What are urban tribes:
The expression “urban tribes” designates the groups of individuals, usually young people, organized into gangs or city gangs that share a universe of common interests contrary to the cultural values of normalized society, through codes and behaviors that are their own: jargon, clothing, cultural references, lifestyle, daily habits and ideology.
This notion was established in the middle of the 20th century, based on the theorization of countercultures and the subcultures. Urban tribes deliberately seek to distinguish themselves from the dominant social order and challenge cultural codes as a mechanism of rebellion. Therefore, it is not surprising that some urban tribes assume inappropriate behavior from the point of view of the established order.
These gangs have a “tribe” of sharing a group conscience and a duly codified sense of belonging. But on the other hand, they differ from this notion in the fact that they do not create stable traditions or seek cultural hegemony. For this reason, they are usually seen as a youth phenomenon.
However, one of the contradictions visible in urban tribes is the acceptance of a stereotypical identity, often built from the media. It means, then, that above the search for identity, the sense of belonging prevails.
Therefore, urban tribes, first of all, satisfy an emotional need of the individuals who make them up, which facilitates their incorporation into an ideology and lifestyle through emotional adherence. Hence, certain urban tribes turn into gangs with unfounded violent behavior, such as the case of the shaved heads.
See also Counterculture.
Urban tribes represent specific sectors of subcultures, such as hippies, punks, goths, psychedelics, emos, gamers, reggaeton players, rappers, skinheads, among many others.
The concept of urban tibu begins with the movements that emerged in the early 60s of the 20th century, also known as underground.