canetti, elias - crowds and power (continuum, 1978)

8/19/2019 Canetti, Elias - Crowds and Power (Continuum, 1978)

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CROWDS AND POWER


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CROWDS AND POWER

b

ELIA CANETTI

Trlted om e Germ bCrol Stewt

Co BookTHE SEABRY PRESS NEW YORK


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1978The Seabury Press

5 Second AvenueNew York, N.Y. 007

Orinay published as d h by Caassen Verag,Hamburg, copyright© 60 by Caassen Verag Hambug.

Engish transaton copyright© 62 73 by Victor Goancz Ltd

A rghts reseed. No part of this k may be reprucedstored in a retrieva system or transmitted in any form or byany means eectronic, mechanica, photopyng recording o otherwise

wthout the written permission o The Seabury Press

Pd h Ud ALibrary of Congress Cataoging in Pubication Data

Canetti Eia 05- Crowds and power

Transation of Masse und MachtBibiography: p

Sa groups 2 Cowds. 3· Power (Sascences) . Tte.

HM3233 7 30'2 7-2234ISBN -643367


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The athor shes to acowledge wth grattde egeeros spport give m his research by the

Boge Fodato


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he slto wishes o owledge e gtefu thehel d die of e tho i eg his text


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CONEN

T CROhe Fea of beg ouhed

he Ope ad he Cloed Cow 6

he Dhage 7

Due 9he Eupo 20

Peeuo 22

Domeao of Cow he Wold Relgo 24

P 26

he Cowd a a Rg 27he Abue of the Cowd 29

hm 3

agao 34

low o he Remoee of he Goa 39

Ibe Cow

Clao of Cow aodg o he Peag moo 48

Bag Cowd 49

Fgh Cowd 3

Pobo Cowd 55Reeal Cowd 58

F Cowd 62

he Doube Cowd: Me Wome he g a heDead 63

he Doube Cowd Wa 67 Cowd Cal 73

Cowd mbo: Fr h Sa an vrs. Fors. o.Wn San Ha. Ston Has. rasur 75


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8 C O W D S D P O W

THE CK

Te Pck K f Pck 93

Te ng Pck 97

Te W Pck 99Te Lmenng Pck I3

� P I�

e Cun I I3

Iw n Tqu Pck II4

Te Pck' Deemnn Te cl Pemnence f Pck I I6

Pck e ce Legend f e An I I 8

Temy Fmn mng e An I2I

THE CK IONTe Tmun f Pck I27

Hg n e Fe mng e Lee f K 28

Te W By f e J I3 2

Te R Dnce f e Puebl Inn I3

n e Dynmc f W Te F De Te Tum I38Ilm Regn f W I4I

e Relgn f Lmen I43

Te Mum Fel f e Se I46

Clcm n e Cw I4

Te Hly Fe Jeulem S

THE CRO HSTORY

Nnl Cw Symbl: Th Engsh Duch Th Grmans.

Th Frnch Th Swss Th Sanars Iaans. ws I69Gemny nd Vee I79

n e Cw I83

Te Nue f e Pmen Syem I88


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10 C O W D S N D P O W

Qeon and Awe 284

ee

Jdgemen d Condemaon

he Powe of Padon Me

T COMMN

he Conand. Fgh and g 303

he Domeaon of e Command 307

e Reol e Anxe of Command 30

Command addeed o Moe an ne ndvdal 3

he Expeaon of Commd 3

Expeaon of Command among e Pgm a Aafa 3 I3Dipne and e g of Commd 35

he Mongol e Hoe and e Aow 36

Rego Emalaon e kop 319

Negavm n zophena 32e Reveal 324

e Dolon of e ing 327

he Command and e Exeon e Conened Exeone 330

Command and epont 33

TRNSOTON

Peenmen and afomaon among e Ben 337

Fgh anfomaon. Hea, Ma and Melanhoa 342elf-neae and elf-Conmpon he Dole Fge of e

oem 348

Cowd d anfomaon n Delm emen 35


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C O W D S A D P O

Imtat ad Smulat

he Fgue d the Mak

he P f Umakg

ht afmatSlaey

ASPCTS OF POWR

Huma Ptue ad Th Relat t Pe Saning Siing

369

373

377

379

383

Lying Siing on h Groun Kning 387

he Ochtal Cduct 394

Fam 36

he Rgulat f Tme 37

The Cut 3h Rg The f the Empe f Byzatum 400

Geal Paalytc ad h Nt f Ga 402

RLRS AD PARAOACSAfc g

A Sulta f Muhammad Tughak

h e h I

he h I

PLOG

The Ed f th Su

OTS

BLOGRAP

2

3

8

7


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THE CROW


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The Fear of being TouchedHERE S NOHNG that m fears more th the touch of the ukow. He wts to ee what is reacng towards hm, and to be abeto recoge or at east cassfy it. Man aways tends to avoid physicacontact with anythg strange. I the dark, the fear of an unexpectedtouch can mount to pc Even cothes give insucient securt: it is

easy to tear tem and pierce trough to the naked, smooth, defenceessesh of the victim

A the distances wch men create round themseves are dictated bthis fear. They shut themseves in houses which noone may enter, andony there fee some measure of security Te fear of burgars is noo the fear of beng robbed, but so the fear of a sudden and u

expected cutch out of the darknessTe repugnance to being touched remains with us when we goabout among peope; the wa we move in a busy street, in restaurts,tras or buses, is goveed by it Even when we are standng next toem and are abe to watch and examne tem cosey, we avoid actuacontact if we cn If we do not avoid it, it is because we fee attractedto someone; and then it is we who make the approach

The prompess with which apoogy is oered for ntentionacontact, the tension with which it is awated, our voent and sometimeseven physica reaction when it is not forthcog, the antipathy ahatred we fee for the oender, even when we cannot be certain whoit is-the whoe knot of shfting and tensey sensitive reacons to anaien touchproves that we are deaing here with a human propensiyas deepseated as it is ert and insidious; sometg wch never eavesa man when he has once estabished the boundaries of his personaitEven in seep, when he is far more uguarded, he can too easiy bedisturbed by a touch

It is ony n a crowd that m can become free of ts fear of bengtouched Tat is the oy situation n wich the fear chges into itsopposite. The crowd he needs is the dense crowd, wch body is

pressed to body a crowd, too whose psychica constitution is asdense, or compact, so that he no onger notices who it is that presseagaist him As soon as a man has surrendered hief to the crowd, heceases to fear its touch deay, are equa there no distinctions coun not even that of sex The man pressed against is the same as


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16 COS A OE

imsel£ e eels im as e eels imsel uddeny it is as toug everyig were appeng one and te same body Tis is peraps one ote reasons wy a crowd seeks to cose i on itse it wans to rid eacindividual as competey as possible o te ear o being touced Te

more ercely peope press togeter, te more certain tey eel tat teydo not ear eac oter Tis reversa o te ear o being toucedbelongs to te nature o crowds. Te eeing o ree is most strikigwere te density o te crowd is greatt

The Oen and the Closed CrowdHE RO suddey tere were tere was notig beore is amysterious and uversal penomenon. A ew people may ave beenstanding togeterve ten or twelve not more otng as beenaounced notng is expected uddenly everywere is back witpeople and more come streang rom a sides as toug streets ad

ony one direction Most o tem do not kow wat as appened and, questoned, ave no swer; but tey urry to be tere were mostoter people are Tere is a determiation i teir movement wic isquite dierent rom te expression o ordinary curiosiy It seems astoug te movement o some o tem transmits itsel to te otersBut tat is not all tey ave a goal wic is tere beore tey cad words or it. Ts goal is te blackest spot were most people aregatered.

Tis is te extreme orm o te sponteous crowd and muc morewi ave to be said about it later its inermost core it is not quite asspontaneous as it appears, but, except or tese 10 or 12 people witwom actualy it orginates it is everywere sponteo. soon asit exists at all, it wants to consist o mor people te urge to grow is te

rst and supreme attribute o te crowd. It wants to seie eveyonewitn reac anytg saped like a uman beig c join it Tenatural crowd te opn crowd tere are no watever to igrowt; it does not recoge ouses doors or locks ad tose wosut temselves in are suspect. "Open is to be understood ere in teest sense o te word it means ope eveywere d ay direcn Te ope crowd exists so long as it grows; it distegrates soon as it stops growig.

For just as suddenly as it origiates te crowd distegrates isponteous orm it is a sensitive tig Te openness wic ebles ito grow is at te same time its danger. A orebodg o treate


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THE COWD 7

disintegration is aways ave n the crowd It sees through rapidncrease, to avoid ts for as ong as it can; it absorbs everyone and,becase it do, must umatey fal to pieces

I contrast to the open crowd wch can grow indeftey and which

is of universa interest because it may spring up anywhere there is thecos crowdThe cosed crowd renoces gowth and puts the strs on perman-

ence. The rst tng to be noced about it is that it has a bodaryIt esbshes itsef by acceptng its itation t creates a space foritself wch it w f Ts space can be compared to a vesse ntowhich iqid is being poured and whose capacity is know The

entrances to this space are imited n number, and only these entrances can be used; the boundary is respected whether it consists of stone, ofsoid wal, or of some specia act of acceptance or entrance fee Oncethe space is competey fed, no one ese is aowed in Even if there isan overow the important thing is aways the dense crowd in the cosed room; those standng outside do not realy beong

The boundary prevents disorderly increase, but it aso maes itmore d cut for the crowd to disperse and so postpones its dissoutionn this way the crowd sacrices its chance of growth but gans stayg power t is protected from outside uences which cou dbecome hoste and dangerous and it sets its hope on rio It is theexpectation of reassemby which enabes its members to accept eachdspersa The buiding is waiting for them; it exists for their sae and,

so ong as it is there, they wil be abe to meet in the same mannerThe space is thes even during the ebb and in its emptness it remndsthem of the ood

The Discharge

HE MOST IMPOTANT occurrence witn the crowd is the ischargBefore ths the crowd does not actuay est it is the discharge which creates it Ths is the moment when all who beong to the crowd getrid of er derences and fee equa

