Education in the Internet age: interview with Michel Maffesoli

Abstract

Michel Maffesoli, born on November 14, 1944 in Graissessac, France, is a sociologist in love with Brazil and frequently comes to debates around issues that involve the current and the quotidian in a time that he understands as postmodern. A disciple of Gilbert Durand, he took the chair of Émile Durkheim at the Sorbonne (Université de Paris-Descartes) in 1981, where he remained until September 2014. He is currently an emeritus professor and an honorary member of the University Institute of France ad vitam. He considers himself a thinker of postmodernity or contemporaneity who seeks to highlight the fundamental changes (the root of être ensemble), because for him the current crisis is not only economic, but societal. In this interview, the dialogue with Maffesoli took place based on four axes: 1) academic training; 2) understanding of the educational phenomenon in contemporary times; 3) research carried out; and 4) reflections on contemporary political aspects. The interview sought to present how the French thinker sees the changes that the internet has brought to the field of education and, in particular, to the teacher-student relationships. The dialogue also highlighted the authors who contributed most to their education, the relationship that Maffesoli established with the thought of Karl Marx, Max Weber, among others, and the understanding of the university environment.