It applies it to the twin disciplines of mass psychology (under social psychology, mostly in Europe) and collective behavior sociology (mostly in North America) that deal with emergent psychosocial phenomena that lie outside conventional approaches.
Jaap van Ginneken is a Dutch author, specialised in science studies, collective behaviour sociology and mass psychology. He has published some 25 books, the 10 major ones also translated into English. Earlier forerunners of this book were widely hailed as very innovative - yet highly readable.