These derences are mainly imposed from outside they are distncons of r status and property Men as individuas are aways

conscious of these distinctions; they weigh heavily on them and eepthem rmly apart from one other A man stands by msef on secure and well dened spot hs every gesture assertng his right to eepoers at a distance e stands there ie a wndm on an enormous


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18 OS N OE

pain moving expressivey an there is nothig between h anthe next A fe so far as he knows it s ai out i istcesthe house in whch he shuts himef hs property the positio hehos the rank he esires-a these serve to create istces to conrm

an exten them Any free or arge gesture of approach towarsanother human beng is inhbte Impuse an counter impuse oozeaway as in a esert. No man can get near another nor reach hs height every sphere of fe rmy estabshe hierarches prevent mtouchng anyone more exate than hme or escenig except iappearance to anyone ower ierent societes the stances areierenty baance agaist each other the stress in some yng onbrth in others on occupaton or property

I o not iten to characterie these hierarches in eta here butit is essenta to kow that they exist everywhere an everywhere gaia ecisve ho on men's s an etermie their behavour to eachother But the satsfaction of beng hgher n ra than others oes notcompensate for the oss of freeom of movement Man petries an

arkens the istances he has create He rags at the buren of thembut cot ove He forgets that it is sefiicte an ongs for beration But how aone can he free himsef? Whatever he oes anhowever eterne he is he w aways f hmsef aong otherswho thwart hs eorts So ong as they ho fast to thi stances he never come any nearer to them

Ony together ca men free themseves from their burens of istance an this precisey is what happens n a crow During the ischarge istictons are throw o an fee qua that ensitywhere there is scarcey any space between an boy presses agaistboy each man is as near the other as he is to himsef an an mmensefeeing of reef ensues It s for the sake of ths besse moment when noone is greater or better than another that peope become a crow

But the moment of scharge so esire an so happy contans itsown anger. It is base on an usion the peope who sueny feeequa have not reay become equa; nor wi they equa for everhey retu to their separate houses they ie o on ther o bestey keep their possessons an ther names hey o not cast out thereations nor ru away from ther faes Ony true converson eas

men to give up their o assoatons a form new ones Such assocations wch by their very nature are ony abe to accept a mte number of embers have to secure ther contiuance by rigi ruesSuch groups I ca crow crytas heir function wi be escribeater


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E CRO 9

But the crowd, as suh disintegrates. It has a presentimet of thisd fears it t oy go on estg if the process of discharge isontued with new people who joi it Only the growth of the rowdprevents those who belong to it creeping back under their private

burdens

DestructivenessE ESRUCVEESS of the crowd is often entioned as its ostopiuous quality and there is no denyg the fat that it can be

observed everywhere in the ost diverse ountres and civlizationst is discussed and disapproved o but never reay explained

The rowd particularly likes destroying houses and objects: breakable objets le window panes irrors pictures and crockery; anpeople tend to t that it is the fragi of these objects whichstiates the destructiveness of the crowd It is true that the noise ofdestruction adds to its satisfaction the bngig of windows nd therashig of glass are the robust sounds of fresh life the cres of soething new-bo It is easy to evoke the and that inreases theirpopularity Everythng shouts together the din is the applause ofobjects There sees to be a speal need for tis d of noise at thebegng of events when the crow is still sa and little or notinghas happened The noise is a proise of the renforements the rowd

hopes for and a happy oen for deeds to coe But it wod be wrongo suppose that the ease with whih tngs can be broen is the decisivefactor in the situation Sculptures of solid stone have been utiatebeyond recognition Christians have destroyed the heads and ars ofGreek Gods a reforers and revoluonares have hauled down thestatues of Saints soetes fro dangerous heights though often thetone hey wted to destroy has been so hard that they hve ahievedony haf her purpose

he destruction of represtational iages is the destruction of ahierarchy whch is no longer recoged t is the violation of generaystabished and universally vsible ad vaid distances The soidity ofe iages was the expression of their peranene They see to havexisted for ever uprght and iovable never before had it been

possible to approach the with hoste intent. Now they are hauleddo d broken to pieces. In this act the discharge acoplishesitsef

But it does not always go as far as this. The ore usual knd of


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TH COWD

The closed crowds of the past, of whch more wi be heard later had ued to faliar institutions. The pecar state of mcharacteristic of teir members seemed sometg naturl Tey alwaysmet for a specia purpose of a religious festal or martial i; and tis

purpose seeme to sanct heir state. A mn attenig a sermon honestly believed that it was the sermon wch mattere t m an hewoud have felt astonshe or even ignant had it been explane to

hm that the large number of lsteners present gave more satisfacton an the sermon itse A ceremones an rues pertig to suchistitutions are basicaly itent on cpturing the crow they prefer achurch-ful secure to the whole worl secure The regularity of

churchgog and the precise an famar repetition of certain ritessafeguard for the crowd sometig like a domesticate experience ofitse These performances and their recurrence at xe times supplant

ees for sometg harsher and ore volentSuch insitutions mgh have prove aequate the number of

huma beigs had reaied the same, but ore an more people edhe tows d the acceleratig crease the growth of populationsdurg the last few centuries contuly provie fresh inciements tothe foration of new an larger crows d nothig not even themost experienced an subtle leadership col have prevented themforg such conitions.

A te rebelions agans traitional ceremonal recounte thes of regions have been directed against the coement of the

crowd which wnts to feel the sensation of its ow growth agai.The Sermon on the Mout e New Testament comes to mind It isenacted in the open thousans are able to sten and there is no oubthat it is irecte agast the mtg ceremoousness of the ocialemple One remebers the tenency ofPaue Christity to breakut of the national and tribal bounaries of Juaism an to become aversal faith for men One remembers he contempt of Buddhismfor the castesystem of contempora ndia.

The nner history, too, of the several worl relgions is rich occurrences of a siar kn The Crusaes developed into crowdforaons of a magntude no church builg of the contemporaryword could have hel Later whole owns became specttors of the performnces of e agelnts these, adion, wanered fro

t o to. Wsley he 18th Century, based his mvement onsermons i the open ar. He was perfectly aware of the iportance ofthe enormous crowds which listened to him a sometimes in hisous he wore out the numbers of hose who were able to hea


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COS A OE

hm. Each erupon rom a cosed localy means ha the crowd desresto regan s old pleasure n sudden rapd and nmted grow

I desgnate as ru the sudden transon rom a cosed o anopen crowd Ths s a requent occurrence and one should not uder-

sand as somhng reerrng ony o space A crowd que oen seemsto overow rom some weguarded space o the squares ad sreetso a town where can move abou reely exposed to evehg andaacng eveyone Bu more mportat han ths exeal even s thecorrespondng er movemen: he dssascton wh the ltatono he umber o parcpans he sudden wll o aract the passonatedeerminaton to reach a men.

Since he Frenc Revoluon hese eruptons have aken on a ormwhch we eel o be mode. To an mressve degree he crowd hasreed se rom the subsace o tradonal relgon and hs asperhaps made easer or us to see t in ts nakedns what onemght cal s bologcal stae wthou the rascendal theores dgoas whch used o be nculcated i t The hstoy o the las 1 years

has culaed n a spate o such erupons; they have enguled evenwars or al wars are now mass wars The crowd s no longer contenwth pous proses and condonals I wans o experence or tselthe sronges possble eelg o ts ow anmal orce and passon das means to hs end wll use whatever socal pretexs d demandsoer hemselves

The rst pot to emphasse s ha he crowd never eels sauraed. Iremans hgry as long as there s one human beig has not reached.One cano be cerain whether hs huger would persst once hadrealy absorbed al men but seems kely Is eors to endure howeverare somewhat mpoten Is oy hope ies in he ormaton o doubecrowds he one measurg ts agaist he oher The closer n powerand ntensy the rvals are the longer boh o them wll stay ave.

Persecution0 E oF HE mos srikg tras o the iner e o a crowd s he eel-g o beng persecued a peclar angry sensveness and rriabltydreced agaist hose has once and orever noated as eneesThese ca behave i any maer harsh or concaor cold or sym-pathetc severe or mdwhatever they do wll be ierpreted asspringing rom sakable malevolence a premeditaed ineton todesroy he crowd openly or by stealth


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E COWD 3

In order to understand this feeg of hostty and persecuon it is necessary to sta from the basic fact that the crowd, once foed,wants to grow rapidy. It is dicut to exaggerate the power d dtermiaon with wch it spreds As ong as it fees that it is growg

- revoutonay st for exampe, which start with sma but hghycharged crowds-it regards anytg whch opposes its growthas costrctng. t can be dispersed and scattered by poce but ts hasoy a temporary eect ke a had movg through a swarm ofmosqutos But it c aso be attacked from with, namey bymeeting the demands wch ed to its formtion ts weaker adherentsthen drop away d others on the pont of jog tu back An

attack from outside can oy stengthen the crowd; those who havebeen physicay scattered are more strongy dra together aga attack from wthn, on the other hand, is reay dangerous a strikewch has achieved any gas crumbes siby It s an appa toindividua appetes and the crowd, as such, regards it as bribery as"imora it rs couter to its cearcut basic convction. Everyonebeongg to such a crowd caries withn a sma traitor who wantsto eat dr, make ove and be eft ane. As ong as he does a tson the quet and does not make too much fuss about it, the crowdaows m to proceed. But, as soon as he makes a noise about it, itstats to hate and to fear . t ows then that he has been stenigto the enticements of the enemy

The crowd here is ie a besieged city d, as many sieges, it has

enees before its was ad enees witin them Dug the ghtgit attacts more nd more partsans from the cotry aroud Thesesp through the emy ies and coect front of the gates, begggto be et i favourabe moments their wish is granted or they maycmb over the was Thus the city day gas new defenders, but eachof these brgs with him that sma nvisibe traitor we spoke of before,who quicky disappers to a cear to o e traitors aready hiddenthere. Meawhe the siege contues The besieges caiy watch fora chace to attack but they so ty to prevent new recrts reacgthe city To do ths they keep on strengthing the was from outside( ths strge siege the was are more importat to the assaants thato the defenders) Or they to bribe newcomers to keep away Ifthey fa i both, they do what they can to strengthen d encourage

that traitor to s own cause whch each newcomer carries with himito the cityThe crowd's feeg of persecution is nothg but the ituition of

this doube threat te was outside become more and more


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24 C O W D S A N D P O W E

cotcting an the cears wth more an more unerme Theactvtes of the emy outse o the walls are ope an ca bewatche; the cellars they are hen an ous

