Rather than producing homogenous individuals, mass society has led to the creation of many small groups: a form of tribes (French: tribus) which are defined by lifestyles and common taste.

[2] The ethnologist Jean-François Gossiaux [fr] wrote that the theses in The Time of the Tribes are unoriginal and what distinguishes the book are instead the value judgements apparent in the author's tone and in neologisms such as "bourgeoisisme", which groups together capitalism and Marxism.

[4] The sociologist Anne-Marie Laulan [fr] wrote that although The Time of the Tribes is a work of sociology and philosophy, its main contribution is that it brings hope for the future of social communication.

Ronald N. Jacobs called it an ambitious book that raises relevant questions concerning society, religion and social movements[6] and Abby Peterson described it as "one of the most important contributions to the discourse of cultural sociology to come on the scene".

[8] Maffesoli's tribus concept inspired a body of literature that extends beyond sociology, where it is used as an alternative to theories about individualisation or social fragmentation as the defining characteristics of a post-industrial society.