Dancing in the Streets

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Dancing in the Streets: A History of Collective Joy
LC Class
GT3940 .E47 2007
Author Barbara Ehrenreich

Dancing in the Streets: A History of Collective Joy is a book authored by Barbara Ehrenreich.

Description

The author coins the term "collective joy" to describe group events which involve music, synchronized movement, costumes, and a feeling of loss of self. There is no precise word in English to describe the phenomenon.

The book describes cycles of creation and suppression of collective joy events. The events generally arise spontaneously and are regarded as dangerous (see

Collective hysteria, Riot
). The powerful elements of society gradually convert the participants into spectators. This conversion drains the events of their power, and the cycle begins anew. The author describes Western Society as particularly lacking in such events and describes current and recent examples of Collective Joy events.

Well-known examples of Collective Joy

Historical

  • Woodstock Festival

Current

Collective Joy in transition

  • the wave
    " and costuming (body paint, team colors) represent an attempt by participants to wrest the spectator nature of professional sports back into the realm of collective joy, by making fans active participants in the team events.
  • Castro District
    .

See also

External links