The relationship between culture and society is narrow, so much so that we can rarely speak of one without mentioning the other. There are many published works and books that attempt to describe the complex relationships between society and culture from different perspectives.
Many authors agree that it is not possible to understand human society without understanding human culture.
The relationship between culture and society
The relationship is due to the fact that the social behavior of man, be it economic, political, moral, religious, or otherwise, is dominated by the culture of his group.
The anthropology , the sociology and the psychology are some of the main disciplines that are in charge of studying the relations between culture and society.
These disciplines allow us to know the aspects of the human condition based on the influence that culture has on individuals and society in general.
The presence of culture implies the use of symbols through which individuals learn to modify their behavior by understanding the meanings of what is communicated.
This modification of the behaviors from symbols allows the establishment of societies.
In general, culture generates values, institutions and tools that modify social relations through a language of symbols that can be inherited to remain in society (manifested as traditions of society) or modified over time (manifested as development of the society).
Psychology, Culture and Society
Psychodynamic studies and psychology in general have made it possible to observe the influence of culture on the personality of individuals. This influence occurs in all aspects of the individual dynamically.
It has been shown that culture influences important aspects of the individual such as ideology and religion, among others.
This influence in turn is manifested in social interactions, which ultimately determines the present and future of societies themselves.
An example of this phenomenon in Western culture is the excessive help of parents to the child.
This cultural characteristic results in the rearing of overly dependent individuals who have problems facing the realities of the world and forming relationships with others.
Evolution: Culture as a differential factor
After the work of Charles Darwin , many scientists returned to see the human being like a mere animal, only with some peculiarities with respect to the other animals.
Because of this, many tried to explain human social relations just as they did for other animals.
More recently, it has been accepted that the importance of culture must be recognized as a distinct phase of evolution that manifests itself in a much less complex way in other animals.
If this characteristic is not taken into account, many of the social processes in the human being are not explained correctly.
Culture as a differential factor in human groups also evolves over time.
The symbols through which patterns of social behavior are constructed change as knowledge, values, and techniques develop. With the evolution of symbols patterns of social behavior also change.
References
- Ellwood C. A. Culture and Human Society. Social Forces. 1944; 23 (1): 6-15.
- Herzfeld M. (2000). Anthropology: Theoretical Practice in Culture and Society. John Wiley & Sons.
- Hjarvard S. (2013). The mediatization of Culture and Society. Routledge, New York
- Kardiner A. et al. (1945). The psychological frontiers of society. Columbia University Press, New York.
- Shashidhar R. Culture and Society: An Introduction to Raymond Williams. Social Scientist. 1997; 25 (5/6): 33-53.