But mages of ths kn never coney moe th a part of the

tru Those streag from outse, wantng to get nto the cty, are ot oy ew patss, a renforcement an a support they ae alsothefood of the crow A crow whch s not ncreasg s in a state of fastthere are ways of holng out though such a fast a relgonshave evelope a great mastery of these I propose now to show howthe wor regos have succeee holng the crows eve whenthese ae ot n the stage of ece rap gow

Domestication of Crowds in the World ReligionsELGOS WOSE cams to uversaty have bee ackowlegevery soo change the accet of the appeal. the begng ther am

s to reach a to w who ca be reache won. The cow theyenvsage s unvesal eve sngle soul cots an every sou shall bethers But the ght they have to susta leas gaualy to a k ofhen respect for aversaes whose nsttutons ae alreay exst-e ce They see how cult t s to hol one's gro; insttuoswhch oer solaty an permanence seem moe an moe mporttto them Stmulate by those of ther aversares they make greateorts to ntrouce sttutos of ther own, an the, f they succee,grow n mpo tance wth tme The ea weght of ttutons, wchhave a lfe of the o, then gaually tames the mpetus of the og al appl hurches ae bult to contan the estg fat an aearge oy wth reluctance an ccumspection when there s reanee Thee s, too, a strong tenency to colect the fathful separate

unts When they become many there s aways a anger of snte-graton, whch must be contnually countere

A sense of the treacherousess of the crow s so to speak, n thebloo of all the hstorcal worl relgons. The ow tratons, whchare of a bnng characte, teach them how suenly an unexpectelythey grew Their stoes of mass coversons appear mracuous to

them, an they are so.

the heretcal movements whch the churches fear persecute, the same kn of mace tus aganst temsevesan the ures thus cte on the boes are panfu an uorget-table Both the rap gowth of ther rly ays an the no less rap efectos laer kep ther suscon of the crow always alve


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T COWD

What they want in contras o his is an obseqios oc t is cs-tomary to regar he faithfl as sheep an o prase them for heir sb-ssveness The chrches enely renonce the crows essentialtenency to qic growh They are satise wh a temporary cion

of eqay among he faithflthogh ths is never oo strictlympose, wih a efe ensiy ep wihin moerae bos anwth a srong irecion The goal they place n the far istance n thatother worl which no man may enter so long as he s alive an wchhe has t ea by many eors an sbmssons Graaly he ireconbecomes the most import tg he more snt the goa thbeter the prospec of is permanence The seengy spensable

prcpe of grow has been replace by somehg qie ierentby repeton

The faihfl are gahere togeher at appote paces an imes an,throgh performances which are aways he same hey are ransporeito a ml stae of crow feeling scien o impress iself on themwitho becog angeros an o which hey grow accsome

Their feeg of niy is ispense o them in oses an he conaceof the chrch epens on he righness of he osageWherever men have grown accsome to this precisely repeate

an limie experience n ther chrches or empes they can no longero wihot it. hey nee it as they nee foo an anythg ese whichs part of their existence No sen sppression of their cl noprohbition by ect of he sae can reman witho conseqences

Any strbance of their careflly baance croweconomy mstlmaely ea to the erpon of an op crow an his wl have althe elemental atribes which one nows t wl sprea rapily anbg abot a real instea of a cios eqaty; it wl new anfar more feen ensiies i wl give p for he moment ha faroan scarcey aaable goal for which t has been ecae anset self a goa here n the eiae srronigs of this concrete fe

Al sely prohbte religions revenge hemseves by a in ofseclarzation The character of their aherens' faith changes com-petey n an erpion of grea an nexpece ferociy bt they o

not ersan this They h they stl hol heir o faih an convicons an heir only nenion s to eep hem B, n reaty, they

have senly become qite eren people They are le with thenqe an violent feeg of the open crow which they now com-pose at a costs they want to reman part of t.


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COD AND POE

Panic

PANI N A theatre, as has often been noted, is a dsngon of thecrowd. The more peope were bound together by the performanceand the more cosed the form of the theatre which contaied them, themore vioent the disintegration

It is so possibe that the peformance aone was not enough toeate a genuine crowd The audience may have remained together,not because they fet gipped by it but simpy because they happenedto be there What the pay coud not achieve is immediatey achievedby Fire is as dangerous to humn beings as it is to nimas; it is thestrongest nd odest symbo of the crowd However itte crowd fee ng there may have been in the audience awareness of a re brings iuddey to a ead The common unstakabe danger creates a common fear For a short time the audience becomes something ike a rea

crowd they were not in a theatre peope coud ee together ikea herd of animas n dger and increase the impetus of their ight bythe simutneity of identica movements active crowd-fear of thisknd is the common coective experience of animas who ivetogether in herds and whose joint safety depends on their speed.

a theatre on the other hand, the crowd inevitaby disintegratesin the most vioent manner Ony one or two persons can get througheach exit at a time and thus the energy of ight tus nto an energyof strugge to push others back Oy one man at a time can passbetween the rows of seats and each seat is neaty separated from therest Each man has his pace and sits or stands by himse£ A normatheatre is arranged wi the intention of pinig peope down andaowing them ony the use of their hands and voices; their use of

their egs is restricted as far as possibeThe sudden coand to ee whch the re gives is imediatey

countered by the impossibity of any common movement Each mansees the door through which he must pass d he sees hief aonein it sharpy cut o from a the others t is the frame of a picturewhich very soon dominates him Thus the crowd a moment ago at its

apex must distegrate voenty, and the transmutation shows itsef invioentindividu action: everyone shoves, hits and kicks in a directionsThe more ercey each mn "ghts for his ife the cearer it

becomes that he is ghtng gins a the others who hem him inhey stand there ike chairs baustrades, cosed doors but derent


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COWD 27

fom hese that they are ave and oste. Tey push im n tis orhat diection, as it suits them or, ater, as they are pushed thesves.Neiter women, children no old people are spared: they are notdistngused from men. Whlst the individual no longer feels himsf

"cowd, he is st completely surrouded by it Pac is a disintegration of the crowd whn te crowd The dividual breaks awaynd wants to escape from it because the crowd, as a wole is endangered But, because he is pysicaly stil stuck in it e must attackit To abandon hmself to it now would be s ruin, because it itself isthreatened by run I such a moment a man cannot insist too stronglyon his separateness Hittng and pushg, he evokes ittng d pushg;

nd the more blows he icts and te more e receives te more hms e feels Te boundaries of his own person become clear to him agan

It is strange to obsee ow strongly for the person struggling with itte crowd assumes te character of re It originated with the unexpected sight of ames or with a shout of re and it plays likeames wit the man who is tryg to escape from it. he people epushes away are ke bug objects to him teir touch is hoste,ad on every part of hs body and it terries him. Anyone who stands s way is tanted wit the general hostity of re e manner nwhch re spreads and gradualy works its way round a person untl hes entirely surrouded by it is very simar to the crowd threatenng himon a sides The incalculable movements withn it te thustng fortof an arm a st or a leg are e te ames of a re whch may sud

denly spring up on any side. Fire in the form of a coagration offorest or steppe actuay s a ostile crowd and fear of it can be awakenedin y uman beng ire as a symbol for the crowd has entered tewole economy of man's feelngs and become an immutable part of itTat emphatic trampng on people, so often obseed in panics andapparently so senseless is nothng but the stamping out of re.

Disintegration through panc can oy be averted by prolongng theorignal ste of uted crowd fear I a threatened curch tere is away of achevg tis people pray in comon fear to a commonGod wose hd it lies to extinguish the re by a iracle

The Crowd RingN AENA CONTAINS a crowd which is dobly closed On account ofths curious quaity its exaination may not be entirely without value.

Te area is we demarcated from the outside world. It is usually


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2 O W D S A N D P O W E

sible from far o and its situaon the citythe space wch itoccupiesis wel kown People always feel where it is, even if theare not thnkng of it. Shouts from the area carry far and, wen it iopen at te top somethng of te ife whc goes on side com-

mucates itself to the surroundig cityBut however excitng these communications may be, an hibited ow into e arena is not possible The number of seats itcontains is imited its maximum density is xed n advance Teeats are arranged so that people are not too closely crused Teccupants are meant to be comfortable them and to be able towatch each from s o seat, without disturbing others

Outside, facg the city, the arena displays a lfeless wal inside is awa of people Te spectators tu thei backs to the city. They avebeen lifted out of its structure of walls and street and, for the durationof their time in the arena, they do not care about anhing whichappens there they have left behnd al thei associations, rules dhabit Te remaing together large numbers for a stated peod

of time is secure and the excitement has been promised them Butoy under one deite conditon te discarge must take placensd n

The seats are arranged tiers aroud the arena, so that eveyonecan see what is appeng below The consequence of ts is that thecrowd is seated opposite itse Every spectator has a tousand i front

of him, a thousand heads As long as he is there, al the others are teretoo whatever excites excites them and e sees it Tey areseated some distance away from him, so that the dierng detas whicmake dividuals of them are blurred tey look aike and theya beave in a simar maer and he notices them oy tetigs which he imelf is ful o£ heir visible excitement ncreases sown

There is no break i the crowd which sits lke this, exibiting itselfto itse£ It form a closed rg from wch notg can escape. htiered ring of fascated faces as somethg strangely homogeneousabout it It embraces and contains eveythng which appens below

noone relaxes his grip on tis noone tries to get away y gapn the ring ght red him of disntegration and subsequent dis

persal But tere is no gap; this crowd is doubly closed, to the wordoutside d n itse


