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In this timely book, that is warmly welcomed by distinguished scholars on its sleeve, Dr Carla Penna describes the development of theories of group psychologies over the last century, during which there have been many social upheavals and distinct changes to theory, all of which were influential to the field.
However, before getting to the more contemporary material, Penna first describes the beginning of social experience in the Sixteenth and Seventeenth Century plagues, showing how in their own way they sowed the seeds of modern theoretical formulations of social processes. She also shows how these perspectives developed in the Eighteenth Century, familiarly known as ‘The Age of Enlightenment’, with an increasing recognition of the human capacity for sensing individuality, identity and, ultimately, social phenomena on a larger scale. This sets the scene for an unfolding understanding of the developing complexity of crowd, large group, herd and popular social movement to the present time. From here, any reader will consider the present Covid 19 pandemic, international conflicts and the dramatic changes occurring with increasing use of ‘factualising’ trans-global digital communications.
Following this account of early social theory, the development of crowd psychology and dynamics of the large group within the nineteenth century then begins to give shape to our current understanding. This account is picked up carefully through reference to principal theorists and the dramatic times through which they lived. This succinctly illustrates how a growing idea of ‘the individual’, both in terms of expectations and recognition, was central to theoretical developments. One of the most striking features of this account is the impact of industrialisation in the nineteenth century leading up to the First World War and after. As is well referenced in the book, these times had the most profound effects on society. They were crucial in the search for the sorts of existential meaning