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‘It’s Been Nice, but We’re Going Back to Our Lives’: Neo-Tribalism and the Role of Space in a Gay Resort

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Abstract

This chapter offers a review of gay holidays at a gay resort within the scope of neo-tribal theory. Focusing upon the underlying neo-tribal characteristics such as fluidity in membership, shared sentiment, rituals and symbols, this chapter emphasises the importance of space as a point of coherence around which neo-tribes form. The chapter argues that space acts as an agency to enable the aforementioned characteristics. A sense of belonging, connectedness and affinity are the paramount qualities that define the internally embedded culture within a neo-tribe. Vorobjovas-Pinta concludes that space is a fundamental converging characteristic required for a neo-tribe to exist. Space is elevated in its relationship to neo-tribes, in the sense that feelings of collective ownership by the tribe of space, are constitutive of tribal identity itself.

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Notes

  1. 1.

    All names used in this chapter are aliases. Participants’ ages are shown in brackets.

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Acknowledgment

The author would like to thank The Institute for the Study of Social Change, University of Tasmania, for financial support to assist with publishing this research.

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Vorobjovas-Pinta, O. (2018). ‘It’s Been Nice, but We’re Going Back to Our Lives’: Neo-Tribalism and the Role of Space in a Gay Resort. In: Hardy, A., Bennett, A., Robards, B. (eds) Neo-Tribes. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-68207-5_5

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