09/02/2026
Today's word is Tribalism. This term cropped up in 1868 as “ a condition of being a tribe.” But in terms of paleontology and under the influence of exaptation, this entity has evolved into “ group loyalty,” which was certified in 1955.
Generally speaking, tribalism stands as a deep loyalty toward one's tribe and ethnic group accompanied with the rejection of others. Under a sociological cover, it encompasses customs and beliefs transmitted from generation to generation enacted into groups animated with the same strong and favorable feelings for themselves and aversion for others. But besides customs and traditions, it is often said that tribal groups and communities are gathered under the same ancestor, which is somewhat unpopular.
In a demographic insight, in South Africa, the Zulu tribe that has reportedly been around since the 16th century remains the largest with approximately 3.2 millions members. It is also called the Zulu nation since it has been like the Indian nation capable of governing all matters with respect to their members.
Still, the term tribe can be a pejorative one because of violence apart from colonialism that has been attached to the meaning. However, most of the violent tribes have been uncontacted so far for instance the Sentinelese, a tribe in the Bay of Bengal has had seven brutal and hostile encounters with the surrounding inhabitants. In addition, the Brazilian tribes have been on the list perhaps to marginalize them since they seem to have legitimate concerns regarding their lands.
Today's way of life has made reference to any social group with a strong identity a tribe in terms of nations, religions, ethnicity, and politics. For being a negative aspect, it has insinuated fears, anxiety, bigotry that make us more susceptible to conflicts. Despite the value of education, in modern tribalism human beings have been made to live with a type of neotribalism that calls trouble for some nations infested with gangs in the pursuit of survival.
As to illustration, tribalism had some benefits for human evolution and because we are social animals and not well-equipped, life in isolation is meaningless, we need to bond together in order to survive. However, unfortunately what we see in tribal community usually is poverty and exploitation, a socio-political paralysis, economic and technological stagnation and difficulty of assimilation with the diaspora.