Communalism

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. A political or social system that emphasizes the importance of distinct religious, ethnic, or cultural communities over individual or national identity
2. A philosophy prioritizing the communal identity and interests of distinct cultural, religious, or ethnic groups, often contrasting individualism and national unity
3. An ideology advocating for collective ownership and governance within various communities, focusing on specific group identities rather than a broader societal approach

Etymology: "Communalism" is built in the most ordinary way: the adjective "communal" with the suffix "-ism" attached, turning a quality into a doctrine or system. The noun "communal" itself comes from "commune," which in turn descends from Latin "communis," meaning shared or belonging to all, so the root idea is something held in common by a group. The interesting shift lies in what the group became. "Communal" in its older sense concerned shared ownership or common life, but in the political sense of "communalism" the emphasis moved to religious, ethnic, or cultural communities as the basic units of public life, often placed above both the individual and the nation. That is why the word can sound unexpectedly sharp in political debate: it describes a community-first outlook, and it is frequently used by critics to describe a politics that divides people along such lines.