What Is Culture?
Culture is the collective ways of living, beliefs, and values of a group of people that they accept without thinking about it, which are passed along by communication and imitation from one generation to the next. It also includes their symbols, heroes, and rituals. Symbols are things that represent ideas, attitudes and behaviors.
It is not a fixed set of practices or behaviors, but is constantly shifting in response to the environment, new needs, and desires. For example, when the Renaissance movement in Europe moved away from religious themes in art, it reflected a larger cultural shift towards humanism and individualism. Similarly, when the Surrealist movement emerged in the early 20th century, it was a reaction to the disillusionment and longing for escapism felt by many individuals following World War I.
A core feature of culture is its beliefs, which can include a sense of what’s right and wrong, the purpose of life, or what makes us happy. The beliefs of a culture are learned, and can be transmitted through stories, music, and other forms of expression. These beliefs are important because they help to define who we are as a society, and influence how we act.
In addition to the beliefs and values, a culture can include the skills, customs, and traditions that members use to navigate the world around them. These are known as cultural resources, and can be used to promote social cohesion or to discourage conflict and violence. Cultures are also influenced by the technology and economy in which they operate.
The idea that culture is a contested and shifting entity can be problematic for those who argue for the need to protect it. They may be concerned that a desire to maintain certain aspects of a culture at a given time prevents it from adapting and evolving as necessary in the face of changing circumstances.
This perspective is often used in debates over the need to protect religious, ethnic, or racial claims made by minority groups against discrimination. However, multiple objections have been launched against this way of understanding culture, most relating to what is called the “essentialist” objection.
The essentialist argument holds that there are certain key characteristics that define a culture, and that all members of that culture must share these characteristics in order to be considered part of it. The argument is flawed because it ignores the fact that members of any culture will hold differing opinions about which practices and norms are defining, as well as how to interpret the meaning of those traits. This entry addresses some of these issues, and outlines four main ways in which cultural claims are interpreted: as encompassing groups, in dialogic terms, and in identity terms. Each has strengths and weaknesses, which are discussed in the article. The entry also briefly discusses several different types of cultural claims that are made by minority groups: exemption claims, assistance claims, self-determination claims, and preservation claims in legal settings.
Culture is the collective ways of living, beliefs, and values of a group of people that they accept without thinking about it, which are passed along by communication and imitation from one generation to the next. It also includes their symbols, heroes, and rituals. Symbols are things that represent ideas, attitudes and behaviors. It is not a fixed set of practices or behaviors, but is constantly shifting in response to the environment, new needs, and desires. For example, when the Renaissance movement in Europe moved away from religious themes in art, it reflected a larger cultural shift towards humanism and individualism. Similarly, when the Surrealist movement emerged in the early 20th century, it was a reaction to the disillusionment and longing for escapism felt by many individuals following World War I. A core feature of culture is its beliefs, which can include a sense of what’s right and wrong, the purpose of life, or what makes us happy. The beliefs of a culture are learned, and can be transmitted through stories, music, and other forms of expression. These beliefs are important because they help to define who we are as a society, and influence how we act. In addition to the beliefs and values, a culture can include the skills, customs, and traditions that members use to navigate the world around them. These are known as cultural resources, and can be used to promote social cohesion or to discourage conflict and violence. Cultures are also influenced by the technology and economy in which they operate. The idea that culture is a contested and shifting entity can be problematic for those who argue for the need to protect it. They may be concerned that a desire to maintain certain aspects of a culture at a given time prevents it from adapting and evolving as necessary in the face of changing circumstances. This perspective is often used in debates over the need to protect religious, ethnic, or racial claims made by minority groups against discrimination. However, multiple objections have been launched against this way of understanding culture, most relating to what is called the “essentialist” objection. The essentialist argument holds that there are certain key characteristics that define a culture, and that all members of that culture must share these characteristics in order to be considered part of it. The argument is flawed because it ignores the fact that members of any culture will hold differing opinions about which practices and norms are defining, as well as how to interpret the meaning of those traits. This entry addresses some of these issues, and outlines four main ways in which cultural claims are interpreted: as encompassing groups, in dialogic terms, and in identity terms. Each has strengths and weaknesses, which are discussed in the article. The entry also briefly discusses several different types of cultural claims that are made by minority groups: exemption claims, assistance claims, self-determination claims, and preservation claims in legal settings.