Sociophysics: A new approach of sociological collective behaviour. I. mean‐behaviour description of a strike

A new approach to the understanding of sociological collective behaviour, based on the framework of critical phenomena in physics, is presented. The first step consists of constructing a simple mean‐behaviour model and applying it to a strike process in a plant. The model comprises only a limited number of parameters characteristic of the plant considered and of the society. A dissatisfaction function is introduced with a basic principle stating that the stable state of the plant is a state which minimizes this function. It is found that the plant can be in one of two phases: the “collective phase” and the “individual phase.” These two phases are separated by a critical point, in the neighbourhood of which the system is very sensitive to small changes in the parameters. The collective phase includes a region of parameters for which the system has two possible states: a “work state” and a “strike state.” The actual state of the system depends on the parameters and on the “history of the system.” The irreve...