Each person in their place: the ‘praxe’ as a ritual of integration, stratification and differentiation

Abstract

Every year, in a variety of countries, current higher education students welcome newcomers with a set of ritualised practices in which the latter submit to the former through tests that entail varying degrees and types of violence, but also an important element of playfulness. In Portugal, these rituals are known as ‘praxe académica’. This is a complex and multidimensional social phenomenon whose origins go back centuries, but is constantly reinvented and helps socialise new arrivals in accordance with the norms of the group into which they are to be integrated. Using sociological contributions to understand these rituals and their effects, we analyse the Portuguese case, arguing that these customary ways of greeting new higher education students have a triple effect on student life, contributing to: (1) the initiates’ integration into a differentiated group; (2) the demarcation and attachment of symbolic value to the group members, compared to non-students and students who refuse initiation; (3) the structuring of positions and relations of power that mark the student world beyond the ritualised moments. Moreover, these rituals provide meaning and a sense of ontological security to the present, in the face of the biographical uncertainty that characterises contemporary youth.