Collective Effervescence

Emile Durkheim, described Collective Effervescence as happening when ‘a community or society comes together and simultaneously communicate the same thought and participate in the same action. Such an event then causes collective effervescence which excites individuals and serves to unify the group. In short, they create a deeply felt sense of belonging which is the antidote to a Culture of Shame.

Such feelings can be joyous to the participants. A study by Vikhoff shows that, when we sing together, our heart rates synchronise and our Vagus Nerve is calmed bringing us to a state of connection with the humans around us. This is quite simply why we love to sing in choirs.

The 2020 Pandemic response removed all possibility of ‘live’ Collective Effervescence by effectively teaching us, and particularly children, that other humans are beings to be feared lest they infect us. Some people described social distancing as ‘blissful’, potentially because their fear-induced armour is such that any potential connection with another human is deeply painful.

Schools can be places where such feelings are regular occurrences. Singing is commonplace in schools although at times, the songs music teachers feel compelled to choose may be somewhat constrained by external parameters determining what children should rather than what they might actually like to sing. Teaching children a song that they don’t want to sing can destroy any chance of Collective Effervescence.

As Western society becomes increasingly fractured and individualistic, we need these experiences more than ever. Layering the global pandemic on top of this state of being only served to cement the belief in some that we are in direct competition at all times with our fellow humans and that they are a threat to our very survival. An undesirable and unnatural state and one which interferes with our Collective Creativity.

If schools made one of their aims to create as many experiences of Collective Effervescence as possible, how might this deepen the sense of Hopeful Belonging that humans so desperately desire.