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30 C O W D S A N D P O W E

o esse eee ow a cow s to be cassie w een on whichof them eomnates i it

I have iscusse oen an cose cows an exane that thesetems efe to the owth he cow is oen so on as ts owth is

not iee it s cose when its owth is imiteothe stction is that between rymc an sgnng cowsTs efes to the next two attibutes qly an dnsy an to bothof them simuaneousy

he sgnng cow ves fo ts schae But t fees ce ofhis an uts t o t esies a eatvey on eo of ensity to eae fo the moment of schae t so to seak wams itsef at tsensity an eays as on as ossibe wth the schae he ocesshee stats not wi equaty but wi ensty; an eqaity thenbecomes the ma oa of the cow whch in the en it eachesEvey shout evey utteance common is a va exession of thseuaity

e rymc cow on the othe han (fo exame the cow of

the ance) eniy an equaity coce fom he be Eveyth hee eens on movement A the hysca stmu vovefunction in a eetene manne an ae asse on om one ceto anothe Density s emboie in the foma ecuence of eteatan aoach; euaty s maniest i the movements themseves Athus by the sku enactment of ensity an equay a cow feeis enenee hese hythmic fomations s u vey quicky ant s ony hysica exhaustion whch b them to an en

he next ai of concetsthe slow an the qck cowefeexcusivey to the natue of the oa he consicuous cows which aethe ones usuay mentone an which fom such an essenta at ofmoe fethe otica soti wa ke cows we see ayae a qck cows Vey ieent fom these ae the eiious cows

whose o is a heaven o cows fome of ms hei oa sstant the way to t on an the tue fomation of the cow seeate to a fa o county o to anothe wo Of these sowcows we actuay see ony the tibutaes fo the en they stiveafte is invisbe an not to be atane by the unbeiev he sowcow athes sowy an ony sees itsef as emanent a fa istace

hs is a mee icaton of the natue of the foms We shahave to consie them moe cosey


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T ROW 3 1

RhythmYTM S ORGNAY

the hythm of the feet very humn beingwlks d, since he wlks on two legs wth whch he strikes the gound tu nd since he only moves he continues to do ths, whetheintentionly or not, rhythmic sound ensues The two feet neve strethe goud wi exctly the sme force The dierence between themcn be lrger or smller ccording to dividul constitution o mood.It is lso possible to wlk fster or sower, to un, to stnd st suddenly,

or to ump.Mn hs lwys istened to the footsteps of other men; he hs

cetiy pid more ttention to them thn to his own Anims too hve their f git; thei rhyths re often richer nd moreudible thn those of men; hoofed mls ee in heds, like regimentsof druers The knowledge of the anmls by which he ws sur-ounded, wch tetened m nd whch he hunted, w mnsoldest kowedge e lt to ow ns by the hythm of theirmovemt The eriest writig he let to red ws tht of theirtck; it ws kid of hythmic nottion imprinted on the soft groundd, s he red it, he conected it with the sod of its formtion

Mny of the footprints were lrge numbers cose together nd,ust by lookng quety t them, men, who themseves origy ived

in smll hodes, were mde wre of the contrst between ther o numbers nd the enormous numbers of some niml herds They weewys hungry nd on the wtch for gme nd the more thee ws ofit, the better for them. But they so wnted to be more themsevesMns feeg for his o crese ws lwys strong d is certinly not to be derstood only s his urge fo sefpropgtion Men wntedto be more, tn d tr the lge numbers of the herd which they

hunted bended their feelings with their o numbers whch theywisd to be lrge, nd they expressed this specc stte of commu excitement which sh cl the rytmic or trobbing crowd.

The means of chieving this stte ws st of ll the rhythm of theirfeet, repeating nd multipled teps dded to steps qck successionconjure up lrger number of men thn tere re. The men do not

move wy but, dncing, remin on the sme spot The sound of theisteps does not die wy, for these re contiuly repeted; there is long stretch of time durng which they contiue to sod loud andive ht they lck in numbers the dncers mke up in intensity; if


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32 C O W D S A N D P O W

the stamp ade, it sounds as if tee wee moe of them As long asthey go on dancng, tey exet an attaction on al in thei neighbo-hood Eveone witin heaig jons them d emas wit themThe natual thg would be fo new people to go on joinig them fo

eve, but soon thee ae none left and the dances have to conje picease ot of thei own limited numbes They move as though theewee moe and moe of tem Tei excitement gows and eaches fe

Hw do they compensate fo te cease nmbes which they cot ave? Fist, it is impotant that they sould al do the sameting Te al stamp the gound and the al do it in the same way;te al swing tei ams to and fo and sake thei heads The eqival-ence of the daces becomes, and aes as, the equivalence of theilimbs Evey pat o f a whch ca move gas a fe of it ow and cts as if idependent, bt te movements ae all pal, te mbs ppeang speimposed on each othe They ae close togete, oneoften estg on anothe, and thus nsity is added to tei state of

eqvalence. Densit and eqalit become one and the same. theed, thee appeas to be a single ceate dancing, a ceate withft heads and a hnded legs and ams, all pefomng exactly thesame wa ad with the same ppose Wen thei excitement is atits heigt, these people eally feel as one, and nothig bt phsicalexhaustion can stop them

Thanks to the domce of thm, a thobbg cowds havesometig simila tei appeaance The foowng account of onesuch dce was witen in te st tid of the last centu. It descbete aa of the New Zealand Maos, wch was oiga a wdce

The Maois placed themselves n extended e, i aks foudeep This dance, caed Haka, to a stange wiessg it fo the st

time, is calculated to excite the most alang feas; the entie body ofpefomes, male and female, bond and fee, wee ed togethe,without efeence to te ak the held in the communit A themale pefomes wee qte naked, except fo the catouchebox ound te body, £ed wit bl catidges A wee med wimuskets o bayonets put on the ends of speas o sticks; the ongwomen incldg th wives of the chief who joed n the ce,wee exposed to te waist.

" the chant that accompaed the dance, pope time was kept; asws eqy we displayed i the vaios pefomces of agityexhibited these hakas, pecial in the pependicla jmp fom te


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E COWD 3 3

ground whch wa oftn rpatd a multanou mar, a f thwhol body of prformr wr actuatd by one mpul Th mplmnt wth whch thy armd thmlv wr brandhd at th ammomnt, d th dtorton of coutnc, wth th long tr of

har t oftn ado thr x, gav thm th apparanc of an armyof Gorgon"h countnanc of a wr dtortd nto vry pobl p

prmttd by th mucl of th · m fac vry nw grmac watty adoptd by all th prformr xact unon Thu, f oncomncd crwng up h fac wth a rgdty a f th applanc ofa vc had bn mad u o h wa tantly followd by th whol

body wth a mlar gtcuaton, o that at tm th wht of thy wr only vbl, t ya rolng to and fro Thy almotold thr y out of thr oct, d tndd thr mouth, lkhammrhadd hark, from ar to ar Thr tongu wr thrutout of th mouth wth xtnon mpobl for an Europa tocopy arly and long pract�y could accomplh t Atogthrthr coutnnc prntd o horrb a pctacl that I wa glad torlv mylf by wthdrawng my gaz .

"Evry part of thr body wa n parat actvy fgr, to, y,tongu a wll a arm and lg Wth th attnd hand thy truckthmlv on th lft brat, or on th thgh Th no of thr chtwa dafnng At lat 3 o prormr took part n th haka. t ayto magn th ct of th danc n tm o war, n rang th

bravry, and hghtnng th antpathy that flt by th contndngpart agant ach othrTh rolng of th y and th thrutng out of th tongu ar gn

f danc and chang. But though war uualy a mattr for mn,that , oree mn, eveone abdon hmf to th xctmnt of haka. Th crowd hr know nthr ag, x nor rank; all act aqul But what dtnguh th danc from othr of a mlarpurpo th xcptonay xtrm rmcion of qualty. It athough ach body wa takn to pc, not oy th arm ad lg, butalo th gr, to, tongu and y and thn al th tongu gottogthr and dd xactly th am thg at th am momnt thto and al th y bcam qual n on and th am ntrpr Eachpart of ach dcr zd by th flng of qulty and t away

rprntd acton o ncrang volnc Th ght o 3 o humanng, who togthr lap from th grond togthr thrut out thrtongu ad togthr roll thr y, mut mak an mpron of nvncbl unty Dnty hr not only a dnty of popl, but alo, and


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3 ROWS AN POWR

eqy one o ther ever mb One coud mage ger andtongue cog together on their own to ght The rhythm o the hakagiv ubce to each one o thee eqlite; moutg together tother coon clmax they are rretbe For everythng happen uder

the uppoition that t sn. The enemy watchg and the eenceo the haka the teny o the common threat But, once in etence,the dance become ometg more a wel It practed rom rly age aume many hape and perormed on al kd o occaion Many traveer have been wecomed wth a haka the reportquoted above derve rom one uch occaion hen one riendlygroup meet another they alute each other wth a haka, whch looko much n eaet that the nocent pectator ear the mmedateoutbreak o a battle At the eral ceremone o a great chie aterall the phae o vioent lament and elmutlation cutoma wth theMaori or ater a etve and abdt meal, everyone uddenly jumpup, reache or hi muket ad or to a haka

th dance, wch may pacpate, the trbe eel themeve

a crowd They make ue o t whenever they eel a need to be acrowd, or to appear as one ont o other the rhythmc peecton it ha attaned the haka ee th purpoe relaby Thank to ittheir unty ever erouly threatened rom within.

