Thinking through cultures—Expeditions in cultural psychology

Abstract

In 1952 A.L. Kroeber and Clyde Kluckhohn formulated a definition of ‘culture’ that became a mantra for a generation of cultural anthropologists who came of scholarly age in the middle of the twentieth century. Little did Kroeber and Kluckhohn know that for the next 50 years the idea of ‘culture,’ in its anthropological sense, would be frequently debated, doubted, distrusted, and scorned and associated with a variety of sins. Nor could they have anticipated that at the beginning of the twenty-first century the idea of ‘culture’ would be a key concept in many of the social sciences, while cultural anthropology would remain a scene for various kinds of ‘anticultural’ or ‘postcultural’ critiques. Nevertheless, a concept of ‘culture’ very much like the one recommended by Kroeber and Kluckhohn remains useful in social science research today. The concept of ‘culture’ not only survives; it thrives, and for good reason.