A note on delays - My apologies for getting behind on this Cultures and Kingdom series. I have been coping with fatigue and illness for a number of weeks now, and have still not recuperated. This put me far behind where I had hoped to be by now - on track for completing about 15 posts by the time of the Global Roundtable in Poland, July 8-11. I will keep working away at that goal, and we’ll see what transpires. Thanks for your patience and prayers.
Introduction
There are many different approaches to studying cultures. Over the years, I have sifted through terms to figure out ways that make sense to me as an amateur culturologist with little formal training but a penchant for frameworks to help analyze and interpret what it is I observe. I like the idea of multiple frameworks because a set of them working together is like an MRI for cultures - it gives more of a three-dimensional reading on things. And, if we are interested in the fourth dimension of time, and how cultures change over time, we need to have as robust of a 3D reading as possible in order to track what changes. So, with no more delay, here are frameworks I use to “type” or categorize cultures. P.S. These are my own definitions for the terms, and I have not conducted extensive studies to figure out if these all coincide with “official” uses of the terms.
Cultural Integration Points (What Brings People Together)
Mainstream Culture. The dominant, accepted, or majority culture among a people group or nation. Mainstream culture is the one most people choose to identify with. Mainstream culture tends to be a large-scale or national-level ways of seeing things and doing things.
In the big picture of things, anything that is outside the mainstream culture could be called a counterculture or an alternative culture. The rest of the terms in this framework identify different subcategories of countercultures, each type with varying degrees of friction with, rejection by, or repulsion from the mainstream culture.
Underground Culture. A counterculture that is stigmatized, marginalized, hidden, or otherwise separated from or rejected by the mainstream. Underground cultures can be based in inherent characteristics like race or country of origin that cannot be changed. Or, they can be based in virtual characteristics, such as a different set of values, that bring a group into conflict with the mainstream.
Subculture/Identity Subculture. A counterculture that integrates the group’s identity on chosen values like do-it-yourself or give-peace-a-chance rather than inherent characteristics like race. that forms because the mainstream culture does not have specific values or directions that subculture members are passionate about. A subculture may or may not be hidden from the mainstream, and so would not necessarily be considered an underground culture.
Virtual Culture. An alternative culture that integrates a substantial part of member interaction via technological connections instead of in person interactions. It is possible that virtual cultures will become an entire techno-parallel or mirror system to mainstream culture, as the internet and other forms of quick technological connection become an even more dominant presence globally.
Retro Culture. A counterculture that retrieves at least the style and perhaps the paradigm substance of a previous version of mainstream culture or counterculture. Retro cultures are becoming more common, since “style tribe” subcultures offer a way of escape from current mainstream expectations.
Occulture. This is not a term I found used anywhere else. Perhaps the closest technical term would be cult or cultus, as used in traditional religious studies. But since cult has acquired a negative meaning, I decided to coin a term that fits situations of a relatively hidden subculture that is deeply integrated around its spirituality, religion, secrets, rituals, or esoteric practices. Examples might be the Death Eaters in the Harry Potter series, and the ritualist secret societies in The DaVinci Code.
Parallel Culture. A situation where the mainstream culture is forced upon people as the one they must identify with - at least in the public arena of work, politics, religion, media, etc. However, many people don’t like having to obey an imposed public culture, so they develop their own countercultural “parallel world” in private. Parallel culture is most often applied in situations like life under the control of some form of “-ism” - communism, totalitarianism, fundamentalism - where, if you act out of line, you will be punished. Therefore, many people go home, lock their door, and there they can be who they want to be. Others choose to challenge publicly the status quo of the imposed official culture or a mainstream culture and act within a protest/resistance culture.
Protest/Resistance Culture. A counterculture that integrates around going against the grain of the mainstream culture in a typical society, or against the imposed official culture in a parallel culture society. Other descriptors could be added, based on the purposes of the group (e.g., whether they want meaningful social changes or radical reform or revolutionary overthrow) and the kind of action or level of stridency (e.g., protest, non-violent social action, violent action).