StagnationH stgntng crowd i cloey compreed; t mpobe or it tomove realy reey It tate ha omethg pave t; t wat It wator a head to be ho it, or or word, or t watche a ght atreay matter to t i densty The preure whch each member eelaround wi o be elt a the meaure o the trength o the

ortion o wch he now part The more people who ow tothat ormaton the tronger the preure become eet have nowhereto move, arm are ped do ad oy head reman ee, to ee andto hear; every impule paed drectly rom body to bdy Eachdivdu know that there mut be a number o peope there butbecaue they are o cloely jammed together, they are et to be one.Th kd o denity allow ite tme; t eect are contant over acer period; t amorphou ad not ubject to a practied andamar rhythm For a long tme otg happen but the dere oracton accumulate d creae t t urt orth wth enhacedviolence


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HE COWD 3

The pence of a agnaing crowd become e aoning if onereaize fuy he imporance hi feeing of deni ha for i Thedener i i he more peope i arac I deniy i he meaure of iize bu i ao he imuu o furher growh he dene crowd grow

fae Sagnaion before he dicharge i an exhibiion of hi deniyhe onger a crowd remain agnan, he onger i fee and manifei deniy

For he individua who compoe uch a crowd he period of ag-naion i a perod of mae; aid down are a he g and weaponwih whichaoherime hey arm hemeve again each oher heyouch one anoher bu do no fee confed a cuch i a cuch no

onger hey do no fear each oher Before hey e forh, in wha-ever direcion hi wi be hey wan o make ure ha hey wiremain ogeher when hey do. They wan o grow coer ogeherbeforehand and o do , hey need o be undiurbed The agnaingcrowd i no quie ure of i uniy and herefore keep i for a onga poibe.

Bu hi paience ha i imi The dicharge mu come omeimeWihou i, i woud be impoibe o ay ha here reay wa a crowdThe oucry which ued o be heard a pubic execuion when hehead of he maefacor wa hed up b h cionr and he oucryheard oday a poring occaion are he oce of he crowd. Bu heoucry mu be ponaneou Reheared and reguary repeaed houare no proof ha he crowd ha achieved a ife of i own They may

ead o i, bu hey may ao be ony exea ike he dri of a iaryni Conraed wih hem, he ponaneou and never quie prdicabe oucry of a crowd i uniakabe and i eec enormou Ican expre emoion of any kind wc emoion ofen maer ehan heir rengh and variey and he feedom of heir equenceI i hey which give he crowd i feeg pace

They can ao however, be o voen and concenraed ha heyimmediaey ear he crowd apar Thi i wha happen a pubiexecuion one and he ame vicim can be ked oy once If hehappen o be omeone hough inoabe, here wi up o he veya momen be ome doub a o wheher he can in fac be kiedand hi doub wi accenuae he inheren agnaion of he crowdA he harper and more eecive hen, wi be he igh of he evered

head The ucceeding oucry wi be erribe bu i wi be he aoucry ofhi paricuar crowd We may ay ha, in hi cae he crowdpay for he enghened peod of agnan expecaion which i wihave enjoed ineney, wih i own immediae deah


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CROWS AN POWR

Our mode arrangement for port are more practcal The pecta-tor can s: uveral patence made vble to telf They are free totamp ther feet but they tay n the ame place; they are free to clapther hand A dente tme aowed for the occaon ad n general

they can cot on t not beng hortened For th tme at eat theywl reman together Wthn t howevr anythng may happenNoone can know whether or when or on whch de goal wi behot; and apart from thee longefor occurrence there are manyother leer event whch ca lead to vocferou erupton manyoccaon on whch the crow w hear t own voice

The al dintegraton an catterng of th crowd made omwhat e panfu by beg etermned n advce t known toothat the beaten de wl have an opportty of takng t revengeeverythng not over for good The crowd can realy feel comfortableat a match rt t can jam the entrance and then t can ettle down nthe eat. t hout a opportunty are and even when everythg over t can hope for ilar occaon n the future

Stagnnt crowd of a much more pave knd form n sealy actor play to ful houe the ered number of pectator xe from the tart People arrve on ther own There may be malaggregaton n front of the boxoce but people fd ther wayeparately nto the autorum They are taken to ther eat Everythng e the play they are gog to ee the actor who w peorm

the tme the curt wi re and the pectator themelve n theieat Latecomer are receve wth lght hotty There they all te a wedrled herd t and nftey patent But eveyone very wel aware ofh o eparate extence He ha pad for h eatand he notce who t next to hm T the play tart he leurelycontemplate the row of aembled head. They awaken n hm anagreeable but not too preg feelg of denty The equalty of the

pectator rey cont oy n the fact that they are a expoed tothe ame performance. But ther pontaneou reacton to t aremte. Even ther applaue ha t precrbed tme i generapeople clap ony when they are uppoed to The trength of theapplaue the oy clue to the extent to whch they have become acrowd t the only meaure of th and valued accordngly by the

actor.Stagnaton he theatre ha become o much a rte that ndvduafeel oy gente exteal preure whch doe not ti them too eeplyd carcely ever gve them a feelng of nner unty and togethee.But one hod not uderetmate the extent of ther rel and hared


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THE COWD 37

expectation, nor forget that t perssts durg the whole of the performnce. Pepe rarey eave a thetre before the end of the play;even when dsppointed they sit t through whch means tht for thatperod aywy they stay together

The contrst betwee the stiess of the isteners nd the dn of heapparatu ictg tse on them is even more striking in coceHere eveythng depends on the audience eng competely dsturbed any movement s froed on any soud taoo Though themusc performed drws good part of ts fe from ts rhythm orhythc eect of any sort on the isteners must e perceptbe Thecontnully uctutng emotions set free y the musc are of e most

varied nd intens kd Most of those present must feel hem and inaddton must feel them together at the same tme But outwardreactions are prohted People sit there motoness as though theymanaged to her og It s obvious tht long and rticial trangn stagnton hs een necessy here We have gro accustomed tos results but to an unprejudced d there are few phenomena ofour cutural fe as astonishng as a concert audence Peope who aowmusc to ect them a natural way behave qute derently adhose who hear it for the rst time never hvng heard any beforeshow unbridled exctement When French saors pyed the Marseillaise to the aborigies of Tasmania these expressed ther satisfacton ysuch strange contortons of ther body nd such astouding gesturesthat the sors shook wth augher One young mn was so enchanted

by t tht he tore out hs hr scratched hs head w both hnds andrepeatedy uttered oud piercng criesA meagre remnant of physcl dscharge s preserved even in or

concerts Clappg is oered s thas to the performers : a brehotic noise n exchange for a long we-organized one If appauses suppressed and peope dsperse as quetly s they hve sat t s becausethey fee tht they re wtn the sphere of regous devoton

It is from ths sphere that the stless ofthe concert orgaly devesThe sdg ogee before God s practice common to many relgions t s characterzed by the sme features wth whch we have become faar n seculr crowds nd t cn ead to just as sudden ndvioent discharges

Perhaps the most impressve case is the fmous "Standng on

Arafat the cmax ofthe pgrmage to Mecc On a rtualy appontedday 6- plgrims gther on the plain of Arafat some hoursdstace from Mecca They group themseves n a lrge circe roudThe Mout of Mercy bare which rses the mdde of the


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T COWD 39epesented fo the behode an eteme case of a stagnatng cowd

But ths concepton can be caed st one degee futhe. Insteadof the saughteed enemy, t can be ll the dead eveywee who e nthe common eath and awat esuecton Eeyone who des d s

bued add to the numbe A who hae ee ed beong theend thee ae so many of them that they cannot be counted The eathbetween them s the densty and though they e thee sepaateythey ae fet to be cose to each othe They w e thee fo an etetyunt the Day of the Last Judgment The fe stagnates unt themoment of esuecton and ths moment concdes wth that of theassemby togethe befoe God, who w judge them othng happens

n between As a cowd they e thee as a cowd they se aganThee s no moe subme poof of the eaty and sgncance of thestagnatng cowd than the deeopment of ths concepon of Resuecton and ast Judgment

Slowness) or the Remoteness of the Goal SLOW COWD s chaactezed by the emoteness of ts goa ts composed of peope who moe wth geat pesstence towadsan mmoabe goa, and who keep togethe n ccumstancesThe oad s ong the obstaces unknown and danges theaten themfom a sdes o dschage s pemtted befoe the goa has been

eached.The sow cowd has the fom of a tan Sometmes t ncudes fomthe begnng eeyone who s gog to beong to t as wth theEodus of the Chden of sae fom Egypt. The goa s the Posedand and they ae a cowd so ong as they beee n ths goa. Thestoy of the wandeng s the stoy of the beef. Often the dcutes ae so geat that they begn to doubt. hey hunge and thst and

as soon as they gumbe they ae theatened wth dsntegatonAgan and agan must the man who eads them ste to e-estabshthe fath Aga and agan he succeeds o f e does not the theatof enemes does he wandeng stetches oe foty yeas and contans ny eampes of the foton of quck tanstoy cowds.Much coud be sad about these, but th pont now s that hee they

ae a subodnated to the moe compehense concepton of a sngesow cowd mong onwads to ts goa the conty that was pomsed t he aduts n t gow od and de chden ae bo and gowup But een f a the ndduas ae deent the Exodus as a whoe


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0 ROWS AN POWR

rmas th sam No groups jo ; from h star t had bcidd ho bogd o t ad had a cam o h Prosd Ladt s a crod hch caot gro b aps ad bouds ad thus ousto rmad paramou durg h ho migrato: ho as

such a crod to avod dsgraoThr s a scod p of so crod hch ca btr b compardto a ork of srams t sars th sma rvuts gradua rugtoghr o th stram thus formd othr strams o ad hs fough ad s ahad, m bcom a rvr hos goa s hsa Th aua pgmag o Mcca s prhaps th most mprssvamp of ths tp of so crod From h rmost pars of thsamc or caravas of pgrms st out a th drco of MccaSom of ths bg sma othrs ar quppd th grat spdourb prics d, from h sart, ar th prd of th coutrs hrh orgiat But a of hm th cours of hr adrgscour othr caravas th th sam goa; ad so h gro adgro u, ar hr goa, th bcom ormous rvrs Mcca s th

sa to hch h o.Such caravas ar so cosutd that th pigrms hav amp scopfor ordar prcs, qu ucocd th th purpos of thrjou as a ho h v th rcurrg da, cotd th maagrs ad, as h ar mos poor hav dcu provdghmsvs th food ad drik Th v a ad cotuachagg surroudgs ad ar far mor posd to dgrs ha thar a hom; ad ths dagrs ar o aas rad to r trprs Thus th rma o a arg t dvduas, ivg hrpara vs as pop do ahr But as og as th stck to thrgoaad mos pgrms doh ar aso aas par of a so crohch sts hovr h bhav rao to t, ad hich ou to st uti th goa s rachd

A h vart of h so crod s to b foud formaos hchhav rfrc to a vsb goa, ot ataab hs f Th orr th bssd aat a thos ho hav mrtd thr pac i ts a dd goa ad bogs o h fahfu ao Th s tcar ad dstct fro of hm h do o hav to b saisdh a vagu smbo Lf s a pgrimag oards t, bu b hmd hr goa stads dah Th a ad s dcu to ko, for ts ohr markd; ma go astra ad g ost Bu th hop of hord bod sti coours th f of th bivr to such a dgr ht ar it to spak of a so crod to ch a h foos ofa fah bog commo h ao f s cro s paricuar


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TE OWD 4

pessive ts membes do not know each othe o they ive dispesed in any cities and counties

ut what does it look ike o nsde and what chiey distnguishesit om a qck cowd?

