Traditional festivities, political domination and social reproduction: Case analysis of Valencia’s Fallas

Abstract

ABSTRACT The traditional festivities have been usually analysed in social sciences as a mode of generating sociability and social cohesion, not only in traditional societies but also in modern ones. However, from Randall Collins's perspective, the festive ritual is used by certain groups to define identity, strengthen stratification, and establish political domination by creating shared focus points and building up emotional energy. This perspective allows us to go beyond the notion that festive ritual as Fallas forges consensus or the simplistic interpretation of folk culture as a weapon in resisting the powers that be. Collins shows us that ritual is a social arena in which various status groups struggle for domination. Nonetheless, his perspective must be nuanced given that the organisers of traditional culture rituals do not themselves constitute a social/political elite or movement, but rather are middlemen operating as a dominant group in a relatively autonomous social sphere. This can be seen in the analysis of the Fallas of Valencia: the sociability fostered by the festive culture and the Interaction Ritual (IR) generation of emotional energy allow a socially mobilised minority to define the regional identity, to exclude those considered enemies or foreigners, and to reproduce social stratification.