Patrick Tacussel, Christophe Mory,"The Spiral of postmodernity"
On the occasion of the publication of Michel Maffesoli’s new book, Le Temps revient [Time Is Returning, DDB, 2010], the author talks to sociologist and professor Patrick Tacussel (Université Paul Valéry – Montpellier III), journalist Christophe Mory and writer Marc Leboucher.
How is society lived, talked about, dreamed of? What is the atmosphere of the time, what are its rituals, its collective beliefs, its various behaviors? In short, what are the elementary forms of postmodernity? Beyond the nagging debate on a crisis reduced to its economic dimension, the awareness that a genuine paradigm change is in the making is necessary.
At stake and palpable in the emerging paradigm are new forms of solidarity and generosity, alternative ways of life. In daily life these are taking place without fanfare, but also violently sometimes (as the riots attest).
It is imperative to learn how to identify and think through the community ideal in gestation.