primordial loyalty

is a psychological attachment that stems from the subject's, not the observer's, sense of the 'givens' of social existence speaking a particular language, following a particular religion, being born into a particular family, emerging out of a particular history, living in a particular place.'.

Clifford Geertz identifies a series of distinct and occasionally overlapping elements which he calls 'primordial loyalties.' These are 'an attachment that stems from the subject's, not the observer's, sense of the 'givens' of social existence speaking a particular language, following a particular religion, being born into a particular family, emerging out of a particular history, living in a particular place.' [6] Elements such as language and religion are easily recognizable by outsiders as being existent in reality. It is on them that categorization most often relies when defining the nation. What matters, however, is not their factual existence as much as the role they play in the psychology of those comprised in the community.' (net).

primordial loyalty, n.All

primordial loyalty