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Rethinking Neo-Tribes: Ritual, Social Differentiation and Symbolic Boundaries in ‘Alternative’ Food Practice

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Neo-Tribes

Abstract

Critiquing neo-tribal research for discounting the role of social differentiation and overstating the inclusive and non-hierarchical aspects of neo-tribal communality, this chapter attempts to extend the neo-tribe concept to incorporate processes of exclusion, hierarchy and symbolic boundary formation as well as acknowledging the continuing influence of class relations. To this end, it firstly draws on Durkheim’s, Goffman’s and Collins’ writings on rituals and collective effervescence, to discuss how neo-tribal gatherings have a hierarchical and excluding character. Secondly, the chapter discusses recent research influenced by Bourdieu and studies on ‘alternative’ food consumption to conceptualise how neo-tribal formations can be connected to class-based forms of cultural hierarchy.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Child and Youth Studies, Stockholm University, Stockholm, Sweden

    Elias le Grand

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  1. Elias le Grand
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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Tasmanian School of Business and Economics, University of Tasmania, Tasmania, Tasmania, Australia

    Anne Hardy

  2. School of Humanities, Griffith University Gold Coast Campus, Gold Coast, Queensland, Australia

    Andy Bennett

  3. School of Social Sciences, Monash University, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia

    Brady Robards

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le Grand, E. (2018). Rethinking Neo-Tribes: Ritual, Social Differentiation and Symbolic Boundaries in ‘Alternative’ Food Practice. In: Hardy, A., Bennett, A., Robards, B. (eds) Neo-Tribes. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-68207-5_2

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