C. A. Hooker
- Published in print:
- 2002
- Published Online:
- January 2015
- ISBN:
- 9780197262627
- eISBN:
- 9780191771989
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- British Academy
- DOI:
- 10.5871/bacad/9780197262627.003.0005
- Subject:
- History, History of Ideas
This chapter explores the dynamics of cultural change by presenting a dynamical analysis of biological organisation. In order to understand cultural change, it argues that the focus should be on ...
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This chapter explores the dynamics of cultural change by presenting a dynamical analysis of biological organisation. In order to understand cultural change, it argues that the focus should be on highly interactive and plastic, highly organised processes and concomitant states that constitute culture. It also suggests that the interactive complex of cultural features such as clothing must be placed in their organismic, communal and ecological settings. The chapter begins by considering T. S. Eliot's conception of culture before discussing how culture is shaped by individuals and vice versa, along with its adaptive function. It also outlines some fundamental relationships for the construction of useful models for acculturated interaction that emphasise autonomy and collective cultural dynamics.Less
This chapter explores the dynamics of cultural change by presenting a dynamical analysis of biological organisation. In order to understand cultural change, it argues that the focus should be on highly interactive and plastic, highly organised processes and concomitant states that constitute culture. It also suggests that the interactive complex of cultural features such as clothing must be placed in their organismic, communal and ecological settings. The chapter begins by considering T. S. Eliot's conception of culture before discussing how culture is shaped by individuals and vice versa, along with its adaptive function. It also outlines some fundamental relationships for the construction of useful models for acculturated interaction that emphasise autonomy and collective cultural dynamics.
Yoshihisa Kashima
- Published in print:
- 2019
- Published Online:
- July 2019
- ISBN:
- 9780190679743
- eISBN:
- 9780190679774
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/oso/9780190679743.003.0005
- Subject:
- Psychology, Social Psychology
What is culture for? What functions does culture serve? This chapter traces a historical background to these functionalist questions and examine their contemporary relevance. Although functionalist ...
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What is culture for? What functions does culture serve? This chapter traces a historical background to these functionalist questions and examine their contemporary relevance. Although functionalist perspectives arose from Darwin’s evolutionism in social science and psychology of the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, their theoretical implications were thoroughly criticized and gave way to the emergence of a newer, neo-functionalist thinking in the late twentieth century. A neo-functionalist perspective is discernible in a variety of theoretical approaches in culture and psychology. Its basic tenet suggests that culture is often, though not always, helpful for its adopters to adapt to their local environmental niche, meeting different types of environmental challenges, both natural and human made (built, economic, intergroup, intragroup, psychological). The chapter concludes by advocating that research on culture and psychology can play a critical role in helping humanity meet the twenty-first-century challenges of climate change and intergroup conflicts.Less
What is culture for? What functions does culture serve? This chapter traces a historical background to these functionalist questions and examine their contemporary relevance. Although functionalist perspectives arose from Darwin’s evolutionism in social science and psychology of the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, their theoretical implications were thoroughly criticized and gave way to the emergence of a newer, neo-functionalist thinking in the late twentieth century. A neo-functionalist perspective is discernible in a variety of theoretical approaches in culture and psychology. Its basic tenet suggests that culture is often, though not always, helpful for its adopters to adapt to their local environmental niche, meeting different types of environmental challenges, both natural and human made (built, economic, intergroup, intragroup, psychological). The chapter concludes by advocating that research on culture and psychology can play a critical role in helping humanity meet the twenty-first-century challenges of climate change and intergroup conflicts.
Michaela DeSoucey
- Published in print:
- 2016
- Published Online:
- January 2018
- ISBN:
- 9780691154930
- eISBN:
- 9781400882830
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Princeton University Press
- DOI:
- 10.23943/princeton/9780691154930.001.0001
- Subject:
- Sociology, Politics, Social Movements and Social Change
Who cares about foie gras? As it turns out, many do. In the last decade, this French delicacy—the fattened liver of ducks or geese that have been force-fed through a tube—has been at the center of ...
