Mass Culture and Mass Society

ALABARCES, PABLO

The Blackwell Encyclopedia of Sociology

Routldege

Lugar: Londres; Año: 2017; p. 1 - 4

The category ?mass society? first emerged at thebeginning of the nineteenth century as a way torefer to the changes which had arisen in contemporarysociety as a result of industrialization.With this new term, the ?new societies? ? inreality old European societies which had undergonesocial, demographic, economic, political,and cultural transformations due to the Industrialand French Revolutions ? recognized thenovel presence of the middle and lower socialstrata, which had been, until then, ?invisible.?In this way, ?mass society? became the adjectiveused to describe every society in which ?masses?occupy roles and areas which had previously beenreserved for its dominant classes or social groupsdependent upon them: mainly politics and cities.