Where does group solidarity come from? Gellner and Ibn Khaldun revisited

Abstract

Gellner relied extensively on the work of Ibn Khaldun to understand both the dynamics of social order in North Africa and Islam's alleged resistance to secularization. However, what the two scholars also shared is their focus on the social origins and functions of group solidarity. For Ibn Khaldun the concept of asabiyyah was central in understanding the strength of long-term group loyalties. In his view, asabiyyah was a fundamental and elementary cohesive bond of human societies which originated in nomadic tribal structures and retained significance in the early formation of complex states and empires. For Gellner, the shape and character of group solidarity is heavily dependent on the economic foundations of a particular social order: foragers require small group bonds for mere survival, the agrarian universe stratifies solidarity and utilizes cultural bonds to differentiate between the ruling aristocrats and the plough-tied serfs, whereas the industrial world generates solidarity from incessant economic growth and stateinduced, cross-class, national identifications. Thus, for Gellner, solidarity remains the central force that keeps social orders together. This paper provides a critical analysis of the Khaldunian and Gellnerian models of group solidarity and offers an alternative interpretation that places the social impact of micro-solidarity in the long-term development of ideological and coercive forms of social organization.

Rising: Reverence, Relevance, Revelry — Commemorations of the 1916 Rising in Dublin, Easter 2016

“…This proves Malešević's (:139) statement that ‘Irish citizens […] remain deeply committed to ideas and practices of nationhood’ and bears out his view that because modern citizens undergo nation‐centric education, they therefore tend to perceive the world through the nationalist lens and expect their rulers to uphold nationalist principles. (Malešević :91). In this case, the state was obliged to commemorate the 1916 Rising in order to satisfy public demand as demonstrated by the rival groups.…”

“…In modern times citizens undergo nationalist socialization in school, and as a result they view the world from a nation‐centric perspective. For this reason, populations today still expect their rulers to uphold nationalist principles (Malešević :91) and endorse the nation by promoting the national interest and the nation's history. The events leading up to the commemorations in 2016 are testimony to that expectation, showing how the official reluctance to mark the centenary was challenged by public demand.…”

Quale storia per il XXI secolo

“…None of this is to say that centrifugal ideologisation is some kind of giant brain washing device that imposes certain beliefs on the unsuspecting public. On the contrary this process entails a great deal of popular consent which is achieved in direct collaboration with the civil society groupings, family networks, residential associations and many other non-state actors (Malešević 2013(Malešević , 2015. Centrifugal ideologisation is a process that constantly reinforces already held beliefs and practices.…”

“…As micro-sociological and socio psychological studies demonstrate an overwhelming majority of human beings derive their emotional fulfilment, comfort and sense of ontological security from such small scale groups (Dunbar 1998;Malešević 2015…”

Islam Takes Root in America alongside Racism

“…49 African Americans during the Great Migration and afterwards experienced great difficulty in securing any form of secular or religious identity and membership acceptance from their white Christian brethren and, consequently, Black Islām proffered the race, religion, culture and ethnicity claim that it was a self-empowering, nation-building and social-solidarity oriented (ʿAsabiyya) religious tradition bequeathing social justice, freedom and innate Black power to all people of Africanist descent. 50 Black Islām successfully purloins a page from the Black Church by astutely commandeering a Black liberation theology oriented hermeneutic model-most fully developed and articulated upon by the late Black Christian theologian, James Cone-that all Black theology from the various African American faith traditions (Christianity, Islām, etc.) originate, emanate and project from the particularity of individual life experience and ethnic identity collectively residing within its Black membership body.…”