Michel Maffesoli is Professor of Sociology at Rene Descartes University, the Sorbonne. He is Secretary General of the Center for Research on the Imaginary, and Adjunct-Director of the Study Center on the Current and the Everyday (Paris V), and has published works on violence, bureaucracy, and daily life.

"The topic is absolutely central: the body and sexuality throughout history. It is a major contribution to the study and history of sexuality. It has a solid historical-comparative sweep, and is written with a conviction and a power that is compelling." — Norman K. Denzin, University of Illinois"This book takes up a theme important to the postmodern crisis — what is the sacred, and what does it do? It locates the sacred in direct line with everyday life and the orderliness of society." — John O'Neill, York University, Toronto

• PrefacePreface to Second French EditionPreface to English EditionTranslator's NotesCindy LinseForewordMichel ValentinIntroduction1. Unproductive Life2. The Social Divine3. The Cosmic Union4. The Orgiastic as a Factor in Sociality5. Bacchus the Federator6. The Banal ConfusionOvertureNotes

Michel Maffesoli is Professor of Sociology at Rene Descartes University, the Sorbonne. He is Secretary General of the Center for Research on the Imaginary, and Adjunct-Director of the Study Center on the Current and the Everyday (Paris V), and has published works on violence, bureaucracy, and daily life.

"The topic is absolutely central: the body and sexuality throughout history. It is a major contribution to the study and history of sexuality. It has a solid historical-comparative sweep, and is written with a conviction and a power that is compelling." — Norman K. Denzin, University of Illinois"This book takes up a theme important to the postmodern crisis — what is the sacred, and what does it do? It locates the sacred in direct line with everyday life and the orderliness of society." — John O'Neill, York University, Toronto

• PrefacePreface to Second French EditionPreface to English EditionTranslator's NotesCindy LinseForewordMichel ValentinIntroduction1. Unproductive Life2. The Social Divine3. The Cosmic Union4. The Orgiastic as a Factor in Sociality5. Bacchus the Federator6. The Banal ConfusionOvertureNotes

Michel Maffesoli is Professor of Sociology at Rene Descartes University, the Sorbonne. He is Secretary General of the Center for Research on the Imaginary, and Adjunct-Director of the Study Center on the Current and the Everyday (Paris V), and has published works on violence, bureaucracy, and daily life.

"The topic is absolutely central: the body and sexuality throughout history. It is a major contribution to the study and history of sexuality. It has a solid historical-comparative sweep, and is written with a conviction and a power that is compelling." — Norman K. Denzin, University of Illinois"This book takes up a theme important to the postmodern crisis — what is the sacred, and what does it do? It locates the sacred in direct line with everyday life and the orderliness of society." — John O'Neill, York University, Toronto

• PrefacePreface to Second French EditionPreface to English EditionTranslator's NotesCindy LinseForewordMichel ValentinIntroduction1. Unproductive Life2. The Social Divine3. The Cosmic Union4. The Orgiastic as a Factor in Sociality5. Bacchus the Federator6. The Banal ConfusionOvertureNotes