The dscge is denied to the sow cowd We coud say that tswas its most ipotant distinguishg mak and instead o sowcowds we coud speak o cowds wch have no dischage ut test tem is peeae o the dischage canot be entey enouncedt wl always be contaned in the conception o the state t is oypostponed to a a distance whee the goa is thee too is the dischageA vsion o it is always songly pesent though its acuaity ies at the

end o the wayThe slow cowd tends to lengthen and potact the pocess which

eads to the dischage The geat elgions have developed a paticulaastey o ts usness o deay Thei conce is to keep the oowesthey have won and in ode to do this and aso to wn new onesthey ave to assembe them om time to time Such assebes w

esut in voent dischages and once these have happened they haveto be epeated and i possible supassed in violence Thei eguaecuence at east is esential i the unity o the aithul is not to beost ut the events likely to happen in the couse o sevices enactedas these ae by hythic cowds cannot be contoed ove agedistances The centa pobe o the unvesa egions is how todonate believes spead ove wide stetches o the eath The oy

way to do it is by a conscious sowng down o cowd evens Distantgoas must gain in impotance nea ones osng moe and moe ohei weight until in the end they appea vaueess An eatly dischage is too ie ony one wch is eoved into the wold beyondhas peanance

this way goa and dischage coincide; and the goal is invoate Aposd land hee on eath can be occupied and laid waste by eneiesthe people to whom it was swo can be expeled o it Mecca wasconqueed and pundeed by the Camathians and the hoy stoneKaaba caied o o any yeas no pgiage could be undetakenut the heaven o the bessed is secue o a such devastations tsubsists on aith alone and is ony vuneabe thee The disintegationo the sow cowd o Chistianity set in as soon as aith in this ote

wod began to decay


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2 CROWDS ND POWER

Invisible CrowdsO vER HE WHOE eath heeve thee ae men is fod the conception of the nvsbl dd. t is temptig to ca it humty's oldestconception. Thee is cetaiy no hode no tibe, no people chdoes not have abundant ids about its dead Man has been obsessedby them they have been of enomous impotce fo him the actionof the dead upon the livig has been esstial pat of lfe itsel£

They ee thought of as beig togethe just as men ae togethe, and genealy it as assumed that thee ee a geat many of them.

The od Bechuana i common ith a othe outh Afic natvesbelieved all space to be full of the spiits of thei cestos ath ai and sky ee coded ith ghosts ho could execise a balefuiuence on the livig they chose." The Boloki folk i the ongobelieve that they ae suouded by spiits ho y to tha them atevey tist and tu ad to ham them evey hou of the day d

night The ives and ceeks ae coded ith the spiits of thei ancestos, and the foests and bush ae ful also of spiits eve seekingto jue the livig ho ae ovetaken by nght h taveng byoad o coe I neve met among them a man dag enough to go a night though the foest that divided ou viage fom the next, eventhough a lage ead as oeed Thei invaable eply as: Thee ae too many spiits in bush d foest' "

Men usualy beeve that the dead lve togethe i a distant couty,unde the eath on an isand o in a heavey house The foloig ispat of a song fom the ygmies i Gaboon

The gates of the caveAe shut.The gates of the cave

Ae shutThe sous of the dead ae codig thee n doves,Le a sam of iesLike a sam of es dcing at eveg timeA sam of ies dancig at eveng timehen the night has gon dak,

hen the su has vanshedhen the night has go dak,A sam of iesThe hg of dead leaves a hog tempest.''


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TE COWD 3

But t s not ony that the nubes of the dead nease and a feengof the densty pevas They aso ove about d undetake epedtons togethe To oday peope they ean nvsbe, but thee aepeope th spea gfts aed Shaans ho have poe to onjue

up and subdue the spts and tu the nto the sevants Aong theChhee n Sbea a good Shaan has hoe egons of auayspts and hen he as the a they oe n suh nubes thatthey suound the sa seepg tent hee the eos takes pae,ke a a on a sdes

The Sha ell hat they see In a voe tebng th eotonthe Shaan as out tough the sno hut

The spae of heaven ed th naked bengs ushng though thea en naked en, naked oen ho ush though the a andouse gae and snosto

Do you hea t oag? Roang ke the ngbeat of geat bdsgh n the a That s the fea of naked en That s the ght ofnaked en The spts of the a beathe out sto The spts of the

a dve the hng sno ove the eath' Ths ghty vson of naked spts n the ght oes fo theEskos

Soe peopes agne the dead o etan of the as ghtng hosts Te Cts of the Sottsh Hghands have a spea od fo the ost of the dead slg eanng sptuttude The spts yabout n geat ouds ke stangs, up and don the fae of the ord

and oe bak to the senes of the eathy tansgessons Wth thevenoous uneng dats they k ats and dogs sheep and atteThey ght battes n the a as en do on the eath They ay be headand seen on ea osty nghts advanng and eteatng, eteatngand advang aganst one anothe Afte a batte te son booday be seen stanng oks and stones The od gim eansshout o y, and slggm as the battey of the dead Tsod ate beae sogan The epesson e use fo the battees of ou oden ods deves fo the Hghand hosts of thedead

To wdey sepaated nothe peopes the Lapps n Euope andthe Tt Indans n aska shae the sae onepton of the AuoaBoeas as a batte The Kota Lapps agne that they see n the

Nothe Lghts those ho have faen n a and ho, as spts ontue the ght n the a The Russan Lapps see n the Lghts thesprts of the san They ve togethe n a house hee they assebefo te o e d thee stab eah othe to death the oo s


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CRODS ND OER

cov wth bloo h Noth ght nnoc h t of thbl bwn th oul of th ln. Among th nkt of Ak ltho who o not fl n btl but of p nto th un-wol. hvn oy th bv wo who hv n w

Fom tm to tm hvn on to cv nw t th howthmlv to th Shmn fuly m wo n th oulp th Auo Bol n pclly tho m whchmbl ow n hv of lght n n ovk ch othn chng pc vy much th nkt thmslv ght A togAuo Bol ounc o thy bv gt lught t h kng fo nw com

h Gmc pol blv tht nomou numb of wo gth togth n Vlh l tho who hv fln n btlc th bgng of th wol go to Vlhl h numb gowcontnully fo th no n to w Vlh thy vl ngog thmv; foo n nw tly Ech moghy th wpon n go out to ght hy kll ch oth

pot but thy tn up gn; t not l th. hough 640 gtthy nt Vlh 8o mn n owBut t not oy th pt of th a whch mgn n uch

numb nvbl to onay vng mn n ol Jwh txt w M ought to know n hou mmb ht th c bwn hvn n th not mpy but ll wth toop nulttu Som of th pu fu of gc n goon ; butoth uncln ctu tomnto o of hm hy lly to n fo n th Som of thm wnt pc oth k w;om o goo om v; om bng f but o bng th"

th lgon of h ol Pn th monDfom pcc hot un hgh commn of th o th holy book ZendAvesa th fomu fo th numbty: hou-

n of houn of tho D th tn thou of tn thoun numbl my"

h Chtn Ml Ag gv ou thought to th numb ofdevls Cu von Htbch Daloge of Mracles pot ofhow thy onc thong th co of chuch uch numb thtthy tub th chnt of h monk. h w bgnnng th t

lm o how thy nc tht toub m h monw fom on of th cho to th oth n mngl wth tho o tht ltt no ong knw wht thy w ngng untn t conon ch w tng to hout own th oth If omy mon cn gth togth n on ng plc to ntupt on


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E COWD

single service how mny of hem ms here be in he whole wold !B we know ledy from he Gospe dds Cris h egion enered ino one mn"

Ler he ells how wnon pries on his dehbed sid o kins

womn who s ner him o yo see h gre b opposie s?Under is roof re s my sepre srws s here re demons nowghered rond me" They ly in mbsh for hs sol wing o cryi o pshmen B hey so ried heir lck he dehbeds of hepios A he fner of good bbess here were more devis gheredogeher hn here re eves on he rees of gre for rond yig bbo more h he grins of sd on he se shore These

piclrs cme from devi who hd been here in person nd gven cco of i l o gh wh whom he fell ino conversionHe did no disgise hs dispponmen over hese friless endvorsnd ded h he hd been presen siing on n rm of he Crosswhen Js expired

I is cer h he imporniy of hese devils ws s monsros sheir nmbers Whenever Rchm Cisercn bbo cosed his eyeshe sw hem rond hm s hick s ds There were more preciseesimes of heir nmbers wo of whch re know o me b heydier widely one is 63 5569 he oher is bion

There is nr nd wide conrs beween mens concepon ofdevis nd heir concepion of nges nd sns Wih he ler everyhng is clm There is no more srivig for he gol hs been reched

B hey oo re ghered ogeher heveny hos mide ofngels prrchs prophes poses mryrs cofessors virgns ndoher righeos ones Rnged in gre crcles hey snd rod hehrone of heir Lord ike coriers ed owrds heir kg Hepressed close o he heir blss is gronded in heir neess o hm.He hs cceped hem forever nd in s mch s hey wl never levehm hey w never sepre from ech oher They remn in conemplion of him nd hey sng his prises I is he ony hg heysi do nd hey do i ogeher

