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Culture is a both a very personal and a very universal term. A group of friends have their own culture but they themseleves are living inside the culutre of their local community which inturn is part of the wider area culture and so on. Culture effects each and everyone of us every day all day. Many of the rules and laws we live by stem from cultural beliefs.
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Culture Change Throughout History
All cultures change over time. No culture is static. However, most cultures are conservative in that they tend to resist change. Some resist more than others by enacting laws for the preservation and protection of traditional cultural patterns while putting up barriers to ideas or radical change. For example, the French government banned the commercial use of English words for which there are equivalents in French. This in particular was a reaction to the widespread use and popularity of terms such as "sandwich" and "computer" among young people. More recently, Starbucks has found it very difficult to settle in France despite the fact that he becomes successful elsewhere in Europe. However, some cultures are very open to some types of change. Over the past two decades, China has been rapidly adopting Western technology and culture w in everyday life. This can be seen in their wide acceptance of everything from cellular phones to television and American fast food. McDonald's has already established 560 of its restaurants in China and soon will be adding 100 more. KFC fried chicken franchises have been even more popular. There are 1,000 KFC outlets across the country with over 100 in Beijing alone. Taco Bell, A & W and Pizza Hut are not far behind. In 2003, the Chinese government took the decision to require all children in the country beginning with the 3rd grade to learn English. This will most likely accelerate esternization.
China is far from unique in experiencing a rate of revolutionary change. It is now clear that we are in a period of accelerating change in culture around the world, regardless of whether we try to resist or not. It is driven by the expansion of international trade and media in particular. Ultimately the main driving force behind it is the number of people around the world has now doubled twice in less than half a century meaning that more and more cultures are in contact with each other on a permanent basis and end up overlapping.
When analyzing the transformation of a culture, it is clear that different interpretations are earned based on the development. Anthropology began its study of this phenomenon during the late 19th century, largely from the perspective of trying to understand how things are manufactured, such as tools, are invented and modified the design over time. It became clear that there is seldom entirely new inventions. In most cases, only the function, shape, or idea is new, but not all three. For example, our modern jack used for lifting the side of a car is usually based on the principles of leverage and / or screws. These principles are well known to the ancient Greeks over 2,000 years.
In the 1940s, anthropologists have begun to realize that the ideas, tools and other objects are not usually invented or modified in isolation. They are the product of particular cultural contexts. Cultures are organic wholes consisting of interdependent parts. Inventions often occur in response to other cultural changes.
Similarly, the inventions can potentially affect all cultural institutions. In the early 1950s, for example, televisions in American households affected when and how family members interact with each other. Less time was available for a conversation. The size of the houses in the wealthier regions of the United States. are now generally 2-3 times more than they were in 1950. Consequently, family members often have their own room and become even more isolated from each other.
Similarly, the introduction of new measures of effective birth control, primarily from the early 1960s, allowed people to easily limit the number of children they had and to space births. This has affected the children's relationships with their parents and siblings. When there are fewer children, parents can give more attention to each. Similarly, more money is available per child for clothing, entertainment, gifts, and education. Potentially, there is also more money and free time for parents when there are fewer children in their family.
The interdependent nature of cultural institutions can also be seen in the effects of changing roles for American women since the mid-20th century. As they have increasingly moved into the workforce outside the home, he gave them financial independence and has changed the traditional roles within the family. Men are less important than earners and less accepted as patriarchs. They began to take on more child rearing and other domestic household responsibilities previously defined as "women's work." Divorce has become an economically viable alternative for women in unhappy marriages. He also had a marked decrease in the frequency of mother child interaction. American children have increasingly been raised by a family member not in daycare centers and schools.
Since 1985, the average number of people living together in a household has decreased in the 76 richest countries because of the increased wealth and other social changes. Extended family households common and less popular. Divorce rates have increased in general led to the creation of new households with one or both partners prior marriage. There is also a greater number of single adults who establish their own households. For a quarter century there was a demand for housing which was much more than what is expected of population growth in these countries. Consequently, the need for wood and other building materials has dramatically increased the exploitation of forests. This makes it increasingly harder to maintain global biodiversity.
The interrelationship between culture and environment can also be seen in our depletion of energy resources and forced the adoption of new energy sources. As wood has become relatively rare at the beginning of the industrial revolution in Europe, it was replaced by coal to power plants and heat homes. In turn, the coal began to be replaced by oil and natural gas during the 20th century. Increased costs associated with petroleum products have led to begin to be replaced by solar energy and other energy sources, nuclear power.
It is very clear that the change of culture is very complex. It has far reaching causes and effects. To understand all the manifestations of change, we must take a holistic look at this subject. In other words, we must suppose that human existence can be understood as a multifaceted whole. Only then can we hope to understand the phenomena of cultural change.
steve