Culture and Society

The word "culture" derives from a French term, which in turn derives from the Latin "colere," . It means to tend to the earth and grow, or cultivation and nurture. "It shares its etymology with a number of other words related to actively fostering growth,".

Culture is the characteristics and knowledge of a particular group of people, encompassing language, religion, cuisine, social habits, music and arts.

Culture consists of the beliefs, behaviors, objects, and other characteristics common to the members of a particular group or society.  

Thus, culture includes many societal aspects: language, customs, values, norms, mores, rules, tools, technologies, products, organizations, and institutions. 

Common institutions

Common institutions are the family, education, religion, work, and health care. This latter term institution refers to clusters of rules and cultural meanings associated with specific social activities.

sociologists define culture as  high culture, low culture, and popular culture.

 High culture—Members of the upper class can pursue high art because they have cultural capital, which means the professional credentials, education, knowledge, and verbal and social skills necessary to attain the “property, power, and prestige” to “get ahead” socially. 

Low culture, or popular culture—generally pursued by the working and middle classes—refers to sports, movies, television sitcoms and soaps, and rock music. 

Again culture of people  classified by the geographical diversity
Western culture
Eastern culture
Latin culture

1.Western culture

 The term "Western culture" has come to define the culture of European countries as well as those that have been heavily influenced by European immigration, such as the United States, according to Khan University. Western culture has its roots in the Classical Period of the Greco-Roman era and the rise of Christianity in the 14th century.

2.  Eastern culture

 Eastern culture generally refers to the societal norms of countries in Far East Asia (including China, Japan, Vietnam, North Korea and South Korea) and the Indian subcontinent. 

3. Latin culture

Many of the Spanish-speaking nations are considered part of the Latin culture. Latin America is typically defined as those parts of the Central America, South America and Mexico where Spanish or Portuguese are the dominant languages. Originally, the term "Latin America" was used by French geographers to differentiate between Anglo and Romance (Latin-based) languages, according to the University of Texas. While Spain and Portugal are on the European continent, they are considered the key influencers of what is known as Latin culture, which denotes people using languages derived from Latin, also known as Romance languages.

4. Middle Eastern culture 

The countries of the Middle East have some but not all things in common. This area consists of approximately 20 countries, according to PBS. The Arabic language is one thing that is common throughout the region; however, the wide variety of dialect can sometimes make communication difficult. Religion is another cultural area that the countries of the Middle East have in common. The Middle East is the birthplace of Judaism, Christianity and Islam.

5. African culture

The continent of Africa is essential to all cultures. Human life originated on this continent and began to migrate to other areas of the world around 60,000 yearsAfrica is home to a number of tribes, ethnic and social groups. One of the key features of this culture is the large number of ethnic groups throughout the 54 countries on the continent. Nigeria alone has more than 300 tribes, for example. Currently, Africa is divided into two cultural groups: North Africa and Sub-Saharan Africa.

Culture and society 

Culture and society are intricately related. Sociologists define society as the people who interact in such a way as to share a common culture. 

A culture consists of the “objects” of a society, whereas a society consists of the people who share a common culture. 

The term society can also have a geographic meaning and refer to people who share a common culture in a particular location. For example, people living in Tamilnadu developed different cultures from those living in Jammu Kashmir cultures. 

In time, a large variety of human cultures arose around the world.
The cultural bond may be ethnic or racial, based on gender, or due to shared beliefs, values, and activities. 

Cultural changes by information technology

Anthropology has the instruments to analyse cultural changes and to understand the current process of globalisation and the effects created by information technology on different societies.

Important feature of anthropological theory on Culture

• Technology  enables us to define culture as a set of communicative acts. Communication is what allows groups and individuals to represent themselves and interact with the world through norms and values.
• Technology is not only the machine itself but is the whole set of relationships between human beings, utensils and fields of knowledge.
• The role of technology in a society shows the indissolubility of the relationships that bind technology, society and the individual as shown by this analysis which identifies the numerous cultural changes caused by the use of information technology (IT). 
• New technologies modify space, time, relationships and types of communication that still continue to co-exist with the other fields of knowledge inherent in a culture. 
• The different pace of development of different societies in the world has been overwhelmed by this innovation, which has caught everyone unaware. 
• There is a gap between the speed at which digital technology is developing and the slow pace at which cultural models and their inherent values are changing. 

Cyberspace and cyber culture.

Lévy uses the word cyber culture to mean the set of material and intellectual techniques, practices, attitudes, ways of thinking and values that are expressed and developed in cyberspace. Cyber culture is an enormous problem seeking solutions to constantly changing situations caused by technical developments and collective reactions.