When Does a Crowd Become a Mob?

The English language is full of pejoratives for large groups of people: mob mentality. Herd behaviour. Crowd contagion.

Much of this apprehension stems from one of the most influential works of psychology ever written, Gustave Le Bon’s The Crowd: A Study of the Popular Mind. Unfortunately, Le Bon’s big idea – that crowds produce derangement and violence in even the most rational subject – was not based on any actual research.

So why the lingering suspicion? In his new book, Multitudes: How Crowds Made the Modern World, journalist and author Dan Hancox traces our fear and attraction to mass gatherings.

He talks to Eleanor Penny about how mass crowds take shape – from Nazi rallies and student protests to urban riots and insurrections – and how the state tries to stamp them out.