Culture

Introduction
The concept of culture is among the most widely used notions in sociology. Normally,
one can presume culture to be equivalent to higher things of the mind such as art, literature,
music and painting. However, in the perspective of sociologist it goes beyond such activities.
Culture refers to the ways of life of the members of society, or of groups within a society. It
includes how they dress, their marriage customs, language and family life, their patterns of
work, religious ceremonies and leisure pursuits Cultural sociology is one of the main major
and most popular are as of the American Sociological Association. The sociology of culture
developed from the intersection between sociology, as shaped by early theorists like Marx,
Durkheim, and Weber, and with the rising specialization of anthropology where researchers
lead the way of ethnographic approach for unfolding and examining different diversity of
cultures around the world.
Humans are social creatures. Culture is a strong part of people's lives. It influences their
views, their values, their humour, their hopes, their loyalties, and their worries and fears. So
when you are working with people and building relationships with them, it helps to have some
perspective and understanding of their cultures.
But as we explore culture, it's also important to remember how much we have in
common. People see the world very differently, but they know what it is like to wake up in the
morning and look forward to the adventures that of the day. We are all human beings. We all
love deeply, want to learn, have hopes and dreams, and have experienced pain and fear.

Meaning of Culture
Culture describes a certain set of customs, ideas and social behaviour of a group of
similar people in a society. Geographical borders usually segregate cultures. Some
characteristics like language, religion, food habits, social norms, music and arts stay specific
in one particular culture.

Definition
The term "culture" can be used as part of a descriptive statement, as in discussing the
culture of our modern society or the culture of the Hispanic population. In this case, it refers,
in the collective sense, to the norms, values, beliefs, and expressive symbols held and used in
a particular subset of the population.
For example, it is possible to acquire a new culture by moving to a new country or
region, by a change in our economic status, or by becoming disabled. When we think of culture
this broadly we realize we all belong to many cultures at once.
According to sociologists, culture consists of the values, beliefs, systems of language and
communication, and practices that people share in common and that can be used to define them
as a collective
According to Erikson, cultures change through the action of persons whose ideas and behaviour
“fit” the culture.
 Horton and Hunt define “Culture is everything which is socially shared and learned
by the members of a society.”
Tylor defined “It is that complex whole including beliefs, art, region, values, norms,
ideas, law, taught, knowledge, custom and other capabilities acquired by a man as a member
of a society.”

 Elements of culture
Symbols: Symbols are those illustrations that are used to represent a particular meaning of
something that people who share the same culture can easily recognize
Language: A system of symbols that permits people to communicate with one another.
Values: Culturally defined principles of desirability, goodness, beauty and many other things
that serves as broad guidelines for social living.
Beliefs: Certain words that people hold to be true.
Norms: Rules and expectations by which a society directs the conducts of its members. The
two types of norms are mores and folkways. Mores are norms that are widely observed and
have a great moral significance. Folkways are norms for routine, casual interaction.

Features & Characteristics of Culture

Some of the important characteristics of culture has been cited below.
1. Culture is learned
Culture is not inherited biologically but it is leant socially by man in a society. It is not an
inborn tendency but acquired by man from the association of others, e.g. drinking, eating,
dressing, walking, behaving, reading are all learnt by man.
2. Culture is social
It is not an individual phenomenon but it is the product of society. It develops in the society
through social interaction. It is shared by the man of society No man can acquire it without the
association of others. Man is man only among men. It helps to develop qualities of human
beings in a social environment. Deprivation of a man from his company is the deprivation of
human qualities.
3. Culture is shared
Culture is something shared. It is nothing that an individual can passes but shared by common
people of a territory. For example, customs, traditions, values, beliefs are all shared by man in
a social situation. These beliefs and practices are adopted by all equally.
4. Culture is transmitted
Culture is capable of transmitted from one generation to the next. Parents papa’s cultural traits
to their children and in return they pass to their children and son on. It is not transmitted through
genes but through language. Language is means to communication which passes cultural traits
from one generation to another.
5. Culture is continuous
It is continuous process. It is like a stream which is flowing from one generation to another
through centuries. “Culture is the memory of human race.”
6. Culture is accumulative
Culture is not a matter of month or a year. It is the continuous process and adding new cultural
traits. Many cultural traits are borrowed from outside and these absorbed in that culture which
adopt it, as culture is accumulative and combines the suitable cultural traits.
7. Culture is integrated
All the cultural aspects are inter-connected with each other. The development of culture is the
integration of its various parts. For example, values system is interlinked with morality,
customs, beliefs and religion.
8. Culture is changing
It remains changing but not static. Cultural process undergoes changes. But with different
speeds from society to society and generation to generation.
9. Culture varies from society to society
Every society has its own culture and ways of behaving. It is not uniform everywhere but occurs
differently in various societies. Every culture is unique in itself is a specific society. For
example, values, customs, traditions, ideologies, religion, belief, practices are not similar but
different in every society. However, the ways of eating, drinking, speaking, greeting, dressing
etc are differs from one social situation to another in the same time.
10. Culture is responsive
Culture is responsive to the changing conditions of a physical world. It intervenes in the natural
environment and helps man from all dangers and natural calamities e.g. our houses are
responsible to give us shelter and safety from storm and heavy rains.
11. Culture is gratifying
It is gratifying and provide all the opportunities for needs and desires satisfaction. These needs
may be biological or social but It is responsible to satisfy it. Our needs are food, shelter,
clothing and desires are status, fame, money, sex etc. are all the examples which are fulfilled
according to the cultural ways. In fact, it is defined as the process through which human beings
satisfy their need.
12. Linked with society
Last but not the least one of the characteristics of culture that culture and society are
one and the same. But if we say that these turn two are twin sister, it would not be wrong.
Society is a composite of people and they interact each other through it. It is to bind the people
within the society.
Conclusion
The concept of culture is one of the most important notions in sociology. We can't talk
about culture without drawing links with identity. This article explains how culture plays an
important role in perpetuating the values and norms of a society. Culture also offers significant
opportunities for resourcefulness and change. Cultural values and norms often change over
time. In today's we have unprecedented opportunities to make ourselves and to create our own
identities. Talking about identity, we are our own best resources in defining who we are, where
we have come from and where we are going. The decision we take in our everyday lives about
what we wear, eat, how to behave and how to spend time help to make us who we are. Through
our capacity as self-conscious, self-aware human beings, we constantly create and recreate our
identities.