Anthropologists have been trying to theorize the difference between culture and society since the founding days of the field. While doing this, patterns have arisen in both the differences and similarities of the two concepts, as well as their relationship to technology.
Through a thorough reading of the Wolf and Keesing articles there exists fundamental differences between culture and society. As Keesing states “Cultures are a system of shared ideas. Thus, culture can be referred to as an ideational system” (p.24). This on its own makes culture similar to society however they are not one in another. A big indication of this separation of the two is the presence of multiple cultures within societies. A good example of this behavior is the …show more content…
Culture and society were created as concepts by early scholars to help explain human behaviors and interactions with one another. Because of this they do not actually exist in the sense that we might think they do, this can leave the two open for interpretation as is very obvious in many papers and articles. The two can be shown to be different by their very definitions but it is indeed much deeper than that, Keesing eludes to this difference in definition by showing multiple versions of an anthropologist’s perception on the meaning of culture. While collectively, culture focuses on the traditions and way of life for a group of people, society is more focused on the interactions of people whether they share the same traditions and beliefs. Because of this you can find culture within a society but never find a society within a culture because conceptually that is not what society is. The traditions and beliefs of a culture will be passed down for generations and new traditions will also be created as the culture evolves, generating new dynamics and paradigms for its constituency. In this case it is possible to theorize that a culture may change its habits and ways, but a society may not. It is also possible to theorize the opposite, whereas a society collectively could change what is acceptable and what is not, but some of the members in the society may prevent that change happening to them because …show more content…
To look at it as it is, without culture there could be no society as culture gives people the same beliefs and traditions it allows those people to apply those traditions to a way of life. This is the way that societies with certain cultures can develop different political and economic beliefs over a society with a different culture. In this case the culture can have a direct impact on the way that the society functions. It is worth noting that there are multiple correlations to the behavior of different societies and their culture. Probably the biggest example of this is the comparison of the west and eastern cultures. Once again although the two are conceptually different one would not exist without the other, therefore the intersection of the two is inevitable and is bound to happen at one point or another. Similarly, how society can essentially group people based on their skills and specialties, culture can do the same thing just in a different way. This can be explained in a simple example, in a modern society with a very specialized population if you are in need of financial advice one may go to an accountant, someone who is very experienced in the topic. The same type of behavior is present in cultures as younger constituents often go to the elders for life advice and how to handle certain situations, the elder is highly specialized and trained in their cultural
Through a thorough reading of the Wolf and Keesing articles there exists fundamental differences between culture and society. As Keesing states “Cultures are a system of shared ideas. Thus, culture can be referred to as an ideational system” (p.24). This on its own makes culture similar to society however they are not one in another. A big indication of this separation of the two is the presence of multiple cultures within societies. A good example of this behavior is the …show more content…
Culture and society were created as concepts by early scholars to help explain human behaviors and interactions with one another. Because of this they do not actually exist in the sense that we might think they do, this can leave the two open for interpretation as is very obvious in many papers and articles. The two can be shown to be different by their very definitions but it is indeed much deeper than that, Keesing eludes to this difference in definition by showing multiple versions of an anthropologist’s perception on the meaning of culture. While collectively, culture focuses on the traditions and way of life for a group of people, society is more focused on the interactions of people whether they share the same traditions and beliefs. Because of this you can find culture within a society but never find a society within a culture because conceptually that is not what society is. The traditions and beliefs of a culture will be passed down for generations and new traditions will also be created as the culture evolves, generating new dynamics and paradigms for its constituency. In this case it is possible to theorize that a culture may change its habits and ways, but a society may not. It is also possible to theorize the opposite, whereas a society collectively could change what is acceptable and what is not, but some of the members in the society may prevent that change happening to them because …show more content…
To look at it as it is, without culture there could be no society as culture gives people the same beliefs and traditions it allows those people to apply those traditions to a way of life. This is the way that societies with certain cultures can develop different political and economic beliefs over a society with a different culture. In this case the culture can have a direct impact on the way that the society functions. It is worth noting that there are multiple correlations to the behavior of different societies and their culture. Probably the biggest example of this is the comparison of the west and eastern cultures. Once again although the two are conceptually different one would not exist without the other, therefore the intersection of the two is inevitable and is bound to happen at one point or another. Similarly, how society can essentially group people based on their skills and specialties, culture can do the same thing just in a different way. This can be explained in a simple example, in a modern society with a very specialized population if you are in need of financial advice one may go to an accountant, someone who is very experienced in the topic. The same type of behavior is present in cultures as younger constituents often go to the elders for life advice and how to handle certain situations, the elder is highly specialized and trained in their cultural