The nds of he fihfl re fl of sch imges of nvisibe crowdWheher hese re he ded or devis or ss hey re imge slrge concenred hoss I cod be rged h regons bg wihhese invisibe crowds They my be dierenly groped nd in ech

fih dieren bce beween hem hs developed I wold beboh possbe nd frifl o cssi relgions ccordg o he wy whch hey mpe heir invisible crowds Here he higher regionsby which I men ll hose ch hve ed nversl vdi


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C RO W S N O WE R

ibt a spio dg o f ctanty nd claity Ths vsbl hostsa kpt alv by ligos tacng Thy a th fblood of fathTh hops and dsis of n clng to m Whn thy fad faithwakns and whst it dis slowly away fsh hosts com to tak th

pac of th faddOn of ths cowds and phaps th most mpott of all has notbn ntond t t s th only on whch n spt of ts nsbiltyss nata to s today an posry Fo two o phaps thgnatons a man can cont his postty; fo thn on t ls nty th ft It s pcsly whn it has bcom nmblss thatpostity s visb to noon It is known that it st cas stgadally and thn with gowg acclation Tbs and wholpopls tac thi oigin back to a comon ancsto and th possclaid to hav bn gvn to h show how gloos and spcalyhow nos a pogny h dsid; nabl as th stas inhavn and th sand on th shos of th sa th Sh-Kng th classical Book of Songs of Cs th s a pom n whch pogny is

compad to a swam oflocstsTh ' h ocsts wgs say t ong t ong ;

Wl ay yo sons ad gadsonsB a host mablTh locsts wngs say bnd bind;W ay yo sons nd gandsons

Contn n an ndlss lnTh locsts' wngs say join jon' ;W ay o sons ad gadsonsB fov at on

Lag nbs nbokn sccssona knd of dnsty thoghottimand nty: ths a th th wshs fo pogny ponoucd

h Th s of th swa of locsts as a sybol fo th cowdof pogny s patcaly stikng in that it hbits thm not ashaf vin bt as paswoth th mplay pow ofcas

Th flg fo postty s as alv today as it v was bt thmag of abndanc has dtachd itslf fom o own pogny and

tasfd itsf to ft hanity as a who Fo most of s thhosts of th dad a an mpty spstiton bt w gad it as a nobland by no mans ftlss ndavo to ca fo th ft cowd of thnbo; to want th good nd to ppa fo th a btt and jst f th vsal anty abot th f of th ath ths


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CROWD 7

feelg fo the ubo is of the geatest impotance. Disgust at thethought of tei maomation te ouht of wat tey may ookike if we continue to conduct ou gotesque was, may wel do moehan a ou pivate feas fo ouselves to lead to te abolion of tese

was, d of wa alogetheIfwe now conside thef of te invisible cowds we ave spokeno we sha concude that some of them have disappeaed completeyad othes in ae pat Among the latte ae the devs. In spite of teifome numbes, they ae no longe to be found ywhee in teifaia shape. But they have left thei taces The fact tat tey weesmal is poved by te stikng instances adduced by Caesaus von

Heistebach, who was contempoay with te time of te oweingSince then they have given up a the taits wich mgt end us of ahuman ue and become much smale stl t is eatly changed andin even lae numbes that tey tu up again in te 19t centuy asbcll Instead of the sos they now attack the bodies of men; d toese hey can be vey dangeous Oy a tiny minoity of peoplehave ooked into a icoscope and ealy seen tem thee But eveyone as head of tem and is contiuay awae of te pesence andmakes evey eot not to come into contact wit themthoug this,considein thei invisibty is a somewhat vaue endeavou heipowe to ham and thei concentation in enomous numbes in veysma spaces is undoubtedly taken ove fom devs

invsibe cowd which as aways existed but which has oy

been ecoged as such since the invention of the micoscope, is thecowd ofprmoo 2 milion of tese animalcules set out togetheon thei way They ae equa among themselves and in a state of veyeat density. They a have the same goa and except fo one, tey alpeis on the way It may be objected that they ae not human bensand that it is teefoe not coect to speak of them as a cowd in thesense the wod has been used But this objection does not eally touch theessentals of te matte. Each of ese aimalcules caies with it eveyting of ou ancestos which wl be peseed It conas ou ancestos; it s them and it is ovewheinly stange to fd tem heeaain betwee one huma estence and anothe in a adicaychged fom a of them within on tiny invsible ceatue and tisceatue pesent in such uncountable numbes


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T C R O W D 49

Baiting Crowds

TN CROWD foms wth efeence to qucky ttnblegol The gol s known nd clely mked nd s lso ne. Thscowd s out fo kllg nd t knows whom t wnts to kll It hedsfo ths go wth unque detemton nd cnot be cheted of tThe pocmng of the go the spedg bout of who t s tht s topesh s enough to mke the cowd fom Ths concentton onklng s of spec knd nd of n unsupssed ntensty Eveyone

wnts to ptcpte eveone stkes blow nd n ode to do thspushes s n s he cn to the vctm f he cnnot ht hm hmse hewnts to see othes ht hm Evey m s thust out s f ey belonged to one nd the sme cetue But the ms whch ctuly dothe httng count fo most The go s so the pont of getest densyIt s whee the ctons of the ptcpnts ute Go nd denstyconcde

One mpotnt eson fo the pd gowth of the btg cowd stht thee s no sk volved Thee s no sk becuse the cowd hvemmense supeoty on the sde The ctm cn do nothng to themHe s ethe bound o n ght nd cot ht bck hs defencelessness he s vctm oy lso he hs been mde ove to them fo destuc-ton he s destned fo t nd thus noone need fe the sncton ttched

to klng Hs pemtted mude stnds fo the mudes peope hveto deny themselves fo fe of the penltes fo the pepeton mude shed wth mny othes whch s not ony sfe nd pe-mtted but deed ecoended s esstbe to the get motyof men Thee s too nothe fcto whch must be emembeedThe thet of deth hngs ove l men nd howeve dsgused tmy be nd even f t s ometmes fogotten t ects them thetme nd cetes n them need to deect deth on to othes Thefomton of btng cowds nswes ths need

t s so esy nd eveythg hppens so quckly tht people hve tohuy to get thee tme The speed eton nd concton of bt-ng cowd s sometg uncny t s e exctement of bld men whoe bdest when they suddely thnk they cn see. The cowd

dvnces towds vctm d executon ode to d tself once dfo of ts ow deths But wt cy hppens to t s the opposteof ths. Though the executon though oy fte t t feels moemced th eve by deth t dstegtes d dspes kd of


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o C R O W D S N D O W R

igh The greaer he cim he greaer he ear I can ony holdogeher i a erie o imilar een olow each oher in quick ucceon

The baiig crowd i ery old I goe back o he mo priie

dynac u known among men he huig pack I ha ay more laer abou pack which are maller han crowd and dier rom hem many oher repec alo Here I ony w o rea o a ew generaloccaion which gie rie o he ormaion o baig crowd

Among he deah penalie wch a horde or a people can iic oan indiidual o mai or can be diiguihed The r ixplson The indidual i marooned where he i a he mercy o wildimal wihou any kid o deence or where he wi are Thepeople o whom he ormerly belonged will hae nohng o do wihhim any more; hey are no allowed o heler him or gie him ood;any inercoure wih him dee hem and make hem guily Solude i mo rigorou orm i he ulimae penaly here; eparaion roone' group i a orure which ery ew can uie epecially uder

primie condiion A arian o hi iolaion i handig oer o heenemy Thi i paricularly cruel and humiaig or men who ueri oherwie han aer ghg For hem i i a double deah

The oher way o puhg i collecie g. The condemedman i aken ou o a eld and one Eeryone ha a hare in h deah;eeryone hrow a one d i i under heir joi impac ha herangreor coape Noone ha been appoied execuioner; hecouy a a whole doe he kllig The one and or he commuiy; hey are he monumen boh o i deciion ad o i deedEen where ong i no longer cuomay he incliaion or coecie kilng peri Deah by can be compared o i re repreenhe muiude which deire he condemned peron' deah The cii aailed rom a ide by he ame which e on him imuaneouly

and kl him The religion o hell go urher Coecie kig by rere and a a ymbol or he crowdi aociaed wih he idea oexpulion namely expulion o he and urrender o diabolic enee·he ame o hell reach up o he earh and ech down he herecwho i orei o hem. The uddig o a icim wih arrow and hehoong o a condeed man by a deacen o oldier boh preen he execuing group a he delegae o he whole communiyih he buryig o men in anheap a pracied and elewhere he a and or he muiude and do i paul buine

A orm o public execuion are coeced wih he old pracice ooecie g The rea execuioner he crowd gahered rod he


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2 C RO W S N O WE R

the case ofa king or person with siar power there is n additionthe satisfaction of rrsl The right of capita pshment whch habeen his so ong has been tued agast him Those he used to kihave no ked hm t is impossibe to overrate the importance of ths

reversa There is a type of crowd hich is created by reversa aoneThe eect of displayig the vctims head to the crowd is by nomea conned to the discharge. The impact of s dowfal is tremenos. By it he becomes no more than they are. They recognehm as one of themselves and ths he makes them a equal to oneanother for they a see themselves n him. But the severed head of thevictim is aso a teat. They have looked into those dead eyes withsch passion that now they canot free themseves fom hm His headhas become part of the cro d so the crowd itse is strck at in hiseath Terre ad sticken by a mysteious disease it begns to is-itegrate ad ay disperses in a kd of ight from h

Once a baitig crowd attaed its victim it distegrates rapidlyRuers dager are we aware of this fact and throw a vctim to the

crowd order to impede its growth My potical exections arearraged soely for this purpose. The spokesman of radicl parti onthe other had often fai to dersad that the pubic execuon of adageros enemy may ct deeper to ther ow esh tha nto thaof the enemy party t may we be that the crowd of ther partisasw scatter after such an execution d that they w not regai therstrength for a ong te ad perhaps never

