The Concept of Culture
Culture is the beliefs, values, attitudes, customs, and behaviors that define a group of people. It can include all aspects of a society, from language to dietary practices. It is a way of life that evolves over time, with new ideas replacing older ones. It can also change due to contact with other cultures, whether through trade, travel or immigration. It is a dynamic and ever-changing process that can be studied to understand how societies work and what makes them tick.
The concept of culture is used in a wide range of disciplines, from archeology to business management. Sociologists, historians and anthropologists are particularly interested in understanding cultural dynamics. The term can be broken down into two broad categories: non-material culture and material culture. Non-material culture encompasses all of the ideas and beliefs a society has, while material culture refers to the physical artifacts that are part of a culture.
Understanding and appreciating different cultures is essential for building communities. This goes beyond simply recognizing and accepting differences; it is about actively supporting all of the groups within a community to participate in the decision-making, implementation, and follow through of programs or policies. The people that are directly affected by a program or policy should be involved in the creation and implementation of solutions; they are the most knowledgeable about what is needed to achieve success.
The study of culture is an important area of social science research, with many different theories and approaches available. For example, the sociology of culture focuses on the ways in which values and norms are communicated to and embraced by members of a society. For sociologist Georg Simmel, the culture of a group consists of the beliefs and norms that shape their daily lives and how those are represented in external forms such as religions, languages, dress codes, and traditions.
Other theories focus on how a culture can be changed and the factors that influence this. For example, the anthropologist Edward Tylor believed that culture is learned through interaction with other people and is influenced by the environment in which a person grows up. He argued that changes in a culture are most likely to occur when a culture is open to outside influences, such as through travel or the existence of international communities.
Many historical scholars use the concept of culture to explore the development of ideas and practices in a society over time. They look at how values, beliefs and customs develop and are adopted by a society to create a unique identity. This is often referred to as cultural history and has been the subject of a variety of books, including Jurgen Habermas’s The Structural Transformation of the Public Sphere and Clifford Geertz’s Thick Description. Recent work in this field has sought to re-link the anthropological and sociological study of culture by focusing on the relationship between texts (all reified meanings in circulation) and cultural practices. This approach has been described as the ‘new cultural history’.
Culture is the beliefs, values, attitudes, customs, and behaviors that define a group of people. It can include all aspects of a society, from language to dietary practices. It is a way of life that evolves over time, with new ideas replacing older ones. It can also change due to contact with other cultures, whether through trade, travel or immigration. It is a dynamic and ever-changing process that can be studied to understand how societies work and what makes them tick. The concept of culture is used in a wide range of disciplines, from archeology to business management. Sociologists, historians and anthropologists are particularly interested in understanding cultural dynamics. The term can be broken down into two broad categories: non-material culture and material culture. Non-material culture encompasses all of the ideas and beliefs a society has, while material culture refers to the physical artifacts that are part of a culture. Understanding and appreciating different cultures is essential for building communities. This goes beyond simply recognizing and accepting differences; it is about actively supporting all of the groups within a community to participate in the decision-making, implementation, and follow through of programs or policies. The people that are directly affected by a program or policy should be involved in the creation and implementation of solutions; they are the most knowledgeable about what is needed to achieve success. The study of culture is an important area of social science research, with many different theories and approaches available. For example, the sociology of culture focuses on the ways in which values and norms are communicated to and embraced by members of a society. For sociologist Georg Simmel, the culture of a group consists of the beliefs and norms that shape their daily lives and how those are represented in external forms such as religions, languages, dress codes, and traditions. Other theories focus on how a culture can be changed and the factors that influence this. For example, the anthropologist Edward Tylor believed that culture is learned through interaction with other people and is influenced by the environment in which a person grows up. He argued that changes in a culture are most likely to occur when a culture is open to outside influences, such as through travel or the existence of international communities. Many historical scholars use the concept of culture to explore the development of ideas and practices in a society over time. They look at how values, beliefs and customs develop and are adopted by a society to create a unique identity. This is often referred to as cultural history and has been the subject of a variety of books, including Jurgen Habermas’s The Structural Transformation of the Public Sphere and Clifford Geertz’s Thick Description. Recent work in this field has sought to re-link the anthropological and sociological study of culture by focusing on the relationship between texts (all reified meanings in circulation) and cultural practices. This approach has been described as the ‘new cultural history’.