Culture

Definitions of Specialized Scientists and the Definition of UNESCO

There are numerous definitions of the concept of culture, some of which vary widely, as can be seen below:

1. „Culture is the collective programming of the mind that distinguishes the members of one group or category of people from another“ (Hofstede 1991), states cultural scientist Geert Hofstede.

2 The American ethnologist Clifford Geertz formulated the following definition: „Culture is the way in which people communicate, transmit and develop their knowledge of attitudes toward life. Culture is the pattern of meaning-making within which people interpret their experiences and guide their actions.“ (Geertz 1973)

3. Alexander Thomas also tries to approach the concept of culture: „Culture is a universal phenomenon. All people live in and develop a specific culture. Culture structures a field of action specific to the population, ranging from objects created and used to institutions, ideas, and values. Culture always manifests itself in a system of orientation typical of a nation, society, organization or group. This orientation system is formed from specific symbols (e.g., language, gestures, facial expressions, clothing, greeting rituals) and is handed down in the respective society, organization or group, i.e., passed on to the next generation. The orientation system defines for all members their belonging to the society or group and enables them to cope with their own environment. Culture influences the perception, thinking, values and actions of all members of the respective society. On the one hand, the culture-specific orientation system creates possibilities for action and incentives for action, but on the other hand, it also creates conditions for action and sets limits for action.“ (Thomas 1996)

4. the definition of the UNESCO commission states: „Culture can be regarded in its broadest sense as the totality of the unique spiritual, material, intellectual and emotional aspects that characterize a society or a social group. This includes not only art and literature, but also ways of life, basic human rights, value systems, traditions, and beliefs.“ (UNESCO Commission 1983, 121)

5 Tylor, Cassirer, Trompenpaars/ Hampden-Turner, Hansen, and Werlen also approach a definition of the term from quite different perspectives: „(Culture is) in the broadest ethnographic sense, that embodiment of knowledge, belief, art, morality, law, custom, and all other capacities and habits which man as a member of society has acquired.“ (Tylor 2011)

6. „Taken as a whole, culture might be described as the process of man’s progressive self-liberation. Language, art, religion, and science constitute distinct phases in this process. In them all, man discovers and proves a new power – the power to construct his own, an ‚ideal‘ world.“ (Cassirer 2007, 345)

7 „A fish discovers its need for water only when it is no longer in it. Our own culture is like water to a fish. It sustains us. We live and breathe through it.“ (Trompenaars/ Hampden-Turner 2012, 27)

8 „Culture means collective egalitarian behavior. (…) The phenomenon of culture is composed of three factors, standardization, communication and collectivity.“ (Hansen 2011, 29 u. 32)

9. „In social scientific understanding, culture refers to the totality of the assessed and evaluating ways of acting of the members of a society as well as their results. ‚Culture‘ is to be understood neither in purely material terms as a sum of artifacts nor exclusively in an abstract sense as a system of values, for the term implies both aspects.“ (Werlen 2008, 359)

Literature

Cassirer, E. (2007): Attempt on Man. Introduction to a philosophy of culture. 2nd ed. Hamburg.

German Commission for UNESCO (ed.) (1983): World Conference on Cultural Policy. Final report of the international conference organized by UNESCO in Mexico City, July 26-August 6, 1982. In: UNESCO Conference Proceedings, No. 5. Munich: Saur 1983, 121.

Hansen, K. P. (2011): Culture and cultural studies. 4th ed. Tübingen/ Basel.

Trompenaars, F./ Hampden-Turner, C. (2012): Riding the Waves of Culture. Understanding diversity in global business. 3rd ed. London/ Boston.

Tylor, E. B. (2011): Primitive culture. In: Hansen, K. P. (Ed.) (2011): Culture and cultural studies. 4th ed. Tübingen: Basel, 29.

Werlen, B. (2008): Social geography. 3rd ed. Bern.