Disgust at coective g is of very recent date ad shoud notbe overestimated. Today everyone takes part in public exectionsthrough the newspapers ike eveythg else however it is morecoortabe than it was We sit peacefuy at home ad out of a hudreeta can choose those to ger over whch oer a specia thri Weoy appaud when everythg is over and there is no feeg of gut

convace to spo or pleasre. We are not responsible for the sentence nor for the jouasts who report its exection nor for thepapers whch print them None e ess we ow more about thebusiness than our predecessors who may have walked mes to see ithg arod for hours d n the end seen vey itte The baitgrow is preserved in the newspaper reading pblic i a der formit is tre but because of its distace from events a more iesponsibleone One is tempted to say that it is the most despicabe ad at thesame tme most stable form of sch a crowd. Sce it oes not evhave to assemble it escapes distegration; variety is catere for b theiy reapprce of the papers


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C R O W D S N D P O W R

th dirction of th ght has bn rpatdly impdd. To block thcrowd's way is nogh to mak it brak o in anothr dirction. itsway s rpatdy blockd, t soon no longr ows whr to t. Itgrows confsd abot its drction and ths oss its cohrnc Th

dangr wich, tl thn, had id its mmbrs and gvn thmwings, now sts ach man p as an nmy of th nxt Evon isitnt oly on savig himsf

h mass ight on th othr hand, conay to th panc, dvs itnrgy from its cohrnc. As long as it rmas on powf adndvidd rivr and dos not alow itslf to b disprsd and split, soong dos th far by whch it is drivn rmain barabl. Onc a massight is dr way t is charactrzd by a kid of xaltationthxaltation of common movmnt No on prson is in any lss dagrthan any othr and, thogh h contis to r or rid with al hisight to sav his o lf, h sti occpis a rcognizd plac amongstall th othrs and stcks to t throghot th trmol

Th ight c last for days or wks d, dring it, som rmai

bhind, thr strckn by th nmy or bcas thr strngth is gon.Evyon who falls by th way acts as a spr to th othrs. Fat hasovrtakn him and xmptd thm. H is a sacric ord to dagrHowvr important h may hav bn to som of thm as a compionin ght, by faling h bcoms important to a of thm Th sght ofhim givs nw strngth to th wary h has provd wakr than thyar; th dangr was aimd at him and not at thm Th isolaton whch h rmas bhd, ad in which thy stl s hm for a shorttm, hightns for thm th val of thir bg togthr yon whofas has ths an incalclabl importanc for th cohsion of th ight

h natra nd of th ight is th attant of th go onc thiscrowd s in safty t dssovs Bt th dangr can also b arrstd at itssorc. An armistc may b dclard and th city from which pop

wr g b no longr dangr hy d togthr, bt thy rtsingly, d soon vyting is agai as sparat as t sd to b. Btthr s also a trd possblty, which may b cald th oozing awayof th ight in sd Th goa is too far o th srrodgs ar hostiland th pop starv d grow xhastd It is no longr oly a fw,bt hndrds and thosands who colaps and rman bd hisphysical dstgration sts n oy gradaly, for th origia imptslasts for a ong tim popl crawl on vn whn vry chanc ofsalvation has vanshd. Of all typs of crowd, th ight crowd s thon whch xibits th gratst tnacity its rmnants kp tothrnt th vy last momnt


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here s o dearth o eamles o mass ghts. ur o tme alones rch them. Unt the last war oe woud hae thought rst o theate o aoleos Grnd Arm ts retreat rom Moscow or thss the most strng examle we know o ad we now t al t

detas an army comosed o me o so many deret cotres and laguages the terrbe wnter the ense stretch o coutry they hadto traverse most o them on ootths was a retreat whch was boudto degenerate nto a mass ght The rst cv ght rom a metroo

ls o comarabe sze was robably that wch took lace whe theerns rched rs n hs us edus dd nt stn r n rstce ws sn cncuded but such ws the etent

nd ntenst the eent tht r the French t hs bece hecentr ss er the st wr

I do ot ntend to accumuate examles rom recent tmes or they are st resh everyoes memory But t s worth ontng out thatmass ght has aways been kow to men eve the tmes whethey stlved together n qute smal grous t ayed a art n thermagaton long beore they coud have exerenced t n actualumbers. ne remembers the vso o the skmo haman Thesace o heave s ed wth aked bengs rushng tough the ar.Me naked men aked women who rush through the ar and rousegae and sowstorm o you hear t roarng? oarg lke the wgbeat o great brds hgh n the ar at s the ear o aked mehat s the ght o aked me"

Prohibition Crowds SC Y o crowd s created by a rus a arge number oeoe together reuse to cotue to do what t the they had donesgly They obey a rohbto d ts robto s sudde d se-mosed It c be an old robton whch has bee orgotte or oewhch s resusctated rom tme to tme But ay case t strkes wthenormous ower It s as absolute as a cod but what s decsve about t s ts negatve character. otrary to aearances t everreay comes rom outsde but aways orgates some eed n thoset aects As soo as the rohbto has bee ecated the crowd

egs to orm Its members a reuse to do what the outsde worldxects them to do hat t then they had doe wout ay uss as t was atural to the d ot at a dcut they ow suddeyeuse to do ay crcutces d the ss o ther reusal


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C R O W D N D O W E R

s the measure other togethes From the moment ots brth thsrowd s transsed wth the negatveness o prohbton and tsremans ts essental haratest as long as t ests Thus one ouldso speak o a negatve rowd. It s ormed b resstane the pro

bton s a ronter notng an ross a dam notng pereEah person wathes the other to see whether he remans pa o thedam Anone who gves wa and transgresses the probton s outlawed b a the others

our o tme the best example o a negatve or probtonrowd s the srk. The majort o workers are austomed to do therwork regularl at ertan hours The atual tasks var rom man to one dong one thng and another somethng te derent.But large groups start work at the same tme d leave t at the sametme The are euals relaton to ths oon moment o start}gand stoppng work addton most o them do the work wth therhands and al o them ake get pad or worng. Ther wages however der aordng to the work the do and t s lear general

that ther eualt does not go ver ar and s not pronouned enoughto lead b tse to the ormaton o a rowd But when a stke breaksout the workers eualt beomes ar more strngent. t onssts thenn ther ommon reusal to ontnue work and ts reusal s somethngwhh permeates the whole man The onvon reated b a probton on work s both keen and strongl ressnt

The moment o standstll s a great moment and s be ele-brated n workers' songs There are man thgs whh ontrbute tothe workers eeng o ree at the start o a stre. The ttouseua whh the had heard made so muh o had never realmet more than that the a used ther hands Now t has suddebeome a real eualt As ong as the were workng e had vevared thngs to do and everthng the dd was presbed But when

the stop work the all do e same tng t s as though the hdshad all dropped at exatl the same moment d now the had to exeal ther strength no to lt them up agan however hungr theames Stoppng work makes the workers els The onretedeman are atuall o less mportane th the eet o smoment he am o the strke ma be a wage nrease and the

erta eel at one n ts am But b tse t s not suent to makea rowd out o them.The hands that drop et other hands Ther naon spreads to

the whole o soet Smpaet strkes prevent others who had notbeen thng o a stoppage rom oowng ther norl oupaons.


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T CROWD 7

Th ssc of a stik is to prvt othrs workg wh th strsar id Th or ay thy achiv this th gatr thir chac ofvctoy

With th actua stik it is sstia that vryo shoud abid by

th udtakig ot to work Spotaousy fo wii th cowdtsf th spgs up a orgazatio with th fuctios of a statt is fuy coscious of th shotss of its ad has oy a vy saubr ofaws; but ths a sticty kpt ickts guad th tacsto th pac wh th stik statd ad th wokpac itsf is for-bidd goud Th itdict o it ifts it out of its vyday tivitad dows it with a spcia digiy its ptss ad stiss it has

sothg sacrd Th fact that th stiks hav tak ov sposi-biity fo it tus it ito a coo possssio ad as such it is po-tctd ad ivstd with a high sigcac Ayo who cosa it is xad about his covictios Ayo who approachs itwith pofa ttios watig to wok th is tatd as ay o taito

Th orgaizatio ss to it that food ad oy a faiy disibutdWhat thy hav ust ast fo as og as possib so it is ipotat thatvyo shoud rciv quay lile t dos ot occu to th stog tothik that thy shoud hav o ad v th gdy a satisdwith thi potio As th is usuay oy a vy itt for vryoad as distibutio is sttd i good faith ad pubicy it adds to thpid which th cowd fs its quay Th is sothig dpy

sious ad worhy of rspct about such a orgazatio ad whth focity ad dstctivss of cowds a tiod o caothp bg th rsposibity ad digity of ths stuctusspug spotaousy fo cowds A xaiatio of th pobitiocrowd is sstia if oy for th raso that it xhibits such tiydirt ad idd cotary uaitis As og as it as tu toits atu it is avs to dstuctio

But it is tu that it is ot asy to kp it i his sat Wh thigsgo bady ad wat achs popotios dicut to ba ad spciayif it is assaid or bsigd th gativ cowd tds to vt to a posi-iv ad activ o Th stiks a who hav suddy ddthsvs th o activiy of thi hads ad aft a ti, it cacost th o sa ort to go o ot usg th As soo as thy f

th uty of thir stad hatd thy ic towards dstructioad particay towads dstructio th sphr of thi ow faaactivity t is hr that th ost iportat ask of th orgatiobgs t ust kp th chaactr of h pohbitio crowd tact


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nd preven ny posiive or sepre ion ms lso reogniewhen he momen hs ome o lif he prohiiion o whih he rowdowes is esene f is sigh orresponds o he feeling of herowd i will y wihdrwing he prohiiion deree is own dis

solion

Reversa CrowdsDR RND he wolves hve lwys een he sheep re he

sheep going o e he wolves his ime? This senene, wi omesfrom leer whih Mdme Jlien wroe o her son drng he FrenhRevolion onins he essene of reversl. So fr few wolves hveheld down mny sheep Now he ime hs ome for he mny sheep o gns he few wolves is re h sheep re no voros, i

canetti, elias - crowds and power (continuum, 1978)

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