2. Psychology

Collective Nostalgia for the Past

   4 minutes
   Collective Nostalgia for the Past Collective Nostalgia for the Past

   Last update: 08 March, 2018
   Nostalgia as pictured by a pocket watch in the sun.
   Nostalgia as pictured by a pocket watch in the sun. Nostalgia as
   pictured by a pocket watch in the sun.
   We all feel nostalgic sometimes. We wish we were back in a certain
   time, a certain situation, something that’s already happened. We suffer
   over something that’s gone now, something we had and then lost. Maybe
   it’s about a person, a group (collective nostalgia), an object, or an
   event.

   There are also two different kinds of nostalgia, and the difference is
   very important. The first kind is a positive feeling, a nice memory of
   an object that’s gone or lost to time. The second kind is a negative
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   Black and white photos. Black and white photos.

Nostalgia for people

   Probably the first thing you think of when it comes to nostalgia is
   desire for a loved one. Breakups, distance, or death are some things
   that give us that longing feeling. But nostalgia isn’t any less
   important when its object is a place instead of a person.

   There’s a word in Spanish to talk about that kind of nostalgia, the
   kind that mixes melancholy and wishing for your homeland: “morriña.”
   The word comes from the Galician language. They say that “morriña” is a
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   calls to mind.

   “Look into my nostalgia and tell me what you see.”
   -Xavier Velasco-

Collective nostalgia

   There’s another kind of nostalgia for situations or things of the past.
   It’s called collective nostalgia. What it means is a shared longing for
   what society used to be like.

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   should bury any nostalgic feelings at all.

Nostalgia as motivation

   Collective nostalgia, being the group emotion that it is, can
   powerfully shape a group’s behavior. When you share a longing for a
   specific kind of world with the majority of people in your group, it’s
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   work.

   Collective nostalgia can sometimes be a good prediction for collective
   action. The more intense the group emotion is, the more likely it is
   people will take to the streets. They will be more likely to cry out
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   into norms or laws to things that cross into illegal territory, like
   vandalism or violence.
   Three friends looking with collective nostalgia at the foggy valley.
   Three friends looking with collective nostalgia at the foggy valley.
   Three friends looking with collective nostalgia at the foggy valley.

Collective nostalgia for good

   But collective nostalgia doesn’t have to be negative. If the longing is
   about people’s old ideas of their country, they’ll have to think about
   how that country really was. Or even better, they’ll think about what
   exactly they long for about that country.

   If their nostalgia is about values like openness and tolerance, any
   actions they take will have more liberal goals. Granted, that doesn’t
   mean the methods they use to achieve those goals will be open and
   tolerant.

   If you have the ability to shape your nostalgia, make it your
   motivation to create a better world. Miss freedom and not restriction,
   miss diversity and not exclusion.
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   The movie “Midnight in Paris” by Woody Allen explains nostalgia as the
   negation of the present through the life of its main character.
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