Chapter 20 : Cultural Perspective

Cultural Perspective

Foundations of Cultural Perspective

• Definition of 'Culture': Sociologists and anthropologists use 'culture' as a collective noun to describe the symbolic and learned aspects of human society.
• It includes language, custom, and convention.
• It is the primary mechanism by which human behaviour is distinguished from that of other primates.
• Cultural vs. Physical Anthropology:

• The Determinism Debate: Anthropology operates on the core recognition that human behaviour is largely culturally, not genetically, determined.
• This foundational premise → has given rise to debates concerning 3 key areas:

1. Cultural diffusion
2. The uniqueness of cultures
3. Cultural relativity

Key Terms

📌 Exam Tidbits

• Core Anthropological Premise: Human behaviour is culturally determined, not genetically determined.
• 3 Debates arising from cultural determinism: Cultural diffusion, uniqueness of cultures, and cultural relativity.
• Cultural vs. Physical Anthropology: The difference is that cultural anthropology specifically analyzes the symbolic/learned culture of human societies, whereas physical anthropology does not.

Culturological Orientation in Indian Sociology

• The Landmark Work: The most important landmark in the beginning of the 'culturological orientation' in the theoretic nature of Indian sociology is M.N. Srinivas' work Religion and Society Among the Coorgs of South India (1952).
• Impact of Srinivas' Conceptual Schemes: Srinivas formulated conceptual schemes to analyze the phenomenon of social and cultural change, which made an outstanding impact on Indian sociology.
• Analytic Frame for Village Studies: His work offered an analytic frame to many village studies conducted particularly between 1952 and 1968.
• Key scholars/studies utilizing this frame:
• Srinivas (1955)
• Marriott (1955)
• Majumdar (1955, 1958)
• Chauhan (1974)
• Srinivas' framework also heavily influenced the later discursive treatment of Indian sociology.
• Yogendra Singh's Contribution: Singh's writings specifically focus on…