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Who cares about foie gras? As it turns out, many do. In the last decade, this French delicacy—the fattened liver of ducks or geese that have been force-fed through a tube—has been at the center of contentious battles between animal rights activists, artisanal farmers, industry groups, politicians, chefs, and foodies. This book takes the reader to farms, restaurants, protests, and political hearings in both the United States and France to reveal why people care so passionately about foie gras. Bringing together fieldwork, interviews, and materials from archives and the media on both sides of the Atlantic, the book offers a compelling look at the moral arguments and provocative actions of pro- and anti-foie gras forces. It combines personal stories with fair-minded analysis of the social contexts within which foie gras is loved and loathed. From the barns of rural southwest France and the headquarters of the European Union in Brussels, to exclusive New York City kitchens and the government offices of Chicago, the book demonstrates that the debates over foie gras involve heated and controversial politics. The book draws attention to the cultural dynamics of markets, the multivocal nature of “gastropolitics,” and the complexities of what it means to identify as a “moral” eater in today's food world. Investigating the causes and consequences of the foie gras wars, the book illuminates the social significance of food and taste in the twenty-first century.Less
Who cares about foie gras? As it turns out, many do. In the last decade, this French delicacy—the fattened liver of ducks or geese that have been force-fed through a tube—has been at the center of contentious battles between animal rights activists, artisanal farmers, industry groups, politicians, chefs, and foodies. This book takes the reader to farms, restaurants, protests, and political hearings in both the United States and France to reveal why people care so passionately about foie gras. Bringing together fieldwork, interviews, and materials from archives and the media on both sides of the Atlantic, the book offers a compelling look at the moral arguments and provocative actions of pro- and anti-foie gras forces. It combines personal stories with fair-minded analysis of the social contexts within which foie gras is loved and loathed. From the barns of rural southwest France and the headquarters of the European Union in Brussels, to exclusive New York City kitchens and the government offices of Chicago, the book demonstrates that the debates over foie gras involve heated and controversial politics. The book draws attention to the cultural dynamics of markets, the multivocal nature of “gastropolitics,” and the complexities of what it means to identify as a “moral” eater in today's food world. Investigating the causes and consequences of the foie gras wars, the book illuminates the social significance of food and taste in the twenty-first century.
Tracey E. W. Laird
- Published in print:
- 2005
- Published Online:
- October 2011
- ISBN:
- 9780195167511
- eISBN:
- 9780199850099
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780195167511.003.0003
- Subject:
- Music, Ethnomusicology, World Music
The music in Shreveport during the 19th century travelled the same river and land routes as the steamboats and overland pioneers. It also grew in the form of the local practices that characterized ...
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The music in Shreveport during the 19th century travelled the same river and land routes as the steamboats and overland pioneers. It also grew in the form of the local practices that characterized the region's daily life. During this time, large-scale minstrel shows and the music of brass bands were the most common form of entertainment in Shreveport. In the 20th-century rhythm-and-blues made KWKH and the Louisiana Hayride a nurturing studio sideman which gave the country musical sensibilities. According to earlier musicians, these players were not ground breaking but tradition building. Long before the end of World War II, black and white musicians played music together around Shreveport. Also, looking at the influence of the region of Northwest Louisiana adds a critical dimension to the question of the rise in the roots of musical scholarship and issues of cultural dynamics.Less
The music in Shreveport during the 19th century travelled the same river and land routes as the steamboats and overland pioneers. It also grew in the form of the local practices that characterized the region's daily life. During this time, large-scale minstrel shows and the music of brass bands were the most common form of entertainment in Shreveport. In the 20th-century rhythm-and-blues made KWKH and the Louisiana Hayride a nurturing studio sideman which gave the country musical sensibilities. According to earlier musicians, these players were not ground breaking but tradition building. Long before the end of World War II, black and white musicians played music together around Shreveport. Also, looking at the influence of the region of Northwest Louisiana adds a critical dimension to the question of the rise in the roots of musical scholarship and issues of cultural dynamics.
Oliver P. Richmond and Jason Franks
- Published in print:
- 2009
- Published Online:
- March 2012
- ISBN:
- 9780748638765
- eISBN:
- 9780748652761
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Edinburgh University Press
- DOI:
- 10.3366/edinburgh/9780748638765.003.0005
- Subject:
- Political Science, International Relations and Politics
This chapter examines the Oslo peace process as the first attempt to introduce the liberal peace framework in the Middle East, and the later, more limited engagement with the construction of a viable ...
