PM. NEW CURRENT DUTCH  VERSION IN PREPARATION, WITH CASES ABOUT GLOBAL WARMING, COVID-19, ETC, TO BE PUBLISHED AUTUMN 2021 !

Collective behavior and public opinion – Rapid shifts. English (Mahwah, NJ: Erlbaum, 301 p., w. notes & ref., 2 indexes. ISBN 0-80058-4386-8), and Dutch (below). A reconsideration of mass psychology and collective behaviour sociology, in the light of the new meta-principles discovered by chaos theory and the ‘complex adaptive systems’ approach.

Part I has chapters on ‘The continuous mutation of informal messages’ as in the Disney rumour; and ‘Circular reaction in media hypes’ as with the Band Aid campaign.

Part II on ‘Collective behavior’ on ‘The formation of synergy in crowds’ as in the Moruroa riots, ‘The emergence of a patterns’ as in the opinion current about Baby Seal hunting, ‘The self-organization of social movements’ as in the case of Greepeace.

Part III on ‘Shifting public moods’ has a chapter on ‘The evolving context of fads’ as in Pog-o-mania, ‘Critical thresholds in panic’ as in the Mad Cow scare, ‘Possible attractors’ as in the polarization about Shell’s Brent Spar.

Part IV has chapters about ‘Phase transitions’ as in the Asian currency meltdown, and ‘Fundamental uncertainty’ as in the Chernobyl fall-out.

Dutch version: Brein-bevingen –Snelle omslagen in opinie en communicatie (‘Mind-quakes’). Amsterdam: Boom. 1^st ed. 1999, 2^nd ed. 2000. 366 p., w. illustr., lit. & 2 indexes. ISBN 90-5352-545-9.

Tv Bk. Itw. Mieke van der Wey, Studio NL, Wereld omroep (13'07):  https://www.youtube.com/

Marginally related spin-off, aimed at a much larger audience: De kracht van de zwerm (2009).