Culture: definitions, folkways and mores…

Core facts

E.B. Tylor, Primitive Culture (1871): culture is "that complex whole which includes knowledge, belief, art, morals, law, custom" and other capabilities and habits acquired by man as a member of society.
Robert Bierstedt: culture is what we think, do and have.
Material culture: tools, buildings, machines. Non-material culture: ideas, beliefs, values, norms.
W.G. Sumner, Folkways (1906), analysed folkways and mores, and popularised the term ethnocentrism (he is usually credited with it).
- Folkways: everyday customs; breaking them brings mild disapproval (e.g. table manners).
- Mores: norms with moral weight; breaking them brings strong disapproval (e.g. the ban on incest).
Taboo: a strong prohibition, often backed by religion or magic.
Ethnocentrism: judging other cultures by the standards of one's own, assumed superior.
Cultural relativism: each culture should be understood in its own terms. Most closely linked to the anthropologist Franz Boas.
Cultural lag: given by W.F. Ogburn in Social Change (1922). Non-material culture fails to keep pace with change in material culture.

Explained

Features of culture

Learned, not inherited biologically.
Shared by members of a group.
Transmitted across generations, mainly through language and symbols.
Cumulative and changing.
Varies from society to society.
Gives meaning and guides behaviour.

Norms, from mild to strict

Norm	Sanction for breaking it	Example
Folkways	Mild (ridicule, gossip)	Greeting elders, dress at a function
Mores	Strong moral disapproval	Respect for parents, ban on incest
Taboo	Severe, sacred	Food taboos in some castes
Law	Formal penalty by the State	Punishment under the BNS

Fashion and fad: short-lived norms. A fad is shorter and more trivial than a fashion.
Custom: a long-established practice. When accepted by society over time, custom can have the force of law.

Terms students mix up

Term	Meaning
Ethnocentrism	One's own culture is the standard and superior
Xenocentrism	A foreign culture is seen as superior to one's own
Cultural relativism	Each culture judged by its own context
Culture shock	Disorientation on meeting an unfamiliar culture

Processes of cultural contact

Diffusion: spread of a cultural trait from one society to another (tea, cricket).
Acculturation: change in a culture through continued contact with another.
Assimilation: a group absorbs the culture of the dominant group and loses its distinct identity.
Enculturation: learning one's own culture (a term of Melville Herskovits).
Subculture: a group's distinct ways within the wider culture (a tribal community, a profession).
Counterculture: a subculture that rejects the main values of society (the 1960s hippie movement).

Cultural lag (Ogburn)

Material culture (technology) changes fast; non-material culture (law, values, institutions) adjusts slowly.
Examples: smartphones spread faster than laws on data privacy; medical technology for sex determination spread faster than social values on the girl child, which led to the PCPNDT Act, 1994.
Ogburn named four processes of change: invention, accumulation, diffusion, adjustment.

Common traps

✗ "Malinowski gave the 'complex whole' definition of culture." ✓ It was E.B. Tylor (Primitive Culture, 1871).
✗ "Mores are mild norms whose violation brings little reaction." ✓ That describes folkways. Mores carry moral weight and strong sanctions.
✗ "Cultural lag was given by Sumner." ✓ W.F. Ogburn (1922). Sumner gave folkways, mores and ethnocentrism.
✗ "Ethnocentrism means preferring a foreign culture." ✓ That is xenocentrism. Ethnocentrism judges others by one's own culture.
✗ "Cultural relativism is most associated with Herbert Spencer." ✓ It is linked to Franz Boas and his students.
✗ "Article 13 covers only laws made by legislatures." ✓ Under Article 13(3)(a), "law" includes custom or usage having the force of law.

Quick revision

Tylor 1871: culture is "that complex whole".
Bierstedt: what we think, do and have.
Sumner, Folkways 1906: folkways, mores, ethnocentrism.
Folkways mild; mores moral; taboo sacred; law formal.
Ogburn 1922: cultural lag (material ahead of non-material).
Boas: cultural relativism.
Xenocentrism = foreign culture seen as superior.
Kroeber: culture is superorganic.
Article 13(3)(a): custom with force of law is "law".
Article 29(1): conserve language, script, culture; Article 51A(f): composite culture.

Go deeper: Deeper, Mains writing (beyond what APPSC Group 2 usually asks)

Deeper Advanced

Other definitions.
- Malinowski: culture is an "instrumental apparatus" by which people satisfy needs.
- A.L. Kroeber: culture is superorganic, a level above the individual and the biological.
- Herskovits: culture is the man-made part of the environment.
- Ruth Benedict, Patterns of Culture (1934), described whole cultures as having a dominant pattern.
Boas against evolutionism. Boas rejected the 19th-century ranking of cultures from "savage" to "civilised" (Morgan, Tylor). He held that each culture has its own history. His students, including Benedict and Herskovits, spread cultural relativism.
Limits of relativism. Extreme relativism would forbid criticism of practices such as sati, child marriage or untouchability. Human rights law and the Constitution set limits: cultural freedom cannot override equality and dignity.
Custom in Indian law.
- Article 13(3)(a): "law" includes any custom or usage having the force of law. So a custom that violates Fundamental Rights can be void.
- Hindu Marriage Act, 1955: section 3(a) defines a valid custom (ancient, certain, reasonable, not against public policy). Section 7 lets a marriage be solemnised by the customary rites of either party.
- Article 371A: no Act of Parliament on Naga religious or social practices, Naga customary law and procedure, civil and criminal justice decided by Naga customary law, or ownership and transfer of land and its resources applies to Nagaland unless its Assembly so decides by resolution.
- Sixth Schedule: district councils can regulate inheritance, marriage and social customs in tribal areas of Assam, Meghalaya, Tripura and Mizoram.
Culture and the Constitution.
- Article 29(1): any section of citizens with a distinct language, script or culture has the right to conserve it.
- Article 51A(f): a Fundamental Duty to value and preserve the rich heritage of our composite culture.

Mains writing Mains writing

Frame: Indian culture is plural and layered; it keeps continuity while absorbing change. The tension between tradition and constitutional morality is the central cultural question.
Analysis points:
- Unity in diversity rests on shared norms, festivals and pilgrimages that cut across region and language.
- Cultural lag explains why laws on dowry (1961) or child marriage (2006) work slowly against older mores.
- Globalisation has produced both hybrid cultures and assertions of local identity.
Way forward: protect cultural diversity (Article 29, Sixth Schedule) while using education and law to reform practices that harm dignity.
Example: tribal customary practices are recognised under the Sixth Schedule and PESA (1996), yet the courts strike down customs that discriminate, as in Shayara Bano (2017) on instant triple talaq.

Medha AI writes its own notes and checks them against the sources listed. Medha AI is an independent preparation service. It is not affiliated with, endorsed by or connected to APPSC, TSPSC, MPSC, UPSC or any other commission or government body.

6.1.3 Culture: definitions, folkways and mores, ethnocentrism, cultural relativism and cultural lag

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