the

such as television and cinema are doing to the masses. Therefore, the mass media are necessary instruments for achieving and maintaining mass societies. "The mass media give rise to national culture that washes over the traditional differences that used to set off one region from another." "Mass-society theorists fear that the transformation of people of various backgrounds into a generic mass may end up dehumanizing everyone." Sociologist

C. Wright Mills Charles Wright Mills (August 28, 1916 – March 20, 1962) was an American Sociology, sociologist, and a professor of sociology at Columbia University from 1946 until his death in 1962. Mills published widely in both popular and intellectual jour ...

made a distinction between a society of "masses" and "public". He states: "In a public, as we may understand the term, # virtually as many people express opinions as receive them, # Public communications are so organized that there is a chance immediately and effectively to answer back any opinion expressed in public. # Opinion formed by such discussion readily finds an outlet in effective action, even against – if necessary – the prevailing system of authority. # And authoritative

institution An institution is a humanly devised structure of rules and norms that shape and constrain social behavior. All definitions of institutions generally entail that there is a level of persistence and continuity. Laws, rules, social conventions and ...

s do not penetrate the public, which is thus more or less autonomous in its operations. In a mass, # far fewer people express opinions than receive them; for the community of public becomes an abstract collection of individuals who receive impressions from the mass media. # The communications that prevail are so organized that it is difficult or impossible for the individual to answer back immediately or with any effect. # The realization of opinion in action is controlled by authorities who organize and control the channels of such action. # The mass has no

from institutions; on the contrary, agents of authorized institutions penetrate this mass, reducing any autonomy it may have in the formation of opinion by discussion". In ''The End of the Modern World'' (1957), theologian Romano Guardini wrote: "to either a greater or lesser degree mass man is convinced that his conformity ith mass societyis both reasonable and just".Quoted by

Pope Francis Pope Francis (born Jorge Mario Bergoglio; 17 December 1936 – 21 April 2025) was head of the Catholic Church and sovereign of the Vatican City State from 13 March 2013 until Death and funeral of Pope Francis, his death in 2025. He was the fi ...

i
Laudato si'
paragraph 203, published 24 May 2015, accessed 11 May 2024

References

Bibliography

* Arendt, Hannah 1961 ''Between Past and Future : Six Exercises in Political Thought'', The Viking Press, New York, 1961, * Biddiss, Michael D. 1977, ''The Age of the Masses'', Penguin, Harmondsworth. * Ginner, Salvador 1976, ''Mass Society'', Academic Press * Hartley, John 1982, ''Understanding News'', Methuen, London. * Kornhauser, Arthur William 1959, ''The Politics of mass society'', The Free Press of Glencoe * Lederer, Emil 1940, ''The state of the masses'', W.W. Norton & Co, New York (H. Fertig, New York, 1967) * Macionis, John J. (2009). ''Culture, society: The basics''. 10th edition (pp. 496–98). Upper Saddle River, New Jersey: Prentice Hall Publishers. * Marcel, Gabriel 2008 (written in the early 1950s), ''Man against Mass Society'', St. Augustines Press * McQuail, Denis 2005, ''McQuail's Mass Communication Theory'' (fifth edition), Sage, London. * Mills, C. Wright 1956, ''The Power Elite'', Oxford University Press, New York. * Swingewood, Alan 1977, ''The Myth of Mass Culture'', Macmillan, London. * Wilmuth, Sidney 1976, ''Mass society, social organization, and democracy'', Philosophical Library

History

See also

References

Bibliography

Further reading