Why We Gather: A New Look, Empirically Documented, at Émile Durkheim’s Theory of Collective Assemblies and Collective Effervescence

Abstract

For Durkheim, individuals’ survival and well-being rest on cultural resources and social belonging that must be revived periodically in collective assemblies. Durkheim’s concern was to clarify how these assemblies achieve this revitalization. An intensive examination of primitive religions led him to identify successive levels of engagement experienced by participants and to develop explanatory principles relevant to all types of collective gatherings. Durkheim’s conception is widely referred to nowadays. However, the question of its empirical status remains open. We extracted from his text his main statements and translated them into research questions. We then examined each question in relation to current theories and findings. In particular, we relied on the plethora of recent cognitive and social-psychology studies that document conditions of reduced self-other differentiation. Abundant data support that each successive moment of collective assemblies contributes to blurring this differentiation. Ample support also exists that because shared emotions are increasingly amplified in collective context, they can fuel high-intensity experiences. Moreover, recent studies of self-transcendent emotions can account for the self-transformative effects described by Durkheim at the climax of collective assemblies. In conclusion, this century-old model is remarkably supported by recent results, mostly collected in experimental settings.

Content analysis of living historical memory around the world: Terrorization of the Anglosphere, and national foundations of hope in developing societies

“…Emotional climates are theorized to be generated by people communicating with each other about their emotional responses to shared events, as this social sharing builds emotional convergence (De Rivera and Páez, 2007; Rimé, 1997; Schneider and Reichers, 1983). Thus, communicative processes not only inscribe LHM, but also form emotional climates.…”

Predicting individual differences in peak emotional response

“…This would explain why these individuals may tend to manifest greater extroversion and heightened tendencies for immersion in daily experiences. Cultural resonance also potentially facilitates the emergence of positive emotions and strong reactions to cultural artifacts, as their individual attributes and values correspond with the prevalent cultural norms of their social context ( 60–64 ).…”

Primary States of Consciousness: A Review of Historical and Contemporary Developments

“…According to (N. M. Hobson et al 2018), practices aimed at inducing altered states of consciousness, such as trance states, are frequently utilized in social settings as a means of regulating emotions, a phenomenon extensively studied empirically by Bernard Rimé and colleagues (Delfosse et al 2004). Durkheim described the phenomenon of collective effervescence, a sense of heightened collective emotion and shared experience (Rimé and Páez 2023). Collective effervescence is reminiscent of the antic notion of "enthusiasm" (ἐνθουσιασμός), in the words of philosopher and historian Isaac Taylor "a blending of animal and intellectual abilities" (Taylor 1829).…”