samhangandi

Samhangandi is a term used in worldbuilding and constructed-language projects to describe a social and ethical framework that binds members of a fictional community through reciprocal obligation and collective decision-making.

The concept is often presented as an integral feature of governance, law, and daily exchange, rather than a formal constitution.

Etymology and scope: Samhangandi is imagined as a compound, with sam- signaling togetherness and gandi meaning obligation in the constructed language. In many texts it traces to a historic pact among villages that settled a shared resource basin, shaping norms of cooperation and rules for resource sharing and dispute resolution.

Characteristics: Key features include mutual aid, assembly-based governance, and non-hierarchical deliberation. Enforcement is described as social rather than coercive, relying on reputation, reciprocity, and ritual sanction. It intersects with customary law, markets, and seasonal labor.

Reception and interpretation: Scholars within the fictional world debate whether samhangandi strengthens social cohesion or risks conformity. Narratives often explore tensions between individual autonomy and collective responsibility in crisis situations.

In fiction and media, samhangandi serves to examine resilience, memory, and the trade-offs of decentralized governance; its details vary across works but it consistently centers cooperation.