Culture is a complex concept that has been defined in many different ways, including as a system of beliefs and values, traditions, social norms, and behaviors. It encompasses the attitudes, beliefs, assumptions and prejudices of a group of people and includes all aspects of their daily lives. Examples of cultural elements include language, food, music and fashion. It also includes customs, laws, architectural style, and more. Culture is a fundamental aspect of human life that helps define the uniqueness of a society.
Although the word culture is often associated with high arts, it is something that everyone possesses, regardless of wealth or education. However, it is still misunderstood by the general public, and often associated with being elitist or “rich” in some way. This perception is not only inaccurate, but it is preventing us from fully understanding the importance of culture in our everyday lives and the impact that it has on behavior and development.
The research featured in this spotlight series demonstrates that there are dimensions of culture that go beyond the traditional definitions of the term and that should be more rigorously examined. In particular, we need to move beyond merely showing that culture matters and investigating the ways in which it shows up in behavior and development.
The articles in this collection illustrate a range of innovative approaches that explore these questions. For example, Rein Raud offers a new conceptualization of the idea of culture that integrates it with the study of texts (all reified meanings in circulation) and practices (all repeatable actions with purposes). This allows researchers to re-link anthropological and sociological studies of culture with the tradition of textual theory.
Another paper demonstrates how a broad approach to the concept of culture can inform the development of interventions that address a variety of cultural contexts. Allison DiBianca Fasoli explains how the meaning of historically-based cultural beliefs, values and practices is actively constructed and shared by members of communities through the communicative processes of aligning, countering and scaffolding. She applies these concepts to the study of the moral development of children within US evangelical and mainline Christian religious cultures.
In addition to the broader perspectives offered in these papers, each of these authors brings their specific expertise to bear on particular topics. For example, Mary Suizzo takes advantage of the agricultural etymology of the word culture – “culturing” – to argue that culture is not just an end product but a process that constantly grows through everyday interactions. She cites her own research on Parisian mothers’ childrearing goals and low-income American parents’ discussions of their children’s school achievement to demonstrate how carving, categorizing, and communicating about pathways of action and development continuously shape cultural culture.
These six papers offer a glimpse into the future of the study of culture and its impact on behavior and development. We hope that you find them both interesting and informative. Please consider signing up for the Cultural Politics table-of-contents alerts to be notified when new issues are published.