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Cultural analysis

About: Cultural analysis is a research topic. Over the lifetime, 5138 publications have been published within this topic receiving 187420 citations.


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Book
01 Jan 2003
TL;DR: In this article, the authors present concepts and ways of understanding the cultural nature of human development and the transformation of participation in cultural activities in families and communities, as well as the transition in individuals' roles in their communities.
Abstract: 1. Orienting concepts and ways of understanding the cultural nature of human development 2. Development as transformation of participation in cultural activities 3. Individuals, generations and dynamic cultural communities 4. Child rearing in families and communities 5. Developmental transitions in individuals' roles in their communities 6. Interdependence and autonomy 7. Thinking with the tools and institutions of culture 8. Learning through guided participation in cultural endeavours 9. Cultural change and relations among communities

5,048 citations

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: In this paper, an emergent methodological trend in anthropological research that concerns the adaptation of long-standing modes of ethnographic practices to more complex objects of study is surveyed, in terms of testing the limits of ethnography, attenuating the power of fieldwork, and losing the perspective of the subaltern.
Abstract: This review surveys an emergent methodological trend in anthropological research that concerns the adaptation of long-standing modes of ethnographic practices to more complex objects of study. Ethnography moves from its conventional single-site location, contextualized by macro-constructions of a larger social order, such as the capitalist world system, to multiple sites of observation and participation that cross-cut dichotomies such as the “local” and the “global,” the “lifeworld” and the “system.” Resulting ethnographies are therefore both in and out of the world system. The anxieties to which this methodological shift gives rise are considered in terms of testing the limits of ethnography, attenuating the power of fieldwork, and losing the perspective of the subaltern. The emergence of multi-sited ethnography is located within new spheres of interdisciplinary work, including media studies, science and technology studies, and cultural studies broadly. Several “tracking” strategies that shape multi-site...

4,905 citations

Book
01 Jan 1977
TL;DR: In this paper, Williams extended the theme of Raymond Williams's earlier work in literary and cultural analysis by outlining a theory of "cultural materialism" which integrates Marxist theories of language with literature.
Abstract: This book extends the theme of Raymond Williams's earlier work in literary and cultural analysis. He analyses previous contributions to a Marxist theory of literature from Marx himself to Lukacs, Althusser, and Goldmann, and develops his own approach by outlining a theory of 'cultural materialism' which integrates Marxist theories of language with Marxist theories of literature. Williams moves from a review of the growth of the concepts of literature and idealogy to a redefinition of 'determinism' and 'hegemony'. His incisive discussion of the 'social material process' of cultural activity culminates in a re-examination of the problems of alignment and commitment and of the creative practice in individual authors and wider social groups.

4,655 citations

Book
01 Jan 1981
TL;DR: A mathematical theory of the non-genetic transmission of cultural traits is developed that provides a framework for future investigations in quantitative social and anthropological science and concludes that cultural transmission is an essential factor in the study of cultural change.
Abstract: A number of scholars have found that concepts such as mutation, selection, and random drift, which emerged from the theory of biological evolution, may also explain evolutionary phenomena in other disciplines as well. Drawing on these concepts, Professors Cavalli-Sforza and Feldman classify and systematize the various modes of transmitting "culture" and explore their consequences for cultural evolution. In the process, they develop a mathematical theory of the non-genetic transmission of cultural traits that provides a framework for future investigations in quantitative social and anthropological science. The authors use quantitative models that incorporate the various modes of transmission (for example, parent-child, peer-peer, and teacher-student), and evaluate data from sociology, archaeology, and epidemiology in terms of the models. They show that the various modes of transmission in conjunction with cultural and natural selection produce various rates of cultural evolution and various degrees of diversity within and between groups. The same framework can be used for explaining phenomena as apparently unrelated as linguistics, epidemics, social values and customs, and diffusion of innovations. The authors conclude that cultural transmission is an essential factor in the study of cultural change.

2,502 citations

Book
01 Jan 1964
TL;DR: The Bureaucratic Phenomenon of Decision-making in large organizations and the cultural analysis of social patterns of action is discussed in this paper, where Crozier argues that the role of various bureaucratic systems appears to depend on the pattern of power relation-ships between groups and individuals.
Abstract: In The Bureaucratic Phenomenon Michel Crozier demonstrates that bureaucratic institutions need to be un-derstood in terms of the cultural context in which they operate. The originality of the study lies in its association of two widely different approaches: the theory of decision-making in large organiza-tions and the cultural analysis of social patterns of action. The book opens with a detailed examina-tion of two forms of French public serv-ice. These studies show that professional training and distortions alone cannot ex-plain the rise of routine behavior and dys-functional "vicious circles." The role of various bureaucratic systems appears to depend on the pattern of power relation-ships between groups and individuals. Crozier's findings lead him to the view that bureaucratic structures form a neces-sary protection against the risks inherent in collective action. Since systems of protection are built around basic cultural traits, the author presents a French bureaucratic model based on centralization, strata isolation, and individual sparkle-one that that can be contrasted with an American, Russian, or Japanese model. He points out how the same patterns can be found in several areas of French life: education, industrial relations, politics, business, and the colonial policy. Bureaucracy, Crozier concludes, is not a modern disease resulting from organiza-tional progress but rather a bulwark against development. The breakdown of the traditional bureaucratic system in modern France offers hope for new and fruitful forms of action.

2,240 citations


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Performance
Metrics
No. of papers in the topic in previous years
YearPapers
202312
202224
202146
202064
201968
201892