While most readings in this series are about the malignant
forms of tribalism polarizing America, this one is about an attempt to foster a
positive transnational form called "neo-tribes". The reading is by a
collective named NeoTribes, writing "NeoTribal Emergence” (2016).
NeoTribes draws its inspiration from philosopher Daniel
Quinn's writings recommending "new tribalism" as a way for people to
move beyond the ruinous effects of modern civilization and chart a course to a
better life. NeoTribes is also associated with the pro-commons P2P
(peer-to-peer) movement. The neo-tribal orientation is thus on the Left — but
an innovative kind of Left that combines classic tribal and new information-age
network types of ideas. And while classic tribes were built around ethnic
identities and sought to maximize pride, these neo-tribes are being built
around work and lifestyle identities and seek to maximize purpose.
NeoTribes agree that tribes were our earliest form of
organization, and that "human beings have evolved to live in tribal
society as opposed to mass society." They also believe that, because
modern civilization has resulted in such untenable waste and destruction,
"we’re in the throes of a re-tribalizing moment." So their motto is
"The future is tribal". As they see it, "In many ways the
“neo-tribal” moment is being ushered in by a deep longing to escape cultures
that belong to a bygone era." In a sense, this means starting societies
over by reverting back to the tribal form — but NeoTribes is future-oriented,
and it means to accomplish more than that.
At present, NeoTribes consists of five cutting-edge
transnational collectives: OuiShare, Wisdom Hackers, Agora, Sistema B, and
Perestroika. But they are just getting going, and will campaign to expand this
year.
Here're a few passages about the above:
"We are a transnational
collective of community builders, facilitators, strategists, entrepreneurs,
provocateurs, researchers, experience designers and social architects from
diverse tribes, serving an emerging paradigm. We delve into different forms of
community, networks and subcultures to reveal best practices, tools and
experiential knowledge; to "re-mix", share and apply within modern
ways of living and organizing. At our core is an effort to create visibility,
shared learning and relationship between emerging pockets of insurgency."
"We as NeoTribes, an emerging
collective of neo-tribal communities, have come together to ask some timely
questions and create a frame through which we all may continue to develop common
language, wisdom and practical know-how. We are experimental communities
searching for viable alternative forms of living in an era of deep transition.
We are digital natives yearning for an analogue reality that is marked by the
physicality of existence. We strive to align our pace of life with natural
rhythms that make space for love, trust, belonging and solidarity – values too
often absent from mass society. Since September 2015, we’ve been gathering in
digital meeting rooms as well as face-to-face for learning journeys in Brazil,
Berlin and Costa Rica, forging bonds of trust between our communities, and
making space for reflecting on who we are, where we are heading and why we feel
the way we do about the present moment."
"Over the course of the next
6-months we will embark on a learning journey, crafting and curating a cookbook
of practical “how to” wisdom from over 50+ neo-tribes around key themes related
to community design, group practices and rituals, methods of self-organization
and facilitation, and tools for governance, financing, and mutualism."
One quality I like about NeoTribes is their insistence on
combining individualism and collectivism (or mutualism). This is consistent not
only with P2P theory's concept of "collective individualism", but
also with TIMN theory's view that all four of TIMN's cardinal forms of
organization (tribes, institutions, markets, networks) and thus societies as a
whole involve both individualism and collectivism — often different kinds and
in different ways at different times, but always a combination nonetheless.
Here are a few quotes showing this:
"[We] aren’t naïvely cocooning
ourselves in “Cumbaya collectivism.” We recognize the human need for a
community where one can pursue belonging in the context of a collective, while
also remaining autonomous, self-expressive and unique. We affirm that each
individual should be witnessed and understood, without being pressured to
disappear into group identity or camouflage her authenticity. We believe in the
power of individual autonomy, and also in the power of mutualism. Many of our
tribes are finding new ways to mutualize resources and build commons in the
forms of shared operational infrastructure, housing, work spaces, food, and so
on – without demanding that anyone martyr themselves for a higher cause."
"In constructing our
communities, many of us think about how to create a place of shared identity,
while also maintaining inclusivity. Traditional tribes are often very closed.
You inherit an identity based on kinship and the place you were born. But
neo-tribes most often represent your “chosen tribe.” You opt in, and can have
multiple tribal allegiances or cycle through different tribes in a
lifetime."
This insistence by NeoTribes on being for both
individualized and mutualist approaches contrasts with the canard I've heard
from tribalized conservatives that they are for individualism while liberals
/progressives are for collectivism. This canard has awful problems: First, all
the liberals I know are for individualism too. Second, conservatives may oppose
the collectivism they see in big government and the welfare state, but they
like other kinds of collectivism — e.g., family, community, patriotism, etc.,
not to mention that their tribalism is itself a kind of collectivism. Third, as
I noted above, all progress-oriented societies require mixtures of
individualism and collectivism, otherwise they cease progressing. This is
another area of doctrinal thinking where the tribalization of conservatism has
led to a defective defense of a false dichotomy (not to mention that it
provides further evidence that conservatives think mainly in terms of
boundaries, liberals mainly in terms of horizons).
But to get back to the NeoTribes' initiative, here's what
else I appreciate: They are for openness, in transnational networked ways, not
isolation and exclusivity. They recognize a need for "alternative forms of
governance", suited to a next phase of social evolution, "without
delusions of separateness to entirely “escape the system”." Indeed, they
recognize "the interdependence of personal well-being and structural
forces".
Furthermore, they prefer to focus on local matters, yet feel
part of a global consciousness. In their words, "We long to root down in
local contexts, and often find more pride in the cities that we contribute to
than the stale rhetoric of participation offered at a national level. At the
same time, our digital infrastructure and social media has imparted to us a
global consciousness."
I see some overlap in all this with TIMN theory about past,
present, and future social evolution — but I shall note three points only
lightly: First, by combining tribal and network impulses, NeoTribes reflects
the TIMN dynamic that each new form starts its rise with a tribal impulse, before
it matures and professionalizes around its own distinctive principles. Second,
NeoTribes reflects a TIMN dynamic that says efforts will be made to adapt prior
forms to new needs — and the neo-tribes movement surely is such an adaptation,
suited to the Information age. Third, TIMN is partly and ultimately about the
rise of the +N network form and the creation of a new sector based around it.
This may be a commons sector, but I think it's still too early to tell.
NeoTribes has aspects that fit this, but I don't see that it corresponds fully
to +N.
Thus, I find the neo-tribes concept quite positive and
appealing. Yet, as a TIMN quadriformist, I should temper and qualify my
interest. Even so, it's good to read about a tribalism that isn't bitter and
vengeful, bad for society.
To read for yourself, go here:
https://blog.p2pfoundation.net/neotribal-emergence/2016/09/05
[I posted an earlier write-up of this reading on my Facebook
page, on April 12.]
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