Le Bon, Gustave

Christian Borch

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    Abstract

    Gustave Le Bon (1841–1931) was a French physician and crowd psychologist who published extensively on themes such as crowds, war, race, revolution, socialism, and war. His work on crowd psychology in particular was highly influential, including beyond scholarly circles. Le Bon argued that crowds are barbarian, irrational, and suggestible, and constitute a threat to the civilized social order. Subsequent scholars have strongly contested Le Bon's ideas.
    Original languageEnglish
    Title of host publicationThe Wiley-Blackwell Encyclopedia of Social Theory
    EditorsBryan S. Turner, Chang Kyung-Sup, Cynthia F. Epstein, Peter Kivisto, J. Michael Ryan, William Outhwaite
    Number of pages2
    Place of PublicationChichester
    PublisherWiley-Blackwell
    Publication date4 Dec 2017
    ISBN (Print)9781118430866
    ISBN (Electronic)9781118430873
    DOIs
    Publication statusPublished - 4 Dec 2017
    SeriesWiley Blackwell Encyclopedias in Social Sciences
    Volume1

    Bibliographical note

    Published online: 4. December 2017.

    Keywords

    • Crowds
    • Race

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