Meaning of Society Culture

MEANING AND RELATION BETWEEN
CULTURE AND SOCIETY:
Meaning of Culture:
Culture here refers to a set of beliefs,skills,art, literature, religion, etc
which must be learned.This social heritage must be transmitted through
social organizations.
According to sociologists, culture consists of the values, beliefs, systems
of language, communication, and practices that people share in common
and that can be used to define them as a collective.
Culture also includes the material objects that are common to that group
or society.
Maclever and Page:
“Culture is the realm of style, of values, of emotional attachments, of
intellectual adventure,”
Definition of Culture:
 Culture is the centre of society and without culture no society can

even exist.
 It is the main difference between human being and animal. It is a
heritage transmitted from one generation to another generation.
 It includes all the way and behavior of culture. Culture is the entire
way of life for a group of people.
 Robert Bierstedt:
 culture is the complex whole that consist of everything we think
and do and have as a member of society.
 Malinowski:
 culture is the handwork of man and medium through which he
achieves his ends, goals.
Culture:
Features and characteristics of culture:
 Some of the important characteristics of culture

 Culture is social:
 culture does not exist in isolation neither it is an individual phenomenon.
It is product of society. It originates and develops through social
interaction.
 Culture is learned behavior:
 Culture is not inherited biologically but it is learnt socially by a man in a
society. It is not an inborn tendency but acquired by man from the
association of other, e.g. drinking, eating, dressing, walking, behaving,
reading are all learnt by man.
 Culture is transmitted:
 Culture is capable of transmitted from one generation to next. Parents
pass on culture traits to their children and they in turn to their children
and so on.
 Culture gratifying:
 Culture provides proper opportunities for the satisfaction of our
needs and desires. These needs may be biological or social in
nature.
 Culture varies from society to society:
 Every society has its own culture and way of behaving. It is not
uniform. Every culture is unique in itself is a specific society. For
example values, customs, tradition, religion, belief are not uniform
everywhere.
 Culture is dynamic:
 It remains changing but not static. Cultural process undergoes
changes but with different speed from society to society and
generation to generation.
A number of sociologists have classified
the culture in two types:
 There are two types of culture.

 1. Material culture
 2. Non material culture
 Material culture :
 It consist of manmade object such as tools, furniture, automobile, building,
road, and in fact the physical substance which has been changed and used by
man
 Non material culture:
 The term culture when used in the ordinary sense means non material culture.
 It is something internal. Non material culture consist of the words the people
use or the language they speak the belief they hold. It also includes our way of
acting, feeling and thinking.
Material vs. non material
culture:
According to H. M Johnson. The main elements of culture are:
 1. Cognitive Elements
 2. Beliefs
 3. Values
 4. Symbols
 5. Language
Relationship Between Culture & Society:
 What is society?
 Society is the bigger, cooperating social group with
an organized sense of relationship.
 It is the sum of interactions and people.
 What is culture?
 Culture can be seen as tradition that creates
cohesion and continuity.
 It has a lot of different meanings.
 It is the traits of a populations behavior, values and
beliefs.
 Essential Difference.
 Not Identical.
 Mutual existence.
1. Mutual Existence:
 No culture could exist without society and equally no society could exist
without culture
 Culture and society are co-existent
2. Not Identical:
 Culture and society may have the some common elements but the two are
not the same; they are not identical.
3. Essential difference:
 Culture consists of knowledge, ideas, customs, traditions, mores, beliefs,
skills.
 Society is composed of people, institutions, organizations .
Characteristics of relationship b/w culture
and society:
 culture plays a key role in the formation of a

society .
 But they are “Not Interchangeable”.
 Society and culture are closely related and
interlinked.
 Present and continuous movement.
 Society is composed of people.
Difference b/w society and culture:
 Base:
 society is an agreement on how each member should behave.
 Culture is based on historical precedence.
 Scope:
 Culture is a part of society.
 Society is the overall bigger picture.
 Flexibility:
 Society is more stable and inclusive.
 Culture is changing constantly and exclusive.
 Examples:
 Examples of society are villages, small towns and big cities.
 Examples of culture are fashion, language, traditional products, music,
art, ideas, values.
References:
 :[( Wilson, A. E., & Ross, M. (2001). From

chump to champ: People's appraisals of their
earlier and
 present selves. Journal of Personality and
Social Psychology, 80, 572-584)]
 :[( Corchia, L. (2010): La logica dei processi
culturali. JÃ¼rgen Habermas tra filosofia e
sociologia, Genova, Edizioni ECIG, ISBN 978-
88-7544-195-1.)]

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MEANING AND RELATION BETWEEN

CULTURE AND SOCIETY:

 Culture is the centre of society and without culture no society can

 Some of the important characteristics of culture

 There are two types of culture.

 culture plays a key role in the formation of a

 :[( Wilson, A. E., & Ross, M. (2001). From

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