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Theories of Culture
Definition of Culture
The term culture is derived from the Latin word cultura stemming from colere, meaning "to
cultivate"
...
However, in social sciences the word "culture" is most
commonly used in three basic senses:
 Excellence of taste in the fine arts and humanities, also known as high culture
...
g
...

 An integrated pattern of human knowledge, believes and behavior that depends upon the
capacity for symbolic thought and social learning
...
It is in reference to this meaning
of the term that people expect educated persons to be cultured
...
In this sense, culture refers to the
behaviours characteristics of a particular social, ethnic, or age group: eg, the drug culture,
the maasai culture and the youth culture respectively
...
It comprises of a system
of shared beliefs, values, customs, behaviours, symbols and artefacts that the members of society
accept generally without questioning and use to cope with their world and with one another
...
Thus,
culture is cultivated behaviour
...
More specifically, it is the behaviour that is acquired
through social learning
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Manifestations of Culture
Cultural differences manifest themselves in different ways and at differing levels of depth
...
Symbols represent the most
superficial, and values, the deepest manifestations of culture, with heroes and rituals in between
...
New symbols easily develop and
old ones disappear
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This is why symbols represent the outermost layer of a culture
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They also serve as models for behaviour
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They are therefore carried out most of the times for their own
sake
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 The core of a culture is formed by values
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Many values remain unconscious to those who hold them
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Values can only be
inferred from the way people act under different circumstances
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The true
cultural meaning of the practices is intangible; this is revealed only when the practices are
interpreted by the insiders
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Manifestation of Culture at Different Levels of Depth
Theories of Culture
There are many theories of culture but in this lecture we will limit ourselves to only three that
illustrate the relationship between culture and development
...

Theory of Cultural Determinism
Cultural determinism is the belief that the culture in which we are raised determines who we are
at emotional and behavioral levels as well as our economic and political arrangements
...
Thus, according to those who
advocate for this theory people are what they learn
...
Proponents of this theory however
differ in their focus, with some taking an optimistic view while others hold a pessimistic one
...
Consequently, optimistic anthropologists put forward that there is
no universal "right way" of being human
...
As a
result, the proper attitude of an informed human being could only be that of tolerance
...


The pessimistic version maintains that people are what they are conditioned to be
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Based on this belief, ancient Greeks argued that only those who spoke their language could
understand their thought and political arrangements
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Cultural Relativism
Different cultural groups think, feel, and act differently
...
Studying differences in
culture among groups and societies presupposes a position of cultural relativism
...
It, however, calls for judgment when dealing with
groups or societies different from one's own
...

Negotiation is more likely to succeed when the parties concerned understand the reasons for the
differences in viewpoints
...
It is a form
of reductionism that reduces the "other way" of life to a distorted version of one's own
...

Environmental differences are, therefore, ignored
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 Limiting focus only to achieving objectives related to the home-country despite recognition
of the environmental differences and problems associated with change
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 Assuming that the changes associated with the recognized differences are so basic that they
can be achieved effortlessly
...
In addition, the objectives set for global operations should also be global
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This is necessary
because sometimes a change may upset important values and thereby may face resistance from
being implemented
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Culture, in all its dimensions, is a fundamental component of sustainable development
...
As a sector of
activity, culture contributes to development through tangible and intangible heritage, creative
industries and various forms of artistic expressions
...
These
contributions of culture can however only be realized if the following aspects are cultivated
...

Processes of inhabitation rooted in local knowledge, accumulated over time, including
practices, knowledge and technology of farming, nutrition, health, childbirth, building
materials, natural resource use, and environmental management
...
Distinctive cultural forms and
artistic expressions include buildings and architecture, literature, art, dance, music, crafts,
storytelling, and films
...

Dissemination of knowledge that fosters creativity, innovation, and the intellectual
development of individuals and groups while discarding harmful practices contrary to
global ethics
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Following a disaster, culture in all its forms helps communities reconstruct their disrupted lives
and restore psychological well-being
...
Dialogue promotes mutual understanding, knowledge,
reconciliation, and peace, which are essential for social stability
...
These
challenges render people vulnerable to change and to the impacts of natural disasters, and lead to
the progressive loss of local cultures
...
Principles of inclusiveness and global ethics
enable even the most marginalized individuals and groups to participate in development processes
and benefit from them
...

