Cultural Identity: What It Is And How It Helps Us Understand Ourselves
The concept of cultural identity has allowed us to think about how we come to recognize ourselves as competent subjects of dynamics and relationships based on specific values, customs and traditions.
In this article we briefly explain what is cultural identity and how this concept has been used to understand various psychological and social phenomena.
Studies on cultural identity date back to the 18th century, that is, to the beginnings of anthropology as a social science They have followed a very diverse trajectory and have been modified in accordance with the transformations in the definition of the concept of “identity” and also that of “culture”.
Among other things, studies on cultural identity have led us to ask if cultural identity impacts the individual psyche, or is it the opposite process? How is cultural identity related to local and global processes? Is cultural identity the same as, for example, social identity, national identity or family identity?
Without the intention of answering these questions in detail, but to explain with greater precision what the concept of “cultural identity” refers to, in this article we are going to define, on the one hand, the term “identity”, and on the other hand, another that of “culture.”
Theories about identity
Identity has been understood in very different ways within the social sciences. There are perspectives that from the most traditional psychology propose that identity is an individual fact, which is fixed in a total, natural and fixed way, with particularities that are specific to each individual
On the opposite side, the most classic proposals of sociology speak of identity as the effect of a series of norms and guidelines that people limit themselves to reproducing and putting into practice. For their part, the most contemporary proposals of the social sciences tell us that Identity is not a fact, but a process therefore, there is no beginning and end that take place in specific life cycles.
Rather, it is a series of transformations that take place under different circumstances that are neither fixed nor immovable. Identity is, in this sense, understood as the effect of a series of social influences; but it is also understood as the result of agency itself.
In other words, the most contemporary theories about identity distance themselves from psychology considering that it is a process mediated by environmental influences; and they also raise a distance from sociology by considering that people do not limit themselves to reproducing these influences from the environment, but rather we interpret them, choose them, create projects with them, etc.
Likewise, identity is thought of as the product of establishing a difference, either complementary or antagonistic. That is, the result of recognizing oneself with characteristics common to a certain group, which are at the same time different from the characteristics of other individuals and groups. This is a difference that we establish to generate certainty about what we individually and collectively are
Culture: some definitions
The concept of culture has been understood and used in very different ways that can be traced back to the North American and European intellectual context of the 18th century. In its origins, the concept of culture It was closely related to that of civilization referred to all those qualities that are recognized as necessary for a member to be considered competent in a society.
Culture is subsequently understood as the set of tools, activities, attitudes and forms of organization that allow people to satisfy their needs. For example, from small tasks to social institutions and economic distribution. Already in the 19th century the culture begins to be understood in relation to the intellect, as a series of ideas that are reflected in behavioral patterns that the members of a society acquire and share by instruction or imitation. From here, culture also began to be understood in relation to arts, religions, customs and values.
After intellect, the concept of culture is also understood in a humanistic sense closely related to individual development, both intellectually and spiritually, which is combined with the activities and interests of a particular community. In this same sense, and along with the development of science, culture is understood as a collective discourse, which is symbolic and that articulates values with knowledge.
Finally, and given the evident multiplicity of ways of understanding “culture”, there is no choice but to begin to think that there is not a single manifestation of it, which generates a new understanding of the same concept. Culture is then understood from the diversity of worldviews and behaviors including the lifestyles and attitudes that are part of different communities around the world.
In this context, the recognition of cultural diversity was confronted with some reminiscences of the old relationship between culture and civilization, with which some cultures were understood as superior and others as inferior. Not only that, but culture was established in opposition to nature, and even as an obstacle to economic development, especially when taken to the field of territorial management.
In short, culture is understood in operational terms as the set of traits that distinguish a social group (that they share with the group). These traits are understood as socially acquired and can be spiritual, material or emotional. They can also be ways of life, artistic expressions and forms of knowledge values, beliefs and traditions.
We are part of a group and at the same time individuals
The traits that are considered typical of a culture because they are socially acquired, and because they serve as distinctive features of a group, are elements that give rise to an identity. That is, a process of self-recognition in the interaction frameworks that belong to the social group to which we belong.
These are frameworks that offer us reference and identification schemes according to the values of the group itself; and that offer us certainties about our ties and our role in the community. Furthermore, cultural identity gives us a series of historical and physical references about our place in the social group
For example, the possibilities of recognizing ourselves as women or men, or as people who belong to one class or another, may be different between different cultures. The same thing happens with the identity that corresponds to specific functions and institutions, such as being students, teachers, friends, siblings, family members, etc.
All these features shape different identity dimensions that coexist and they make up the process through which we generate a perception and assessment of ourselves, our group, and others.
