Unpacking culture

Unpacking culture

1. Defining culture

   • cultures is notoriously difficult to define , but for me is a Set of knowledge, ideas, customs, and traditions that characterize a group.
     • Alfred Kroeber and Clyde Kluckhohn , critically reviwed concepts and definitions of culture and comiled a list of 164 differents deffinitions

2. Etic frameworks for cmparing cultures: multidisciplinary perspectives

   • the terms etic and emic which were originally couined by the kinguist and anthropologist Kenneth pike, are derived from the linguistic disrtinction between phonetics and phoemics
     • frameworks in psychology
       • Shalom Schawartz , has developed a conceptual framework for comparing cultures that provides measures not only at the country level but also at the individual level.
       • high-low power distance,individualism-collectivism-masulinity -feminity, high-low uncertainy avoidance
     • Frameworks in anthropology
       • three dimensions: monochronic-polychronic,time,high and low context communication
     • Frameworks in International business
       • Seven dimensions of cultural variability
     • Frameworks in applied linguistics and discourse studies

3. Emic perpectives on culture

   • which entails comparisons across cultures
   • which entails culture internal-research

4. Culture and regularity

   • types of cultural regularity
     • fundamental valvues in cross-cultural psychology,orientations to life anthropology and communicative principles and conventions in linguistics

5. culture ,regularity and variability

6. culture and social groups

   • religious groups
   • organizations
   • professional groups
   • communities of practice
   • multi-group membership