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This chapter examines the Oslo peace process as the first attempt to introduce the liberal peace framework in the Middle East, and the later, more limited engagement with the construction of a viable peace between the Israeli state and the Palestinians. It argues that the ‘thin’ liberal peace model employed in the Middle East peace process is problematic due to its exclusive nature. It builds states for liberals, and thus excludes and indeed, often simply ignores non-liberal others. Indeed, it may also be the case that some of the obstacles to a viable framework for peace stem, not just from local political and cultural dynamics, but also from the liberal peace paradigm's engagement with the region itself.Less
This chapter examines the Oslo peace process as the first attempt to introduce the liberal peace framework in the Middle East, and the later, more limited engagement with the construction of a viable peace between the Israeli state and the Palestinians. It argues that the ‘thin’ liberal peace model employed in the Middle East peace process is problematic due to its exclusive nature. It builds states for liberals, and thus excludes and indeed, often simply ignores non-liberal others. Indeed, it may also be the case that some of the obstacles to a viable framework for peace stem, not just from local political and cultural dynamics, but also from the liberal peace paradigm's engagement with the region itself.
Erika Fischer-Lichte
- Published in print:
- 2017
- Published Online:
- June 2017
- ISBN:
- 9780199651634
- eISBN:
- 9780191801440
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/oso/9780199651634.001.0001
- Subject:
- Classical Studies, Plays and Playwrights: Classical, Early, and Medieval
The book is devoted to the remarkable phenomenon of Greek tragedy’s endurance on German stages during the last 200 years. It examines how performances of Greek tragedies since 1800 contributed to the ...
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The book is devoted to the remarkable phenomenon of Greek tragedy’s endurance on German stages during the last 200 years. It examines how performances of Greek tragedies since 1800 contributed to the emergence, stabilization, and transformation of the German Bildungsbürgertum’s (educated middle class) cultural identity. Its focus lies on performances that either introduced a new theatre aesthetics or a new image of ancient Greece, or both. Key here are the truly transformative moments as well as the cultural dynamics involved. In this context, the overall political situation of the 200 years between the French Revolution and the peaceful revolution of 1989 in the German Democratic Republic plays a central role. It resulted in the reunification of the two German states, both founded in 1949 in the aftermath of the Second World War and at the beginning of the cold war. What was/is the purpose and role of performances of Greek tragedies in such a political climate? Did they help to bring about changes or did they result from changes that were already taking place? Were the performances seen to be welcoming, opposing, or even negating these changes? This study supplies answers to these questions by shedding some light on the underexplored relationship between the Philhellenism and the theatromania of the German Bildungsbürgertum, which has been brought into a sharper focus in performances of ancient Greek tragedies since the beginning of the nineteenth century. In short, it attempts to understand tragedy’s endurance.Less
The book is devoted to the remarkable phenomenon of Greek tragedy’s endurance on German stages during the last 200 years. It examines how performances of Greek tragedies since 1800 contributed to the emergence, stabilization, and transformation of the German Bildungsbürgertum’s (educated middle class) cultural identity. Its focus lies on performances that either introduced a new theatre aesthetics or a new image of ancient Greece, or both. Key here are the truly transformative moments as well as the cultural dynamics involved. In this context, the overall political situation of the 200 years between the French Revolution and the peaceful revolution of 1989 in the German Democratic Republic plays a central role. It resulted in the reunification of the two German states, both founded in 1949 in the aftermath of the Second World War and at the beginning of the cold war. What was/is the purpose and role of performances of Greek tragedies in such a political climate? Did they help to bring about changes or did they result from changes that were already taking place? Were the performances seen to be welcoming, opposing, or even negating these changes? This study supplies answers to these questions by shedding some light on the underexplored relationship between the Philhellenism and the theatromania of the German Bildungsbürgertum, which has been brought into a sharper focus in performances of ancient Greek tragedies since the beginning of the nineteenth century. In short, it attempts to understand tragedy’s endurance.
Randall Mcgowen
- Published in print:
- 2011
- Published Online:
- March 2016
- ISBN:
- 9780814732663
- eISBN:
- 9780814733042
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- NYU Press
- DOI:
- 10.18574/nyu/9780814732663.003.0001
- Subject:
- Law, Criminal Law and Criminology
This book examines the historical and theoretical assumptions that have underpinned contemporary discussions of capital punishment in the United States. Drawing on insights from historians, ...
