tribe

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tribe, tribalism This term usually denotes a social group bound together by kin and duty and associated with a particular territory. Members of the tribe share the social cohesion associated with the family, together with the sense of political autonomy of a nation. In Ancient Law (1861), Sir Henry Maine identified tribalism with a pre-civilized stage of human society, and the derogatory use of the term to denote emotional, pre-scientific, and irrational behaviour, unfortunately still lingers in the modern usage.

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