Abstract
In its most general sense, culture refers to the sum of all products of human activity. Human beings shape pre-existing things, produce innovations as part of their collective way of life, and transmit them to the next generation. In contrast to other primates, humans are biologically dependent on culture. ‘A culture’ most usually is used to describe the way of life of a group that is different from that of another (national, religious, language, spatial) group. Whereas culture is seen holistically as an encompassing phenomenon in anthropology, in the humanities it is mostly conceived as a component or functional subsystem in the social sciences. In current global interactions, culture is often used as an economic asset and as a political means to include and exclude people or ideas. With a concept of culture that focuses more on commonalities than difference, we could empirically find a common humanity within the diversity of cultures.
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
Similar content being viewed by others
Notes
- 1.
Terry Eagleton, Culture, New Haven, Conn.: Yale University Press, 2016, p. 1.
- 2.
Jürgen Straub, Kultur, in: Idem/Arne Weidemann/Doris Weidemann (eds.), Handbuch interkulturelle Kommunikation und Kompetenz. Grundbegriffe – Theorien – Anwendungsfelder, Stuttgart: Metzler: 2007, pp. 7–24.
- 3.
Ibid., pp. 12–14.
- 4.
Edward Burnett Tylor, Primitive Culture. Researches into the Development of Mythology, Philosophy, Religion, Art, and Custom, vol. 1, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2010, p. 1 (Original 1871).
- 5.
Christoph Antweiler, Our Common Denominator. Human Universals Revisited. New York and Oxford: Berghahn Books, 2016.
- 6.
Dirk Baecker, Globalisierung und kulturelle Kompetenz, in: Derselbe, Wozu Kultur?, Berlin: Kulturverlag Kadmos, 2012, p. 17.
- 7.
Clifford Geertz, Thick Description. Toward an Interpretive Theory of Culture; in: Idem, The Interpretation of Cultures, Selected Essays, New York: Basic Books, 1973, pp. 3–30.
- 8.
Michael Schönhuth, Das Kulturglossar. Ein Vademecum für Interkulturalisten, online at: www.kulturglossar.de (last accessed 28.11.2017).
Literature
Antweiler, Christoph, Our Common Denominator. Human Universals Revisited. New York and Oxford: Berghahn Books, 2016.
Baecker, Dirk, Globalisierung und kulturelle Kompetenz, in Idem, Wozu Kultur? Berlin: Kulturverlag Kadmos, 2012, pp. 11–32.
Eagleton, Terry, Culture, New Haven: Yale University Press, 2016.
Geertz, Clifford, Thick Description. Toward an Interpretive Theory of Culture; in: Idem, The Interpretation of Cultures, Selected Essays, New York: Basic Books, 1973, pp. 3–30.
Hansen, Klaus P., Kultur und Kulturwissenschaft. Eine Einführung, Tübingen/Basel: A. Francke Verlag, 2011 (4th edition).
Schönhuth, Michael Das Kulturglossar. Ein Vademecum für Interkulturalisten, online at: www.kulturglossar.de, (last accessed 28.11.2017).
Straub, Jürgen, Kultur, in: Derselbe/Weidemann, Arne/Weidemann, Doris (eds.)., Handbuch interkulturelle Kommunikation und Kompetenz. Grundbegriffe – Theorien – Anwendungsfelder, Stuttgart: Metzler, 2007, pp. 7–24.
Tyler, Edward Burnett, Primitive Culture. Researches into the Development of Mythology, Philosophy, Religion, Art, and Custom. Volume 1, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2010 (Original 1871).
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2019 Springer International Publishing AG, part of Springer Nature
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
Antweiler, C. (2019). Culture. In: Kühnhardt, L., Mayer, T. (eds) The Bonn Handbook of Globality. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-90382-8_7
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-90382-8_7
Published:
Publisher Name: Springer, Cham
Print ISBN: 978-3-319-90381-1
Online ISBN: 978-3-319-90382-8
eBook Packages: Political Science and International StudiesPolitical Science and International Studies (R0)