neo-tribes

neo-tribes

a term used by M. Maffesoli (Les temps des tribus, 1991, tr. 1996) to refer to temporary social groups which cohere intensely around immediate consumption activity and then disperse into the general state of fragmented, nomadic anonymity which is said to characterize ordinary social life. Somewhat eccentrically, Maffesoli uses the case of the orgy as an example of this phenomenon. More commonplace examples are perhaps festival crowds, sports crowds, political gatherings and CARNIVAL groups. While the neo-tribe is only constituted sporadically as a physical entity, it subsists in continuous social life through magazines, television audiences, internet groupings, and the like.