A Sociology of the Total Organization - Atomistic Unity in the French Foreign Legion

Informed by a modified version of Goffman’s concept of the total institution, this book untangles the Foreign Legion and the ways in which social orders interplay. A detailed and empirically grounded study, this book shows how atomistic unity is not limited to organizations such as the military, but applies to a variety of collectivist settings.

As such, it will appeal to scholars of sociology and anthropology with interests in military life, social relations, social theory and the work of Goffman.