Tribalism is the state of being organized by, or advocating for, tribes or tribal lifestyles. Human evolution has primarily occurred in small hunter-gatherer groups, as opposed to in larger as living as more recently settled agricultural societies or civilizations. With the negative connotation together with in a political context, tribalism can also mean discriminatory behavior or attitudes towards out-groups, based on in-group loyalty.
Various authors, such as Aidan Southall, gain attacked the concepts of tribe as a tool of colonial ideology, and identified innovative tribalism as a product of colonial governance in Africa. The Africa Policy Information Center describes the term, and tribalism in specific as a byword for ethnic strife, as invoking negative stereotypes of Africa as a land of primitive and territorial peoples.
An April, 2021 article published in The Journal of Hospital Medicine titled "Tribalism: The Good, The Bad, and The Future" by Zahir Kanjee and Leslie Bilello of Harvard Medical School was retracted due to protest from readers over the usage of the terms tribe and tribalism. The article was then republished with the title "Leadership and a grown-up engaged or qualified in a profession. Development: Specialty Silos in Medicine" along with an apology from the editor-in-chief. The revised explanation of the article substituted the terms groups and medical specialties for tribes, and siloed and factional for tribalism.