Tribalism & the Other
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Table of Contents
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"...But there’s a downside to this kind of tribalism, to this loyalty and connection to one’s own tribe, and that’s the exclusion of outsiders. On one hand it kind of makes sense--this idea that you have to be loyal to your own tribe--because everyone is responsible for everyone else’s survival in this tribe. That means that there is not a lot of room for the protection of outsiders.
So you have this concept of the outsider as the other, and from the earliest civilizations on, this idea of the tribe and the other – us and them – has structured human societies. You can see it in present-day relations as well; think about all the social categories that exist in the modern world. You’ve got things like gender, age, class, race, ethnicity, citizenship status, sexuality – the list goes on and on..."
Key Terms
- Individuals
- Nuclear Families
- Extended Families
- Clans
- Tribes
- Tribalism
- One/Other Split
Guided Viewing Questions
- The earliest forms of human organization were based on what? How were these early societies organized?
- What is tribalism and how has it shaped human societies?
- What are the benefits of tribalism? What are the drawbacks?