Culture and Economic Development
Culture is a powerful global economic engine
...
3 trillion
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During the 1990s, the cultural industries grew at an
annual rate twice that of service industries and four times that of manufacturing in developed
countries
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Some of the areas in which cultural aspects are used to support
economic growth include:






Cultural Tourism: Cultural tourism contributes to 40% of the global tourism revenue
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Traditional Livelihoods: Culturally embedded livelihood practices varying from building
crafts to agriculture and natural resource management help retain local knowledge and
generate employment
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Micro-enterprises: Cultural goods and services often need low capital investment by
building on materials and skills available within the community
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Cultural infrastructure and institutions: Universities, museums, cultural centres, cinemas,
theatres, craft centres, and other such institutions are significant generators of employment
and revenue
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Dialogue promotes mutual understanding, knowledge, reconciliation and
peace, which are essential for social stability
...

Cultural festivals also enhance dialogue
...

Culture and Environmental Sustainability
Values and beliefs shape the relationship of a people to their natural environment and the ways
they manage and impact on it
...

Accumulated traditional knowledge and the community practices of environmental management
are fundamental to sustainability and essential for the survival of the place and people
...

A variety of current environmental challenges such as depleting water sources, shrinking forest
covers, and disappearing species, rooted in a disregard for the environment, may be addressed by
positive practices embedded in local cultures that value a balance between natural and human
worlds
...
Schools, health centres, and housing built
with local materials, knowledge and technologies are climatically effective, of lower cost, and use
labour from the community
...
Communities empowered to define their identities

and assert local values are better able to engage with the forces of globalization to ‘indigenize’
them on their terms and benefit from them
...

 Enhancing cultural systems of crop production especially those that directly benefit women
and children
...

 Training women in crafts work innovation, product quality, and marketing
...

This improves their effectiveness
...

In conclusion, we may say the culture can assist in the fight against poverty
...
Altering perceptions of insecurity and of
status enables the poor to rise out of poverty as does recognizing innovation and creativity
...
It is a means to
achieve a more satisfactory intellectual, emotional, moral and spiritual existence
...
A look at
some of these practices will help elaborate this statement
...
In the vertical transmission mechanisms,
a child learns from his/her parents while horizontal mechanism is where a child picks information
from unrelated individuals
...
Across cultural groups, vertical transmission is seen as prevalent in slow changing
subsistence-based societies
...
In such communities, while care giving
practices may embody the richness of a people’s culture they may limit the embracement of
technological innovations to the disadvantage of children
...
Consequently, Europeans, Americans,
and even modernized African communities rely on books and mass media, paediatricians or close
friends for knowledge on infant care-giving practices
...


Sharing of Bed / Co-sleeping
American mothers tend to expect infants to be more independent by putting them into separate
beds, while Japanese mothers try to develop strong ties by sleeping with their children on the same
bed
...
Whether the
mother and infant share a bed or not influences the child’s development
...
Consequently, societies which
encourage infants to sleep in different rooms are mostly individualistic while those that encourage
the mother to share her bed with the infant are interdependent or collectivistic
...
In many
subsistence based societies, sibling care-taking is employed especially when parents are engaged
in other activities
...
The young siblings on the other hand gain language, social and life skills among others from
their older sibling
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Parents and other adult care givers are expected to care for
children while their siblings go to school or play grounds
...
The practice however denies children invariable opportunities to learn to be
responsible as well as parenting skills they will need as adulthood
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They tell the
young ones stories, teach them songs and dance, games as well as social and economic skills in
their communities
...

Socialization of Children
Pathways which may be termed as individualism and collectivism, independence and
interdependence or autonomy and relatedness have been identified by researchers
...
Individualistic societies are those that give priorities to personal goals, focus on
personal needs and rights and emphasize on maintaining relationships only if they are personally
advantageous
...
It is
assumed that independent societies are mostly found in European developed and industrial, urban
or commercial societies while interdependent ones are to be found in rural environments in Africa,
Asia and Latin America
...

In the interdependence or collectivism pathway the main socialization context is established
through body proximity, thus promoting warmth and interrelatedness
...
The
interdependent or collectivism pathway continues to socialize skills through observation and
participation that finally lead to an interdependently acquired self
...

In the independent or individualistic pathway on the other hand, the mother orients the child to the
material world from early years using the face to face socialization system
...
Mothers here tend to use
such materials as toys, computers and machines that promote socialization for the development of
technology and intelligence
...
When an
infant is given toys to play with on his or her own, then the object behaviour is culturally
emphasized
...

