Playing with Fire Collectively: Contemporary Cultural Rites as Devisers and Outcomes of Community Networks

Abstract

Popular festivities and traditional events are important moments in which symbolic content, deep emotions, and community solidarity are developed. However, there has been little research on the relationship between such events and their social networks and the power relations within these networks. This article explores the ability of community events and networks to reflect and strengthen social context. Rather than observing the capacity of the event to generate a network, we focus on identifying how the event network is constructed, and how it creates relationships between the different groups, or nodes, within broader social networks. The case analyzed is the Correfoc de la Mercè, a traditional firework event in Barcelona involving the Colles de diables, or Catalan popular fire culture groups. Our findings show that there is a bidirectional link or a mutual dependence between the groups (or nodes) and the event, which also support the development of shared social and symbolic capital.