“The time of the tribes” and the postmodern: the political imaginary of affects

Abstract

This article revisits Michel Maffesoli’s seminal work “The Time of the Tribes” (1988), published in Brazil more than three decades ago, to discuss his concept of postmodern tribalism. Contrary to many sociological analyses, Maffesoli addresses an era of affect. But what is meant by “affect” in Maffesoli’s work? His hypothesis, with which we concur, is that, if not a “decline of individualism in mass societies” (the subtitle of that work), there is at least a vitalist everyday imaginary (carpe diem). Finally, we argue that postmodern affect – a concept that can no longer be overlooked as a way of describing the contemporary Zeitgeist –permeates all spheres of life. Politics, which constitutes the primary focus of this article, is no exception.