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This book examines the historical and theoretical assumptions that have underpinned contemporary discussions of capital punishment in the United States. Drawing on insights from historians, sociologists, legal scholars, and litigators, it analyzes long-term trends but also the shifting functions that shape death penalty's changing forms and the contingent variables that influence its development. It also discusses the persistence of death penalty as an institution, its occurrence in particular places, and the politics—especially biopolitics—to which it gives rise. Finally, it considers international trends that present not only a mix of different approaches to the death penalty but also expose the shifting political currents that so often surround the question today. In particular, it considers the cultural dynamics that sustain or undermine support for capital punishment in particular societies as well as the importance of history in understanding various issues relating to the death penalty.Less
This book examines the historical and theoretical assumptions that have underpinned contemporary discussions of capital punishment in the United States. Drawing on insights from historians, sociologists, legal scholars, and litigators, it analyzes long-term trends but also the shifting functions that shape death penalty's changing forms and the contingent variables that influence its development. It also discusses the persistence of death penalty as an institution, its occurrence in particular places, and the politics—especially biopolitics—to which it gives rise. Finally, it considers international trends that present not only a mix of different approaches to the death penalty but also expose the shifting political currents that so often surround the question today. In particular, it considers the cultural dynamics that sustain or undermine support for capital punishment in particular societies as well as the importance of history in understanding various issues relating to the death penalty.
Kale Bantigue Fajardo
- Published in print:
- 2011
- Published Online:
- August 2015
- ISBN:
- 9780816666645
- eISBN:
- 9781452946795
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- University of Minnesota Press
- DOI:
- 10.5749/minnesota/9780816666645.003.0005
- Subject:
- Literature, Criticism/Theory
This chapter discusses the manhood of Filipino seamen and the sexual identity of “Filipino tomboys”— male-identified females who generally have sexual or emotional relationships with other females. ...
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This chapter discusses the manhood of Filipino seamen and the sexual identity of “Filipino tomboys”— male-identified females who generally have sexual or emotional relationships with other females. It also highlights gender identifications and cultural phenomena related to Filipino seamen and tomboys. Filipino culture accepts queers as Filipino seafarers and other migrants develop close ties with Filipino tomboys because of the similarity in their orientations, such as an intense attraction towards women.Less
This chapter discusses the manhood of Filipino seamen and the sexual identity of “Filipino tomboys”— male-identified females who generally have sexual or emotional relationships with other females. It also highlights gender identifications and cultural phenomena related to Filipino seamen and tomboys. Filipino culture accepts queers as Filipino seafarers and other migrants develop close ties with Filipino tomboys because of the similarity in their orientations, such as an intense attraction towards women.
William M. Gorvine
- Published in print:
- 2018
- Published Online:
- December 2018
- ISBN:
- 9780199362349
- eISBN:
- 9780190914547
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/oso/9780199362349.003.0004
- Subject:
- Religion, Buddhism
Chapter 3 turns its attention to the formative phase of Shardza’s youth. The chapter explores how the biographies present the emergent inclinations and religious orientations shaping his temperament. ...
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Chapter 3 turns its attention to the formative phase of Shardza’s youth. The chapter explores how the biographies present the emergent inclinations and religious orientations shaping his temperament. These were determined in large part by a breadth of religious teachers, by the style of training he adopted, and by an important early pilgrimage he undertook that brought him into contact with a broader cultural world. These lasting and varied influences provided an important basis for alternative representations to emerge. They allowed Shardza to be ultimately fashioned by his biographer as an open-minded but well-informed polymath who transcends and reconciles typically contrasting religious types, becoming a great adept and a prolific scholar, a nonsectarian visionary, and a committed Bönpo monastic.Less
Chapter 3 turns its attention to the formative phase of Shardza’s youth. The chapter explores how the biographies present the emergent inclinations and religious orientations shaping his temperament. These were determined in large part by a breadth of religious teachers, by the style of training he adopted, and by an important early pilgrimage he undertook that brought him into contact with a broader cultural world. These lasting and varied influences provided an important basis for alternative representations to emerge. They allowed Shardza to be ultimately fashioned by his biographer as an open-minded but well-informed polymath who transcends and reconciles typically contrasting religious types, becoming a great adept and a prolific scholar, a nonsectarian visionary, and a committed Bönpo monastic.