On the other hand when an infant plays with other people, person oriented behaviour is culturally
emphasized
...
Having different care taking
arrangements therefore implies transmitting different cultural values to the child
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He learns how to share,
co-operate and take turn
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As children play with other children their
language skills improve
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Some researchers argue that hidden curriculum plays a very big role in children development
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Hidden curriculum is considered to be very effective, children learn from activities
that comprise hidden curriculum, what society expects them to learn and to be
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Boys are expected to be active, objective and interested in
ideas while girls are expected to be passive, subjective and more interested in people than ideas
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Gender expression of emotion
Societies expect and encourage children to display different kinds of emotions according to their
gender
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In the long run this has an impact on the individual emotional development and even impacts on
their mental health
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Distribution of Household Chores
Most parents may expect their daughters to perform household chores such as cooking, washing,
taking care of babies, fetching water or collecting fire wood, while boys may not be expected to
perform any of these tasks
...
For
example, boys will have time to study and do their home work than girls
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Children who engage in too much manual labour may become stunted in physical
growth and/or have injuries obtained while doing the manual work
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Children who are not
trained to do some tasks they become irresponsible individuals
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This means that children may not benefit from eating various kinds of foods
...
In addition practices
such as serving children last may mean that children receive leftovers which may not be adequate
for their growth and development
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This is a phenomenon which equates contentment with acquiring material goods
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This requires that they work harder
than ever before
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It is for example common for American parents today to work twelve or more hours per
day, never seeing their children except on weekends
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Berry Brazelton)
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Richard
Ryan and Dr
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The truth of this statement is expressed in the words of
Psychologist David Myers and Dr
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”
According to Myers, the number of people describing themselves as very happy has declined over
the last 40 years
...
He terms this conjunction of material prosperity and
social recession the “American paradox”
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Personal Values
Western society thrives on individualism
...
However, placing too high a value on
individualism can lead to alienation from others and even alienation from the self
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People no longer have career long commitment to a single employer that ends
with a set pension
...
In the realm of family, the extended and
sometimes the nuclear family are less integral to people’s daily existence
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The changes in the area of gender on their part
have seen the woman join the labour market and the man participate more in the home, but not
without social stress, confusion, disorientation and social isolation
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Traditionally among the kikuyu for example, a child
was praised if he or she was respectful, obedient, generous and good-hearted, clever, inquisitive,
confident and brave
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The values that mould an
individual to become human (“Mtu”) and develop humane (“Utu”) tendencies are therefore down
sacrificed at the alter of the love for things (“Vitu”)
...
Subsequently, such a
“thing” has no limits in its pursuit for perceived values
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The Concept of Time
In traditional society, people had time to respond to the sound of wind rustling through leaves, to
watch the stars in the sky, to observe the fall of water in streams and rivers and generally to enjoy
their personal and social life
...
The main divisions of the day were first light, midday,
sunset and night
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Work was demanding, but followed the natural rhythms of life
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Weddings and other celebrations lasted for

days and everything was done in close proximity to one’s children, one’s birth place and one’s
home, with time for recreation and socializing
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Time has become modern person’s unquestioned master (Think of how many times you look at
your watch in a day)
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The modern man’s preoccupation with time leaves him with a “busy complex” in which he
constantly feels he must be productive rather than allow himself to be absorbed in the present
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Human beings have in effect become human doings
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From the earliest age of
awareness, children are taught to believe that what counts most in their lives will occur “when they
grow up”, or when they pass an end of course exam or “when they get that job”, and so on
...
Consequently, most of people’s mental life involves thoughts about the
future
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Consequently, leisure that was once normal
part of life is now a luxury
...
Thus, while travelling even on business used to be a chance to
“get away from the office”, with laptops and other communication devices, people take the office
with them
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E-mail and cell phones have also encroached on
people’s home lives
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Consequently, people over-schedule themselves with
demands of work, family, home and community
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This is because the competition, the boss and colleagues are all running just as fast
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Working IN TIME has therefore come to mean
working ALL the time
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References
Adams, B
...
, & Mburugu, E
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http://www
...
com/upm-data/4948
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N
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(1994)
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Journal of
Comparative Family Studies, 25(2), 159–16
Becker, R
...
(1984)
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Washington, D
...
: National Institute of Education
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S
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Early childhood programs in other nations: Goals and outcomes
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Bowen, M
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Family Therapy in Clinical Practice
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Clignet, R
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Many wives, many powers
...
E
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and Davies, P
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Children and Marital Conflict
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Easterlin, Richard A
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“Modernization and fertility: A critical Essay”; In Determinants of
Fertility in Developing Countries
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Ferraro, G
...
(1973)
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Urban
Anthropology, 2, 214–231
Gupta, A
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(2006)
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Current Anthropology
Hetherington, E
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, Cox, M
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(1982)
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(ed
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Hillsdale, NJ: Erlbaum
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& Super, C
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(2002)
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In M
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Bornstein (Ed
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2: Biology and ecology of parenting (pp
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Hughes, F
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and Nopple, L
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(1990)
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New York:
Macmillan Publishing Company
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, Roberts, J
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(1988)
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New York: W
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Norton
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L
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E
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Cultural values and parenting education
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E
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Kagan (Eds
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37-55)
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Kagitcibasi, C
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, & Bekman, S
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Olds, D
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