Culture as “Tool Kit”
This contemporary notion of culture as something to be used and drawn upon comes from sociologist Ann Swidler (1986). From this perspective, people do not just live within a culture but use elements of that culture to inform their behavior and decision-making. They use “cultural equipment” to make sense of their world (see Milkie and Denny 2014). This approach is very much related to the Culture as Meaning approach whereby people selectively use culture to inform or justify behavior rather than merely being passively affected by it. Cultural sociologists today are generally in agreement that culture is simultaneously constraining and enabling (Alexander 2003; Hays 2000). That is, culture affects social existence (people’s behavior, choices, proclivities, etc.) and can be oppressive, but is also subject to change and transformation based on lived realities.
References
Alexander, Jeffrey C. 2003. The Meanings of Social Life: A Cultural Sociology. New York: Oxford University Press.
Hays, Sharon. 2000. “Constructing the Centrality of Culture and Deconstructing Sociology.” Contemporary Sociology 29:594-602.
Milkie, Melissa A. and Kathleen E. Denny. 2014. "Changes in the Cultural Model of Father Involvement: Descriptions of Benefits to Fathers, Children, and Mothers in Parents’ Magazine, 1926-2006" Journal of Family Issues.
Swidler, Ann. 1986. “Culture in Action: Symbols and Strategies.” American Sociological Review 51:273-86.
References
Alexander, Jeffrey C. 2003. The Meanings of Social Life: A Cultural Sociology. New York: Oxford University Press.
Hays, Sharon. 2000. “Constructing the Centrality of Culture and Deconstructing Sociology.” Contemporary Sociology 29:594-602.
Milkie, Melissa A. and Kathleen E. Denny. 2014. "Changes in the Cultural Model of Father Involvement: Descriptions of Benefits to Fathers, Children, and Mothers in Parents’ Magazine, 1926-2006" Journal of Family Issues.
Swidler, Ann. 1986. “Culture in Action: Symbols and Strategies.” American Sociological Review 51:273-86.
