The Mana of Mass Society

Media is often associated with magic. We hear of ?the magic of advertising” or the spells cast by charismatic public figures. In The Mana of Mass Society, anthropologist William Mazzarella asks what happens to social theory if we take these metaphors literally. In particular, he trains his eye on past and present attempts to make sense of the ?collective forces of society”--the vital and volatile energies of public life?and uses the concept of mana (a Melanesian word for supernatural power) to explore advertising and propaganda, charismatic leadership, and mass persuasion in general. Questions of authority, commitment, engagement, identification, and desire coalesce around the concept of mana, the emergence of which the author connects to broader concerns about mass mediated publics. Through masterful engagements with some of the twentieth century’s most supple thinkers, including Durkheim, Weber, Marx, and Adorno, Mazzarella articulates his own original ?anthropological philosophy’, while redefining key notions such as sovereignty, fetish, immanence, subject formation, and others. The Mana of Mass Society sets a compelling agenda for the future of anthropological theory, media theory, and the study of public social life.

William Mazzarella is the Neukom Family Professor of Anthropology and the Social Sciences at the University of Chicago.