From Liminality to Communitas: The Collective Dimensions of Transformative Learning

This article addresses a significant gap in the transformative learning literature as it relates to collective transformation, a transformation that is a level beyond individual transformation and is differentiated from the designed and imposed forms of social or organizational change. We consider collective transformation as an emergent and shared worldview shift that is grounded in a shared experience. The participants might not be fully aware of or even able to describe this experience until they engage with it at the interpersonal level. In prior research and practice, the five authors have independently observed and documented the phenomenon of collective transformation among members of marginalized populations who have undergone liminal experiences—forms of disequilibrium that leave individuals betwixt and between. The common thread in these experiences is the emergence of a shared feeling called communitas, which is a deeply felt (yet often temporary) sense of belonging and community. This study’s purpose is to further explore the roles that states of liminality and communitas play in creating the conditions for collective transformation. We draw on several theoretical and practice-based areas of literature and on five particular types of experience. We then examine each case for shared experiences of liminality and communitas as well as for the underlying qualities of self-understanding, relational ability, and a collectively felt sense of new possibilities. This study also includes suggestions for the application of these concepts to other social groups and in other contexts.