End States (What People Move Toward)
In his research on values, sociologist Milton Rokeach categorized them into end-state values (goals; where we want to go) and instrumental values (means; how we want to get there). I see a related framework on end states for cultures, although these may describe the current state rather than where things are moving. There are two main alternatives: utopian and dystopian. The “-topian” suffix comes from the Greek topos, meaning “place.” Variations on utopia (a good place) and dystopia (a bad place) pop up periodically, with the first part of the word indicating what sort of idea or thing the culture has integrated around, such as ecotopia, Christotopia, and technotopia. These can all be thought of as a sort of social equivalent of the personal attitudes spectrum running from nihilist, to pessimist, to optimist.
Utopian. A culture that embodies (or is moving toward) right relations among people, justice, positive outlook, respect, mutuality, ennoblement - in short, a substantive, fair, ideal society.
Dystopian. A culture that embodies (or is moving toward) dysfunctional relations among people, power, control, prejudice, marginalization, negativity, narcissism, corruption -in short, a vain, abusive, evil society.
Cultural Spaces, Power, and Purity
There is a set of terms that emphasizes the push-pull-or-paradoxical nature in issues of self/other, and can identify what particular kinds of group or groups dominate a particular space (e.g., racial group or cultural group). The set can also pinpoint how component groups interrelate with other groups either inside or outside their boundaries. For instance, multicultural tends to be about co-existence and appreciating various aspects of another’s culture, while intercultural is about going beyond multicultural to build a system where we find ways to fill in the gaps in our lives with what we learn from the strengths of people from other cultures.
Homogenous Culture/Monocultural-Monoracial. Everyone who is the same bands together within the same borders and pushes out the others.
Heterogeneous Culture/Multicultural-Multiracial. Everyone opens up the borders to all, whether the same or different from themselves, and invites or pulls in the others.
Intercultural. Everyone is welcome, and yet all are challenged to change by integrating into their own life/culture what they learn from the strengths and weaknesses experienced by other cultures.
Hegemonous Culture. A particular group may or may not let many others inside their boundaries, but they work to exert control over whoever is there.
Cultural Style Layers (Matters of “Taste” in Cultural Matters)
Terms like classic culture, folk culture, and pop culture have been used to specific layers of different “cultural tastes” within a society. They are used primarily in matters of art, music, dance, theatre, media, and other more leisure-time activities and entertainments. Socio-economic class elitism often creeps into how the terms are applied - for instance, “high culture” is acceptable for the wealthy classes, whereas “folk culture” would be considered at best an divertive excursion into “the exotic” for them and at worst as kitsch or vulgar. In other words, “taste” can be interpreted from a class or caste system perspective where high culture is the standard to which all else is always compared.
High Culture/Classic(al) Culture. Traditional or “high art” forms as typically enjoyed by those with funds to go to performances and/or the intellectual sophistication to enjoy, i.e., the elite. High culture would include such forms as classical ballet instead of folk dance (low culture), or stage plays instead of Las Vegas variety shows (pop culture).
Low Culture/Folk Culture. Populist art forms that arise from and/or are accessible to the masses in terms of being relatively inexpensive and requiring little academic sophistication to interpret and enjoy. Folk culture is known for a more “home-spun” approach, or for being mass produced. This doesn’t mean there is no design to it, just different design and purposes.
Pop Culture. Popular culture, often associated with younger generations and global audiences. Pop culture tends to have far more glitz and glamour than folk culture, but does not require the depth of understanding in historical allusions and metaphors as high culture. However, it does often include allusions to a very broad range of current news and culture, so it is not actually unsophisticated, just different.
There are some fascinating hybrids these days, where what appears to be a folk culture phenomenon like all the toys, games, action figures, and posters from The Lord of the Rings or the Harry Potter series, is also undergirded by the original writings which have very sophisticated literary content and structures that could be attractive in high culture settings, and the spectacular appeal of celebrities for pop culture.
“So What?” - What Difference Does This Make for Being Missional?
EVERY kind of culture has aspects that don’t match up to what the Bible would indicate as universal standards for how God wants people to treat themselves and others. Awareness of these different frameworks for analyzing and interpreting cultures gives us some tools for “critical contextualization and counterculturization.” They help us identify what aspects of a culture offer us a base for biblical relevance and which that call forth our resistance. Since these are hallmarks of being missional, then there is a huge, positive “so what” to considering all these systems!
I hope these frameworks have been of help. If I’ve been unclear, or you additional questions, feel free to use the comment section to let me know!
