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Living in society

In folk cultures, it is believed that balance must be achieved for individuals, societies and the natural environment to flourish. Moderation in all things – ethical, religious, ecological, medical – is important in private and public life. The "middle way" is therefore an ambiguous idea. It guarantees social order but also functions as a system of checks and balances against misuse of power.

Between order and disorder

Until the end of the Ancien Régime the perception of time had an ecological dimension. Marked by calendar feast days, this cyclical pattern governed natural events and human behaviour. Norms were defined and the exercise of power organised on that basis. But this approach also reveals the contradiction, inherent in all cultural phenomena, between conservatism and the desire for change. For example, carnivals – which briefly reverse the rules of proper behaviour and lay bare the tensions between order and disorder – can just as well reinforce the return to the established norm as help change customs.