Culture theory

This article is about culture. For Cultural Theory, see Cultural Theory of risk.

Culture theory is the branch of comparative anthropology and semiotics (not to be confused with cultural sociology or cultural studies) that seeks to define the heuristic concept of culture in operational and/or scientific terms.

In the 19th century, "culture" was used by some to refer to a wide array of human activities, and by others as a synonym for "civilization". In the 20th century, anthropologists began theorizing about culture as an object of scientific analysis. Some used it to distinguish human adaptive strategies from the largely instinctive adaptive strategies of animals, including the adaptive strategies of other primates and non-human hominids, whereas others used it to refer to symbolic representations and expressions of human experience, with no direct adaptive value. Both groups understood culture as being definitive of human nature.

According to many theories that have gained wide acceptance among anthropologists, culture exhibits the way that humans interpret their biology and their environment. According to this point of view, culture becomes such an integral part of human existence that it is the human environment, and most cultural change can be attributed to human adaptation to historical events. Moreover, given that culture is seen as the primary adaptive mechanism of humans and takes place much faster than human biological evolution, most cultural change can be viewed as culture adapting to itself.

Although most anthropologists try to define culture in such a way that it separates human beings from other animals, many human traits are similar to those of other animals, particularly the traits of other primates. For example, chimpanzees have big brains, but human brains are bigger. Similarly, bonobos exhibit complex sexual behaviour, but human beings exhibit much more complex sexual behaviours. As such, anthropologists often debate whether human behaviour is different from animal behaviour in degree rather than in kind; they must also find ways to distinguish cultural behaviour from sociological behaviour and psychological behavior.

Acceleration and amplification of these various aspects of culture change have been explored by complexity economist, W. Brian Arthur. In his book, The Nature of Technology, Arthur attempts to articulate a theory of change that considers that existing technologies (or material culture) are combined in unique ways that lead to novel new technologies. Behind that novel combination is a purposeful effort arising in human motivation. This articulation would suggest that we are just beginning to understand what might be required for a more robust theory of culture and culture change, one that brings coherence across many disciplines and reflects an integrating elegance.

References

Ogburn, William F. Social Change. 1922. Reprint. Dell, New York. 1966.
Rogers, G.F.C. The Nature of the Engineering: A Philosophy of Technology. Palgrave Macmillan, London, 1983.
Schumpeter, Joseph. The Theory of Economic Development. 1912. Reprint. Harvard University Press, Cambridge, MA. 1966. 1934.

Culture

Outline

Sciences	Anthropology Cultural astronomy Cultural ecology Cultural entomology Cultural neuroscience Cultural studies Culturology Culture theory Neuroculture

Subfields	Bioculture Cultural analytics Cultural anthropology Cultural economics Cultural geography Cultural history Cultural mediation Cultural psychology Culturomics Cross-cultural psychology Intercultural relations Philosophy of culture Popular culture studies Semiotics of culture Sociology of culture Sound culture Theology of culture Visual culture

Types	Constructed culture Dominant culture Folk culture High culture Individualistic culture Legal culture Low culture Official culture Political culture Civic Popular culture Urban Primitive culture Subculture Alternative culture list Super culture Vernacular culture Culture by location

Aspects	Acculturation Cultural appropriation Cultural area Cultural artifact Cultural baggage Cultural behavior Cultural capital Cultural communication Cultural conflict Cultural cringe Cultural dissonance Cultural framework Cultural heritage Cultural icon Cultural identity Cultural industry Cultural invention Cultural landscape Cultural learning Cultural leveling Cultural memory Cultural pluralism Cultural practice Cultural property Cultural reproduction Cultural system Cultural technology Cultural universal Enculturation High- and low-context cultures Interculturality Manuscript culture Material culture Non-material culture Organizational culture Print culture Protoculture Safety culture Technoculture Trans-cultural diffusion Transculturation

Politics	Colonial mentality Consumer capitalism Cultural assimilation Cultural attaché Cultural backwardness Cultural Bolshevism Cultural conservatism Cultural deprivation Cultural diplomacy Cultural environmentalism Cultural exception Cultural feminism Cultural genocide Cultural globalization Cultural hegemony Cultural imperialism Cultural intelligence Cultural liberalism Cultural nationalism Cultural pessimism Cultural policy Cultural radicalism Cultural retention Cultural Revolution Cultural rights Cultural safety Cultural silence Cultural Zionism Culture change Culture minister Culture of fear Culture war Dominator culture Interculturalism Intraculturalism Monoculturalism Multiculturalism Security culture

Related	Animal culture Archaeological culture Bennett scale Bullying culture Coffee culture Cross-cultural Cultural bias Cultural center Cultural Christian Cultural Mormon Cultural competence Cultural critic Cultural diversity Cultural encoding Cultural evolutionism Cultural institution Cultural Judaism Cultural lag Cultural literacy Cultural mosaic Cultural movement Cultural Muslim Cultural probe Cultural relativism Cultural tourism Pop-culture Cultural turn Cultural sensibility Culture gap Culture hero Culture industry Culture shock Children's culture Culturalism Cyberculture Deaf culture Death and culture Emotions and culture Intercultural competence Languaculture Media culture Oppositional culture Participatory culture Permission culture Rape culture Remix culture Tea culture Transformation of culture Urban culture Welfare culture

Portal Category changes

Sub-fields of and approaches to human geography

Sub-fields	Behavioral Cognitive Cultural Development Economic Health Historical Integrated Language Marketing Military Political Population Religion Social Strategic Time Tourism Transport Urban

Approaches	Critical Culture theory Feminist Marxist Modernism Structuralism Semiotics Non-representational theory Postmodernism Post-structuralism Deconstruction Scientific method Sexuality and space

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Culture theory

See also

References