Neotribalism
- This article concerns the sociological concept of Neo-Tribalism and not the reemergence of ethnic identities that followed the end of the Cold War.
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Neotribalism or modern tribalism is the ideology that human beings have evolved to live in tribal society, as opposed to mass society, and thus will naturally form social networks constituting new "tribes."
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Sociological theory [edit]
French sociologist Michel Maffesoli was perhaps the first to use the term neotribalism in a scholarly context.[1] Maffesoli predicted that as the culture and institutions of modernism declined, societies would embrace nostalgia and look to the organizational principles of the distant past for guidance, and that therefore the post-modern era would be the era of neotribalism.
Work by researchers such as American political scientist Robert D. Putnam and a 2006 study published in the American Sociological Review[2] seem to support at least the more moderate neotribalist arguments. Data has pointed to a general breakdown in the social structure of modern civilization due to more frequent moves for economic reasons, longer commutes and a lack of emphasis in the media narrative on the desirability of strong friendships and community bonds.
Aesthetics [edit]
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This article relies largely or entirely upon a single source. (March 2013) |
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The neutrality of this article is disputed. (March 2013) |
In 2010, the Los Angeles Artist Johnny Andrew Giglotti Bailik structured a series of photography regarding the theme of "Neotribalism".
"This idea, the concept of “Neotribalism” is to have work that attempts to draw together prominent and formal elements of ritual from past culture. I believe in a reintroduction to using art for mythic purposes. In our day and age, the artist is an illuminator, and can act as shaman to bridge the metaphysical world of the “sacred space”. In Theory of the Forms, Plato states “Beauty” transcends the world of sense experience”, which means that the experience of beauty is unlike what we would today describe as the aesthetic experience. Beauty and ritual both transport the person to another place and/or time. My art deals with the role of being a “guide” for modern culture, myself, I am a medium for spirit to pass through. My work is to be seen as a rite of passage from past to present.
My use of ancient Sumerian Cuneiform in my photography is to show that prior to current times, ancient and primitive art, was created by the tribal shamans or master artists skilled in symbols, materials and sacred (fetish) items". - Johnny Bailik 2012.
Francoise Choay states “Indeed modern shamanistic practice demonstrates that almost all objects are imbued animistically with special powers, meaning, spirituality, and presence. That the interpretation of the world around us requires a deep knowledge of hidden symbols and meanings, as well as a vast knowledge of matters spiritual, sacred, profane, secular, tribal, cultural, etc. In much the same, we as artists require these same ways of seeing -- although probably not to anywhere such a deep extent. For the artist, a space of three years is a vast expanse of time".
See also [edit]
- Deep ecology
- Eco-communalism
- Ethnic nepotism
- Evolutionary psychology
- Tribalism
- Joseph Campbell
- Monument
- Aesthetics
References [edit]
- ^ Maffesoli, Michel (1996). The Time of the Tribes: The Decline of Individualism in Mass Society. London: Sage.
- ^ McPherson, M.; Smith-Lovin, L.; Brashears, M. E. (2006). "Social Isolation in America: Changes in Core Discussion Networks over Two Decades". American Sociological Review (71). pp. 353–75.
