Before we jacked it all in and came to live here, I worked for many years in the social services department of a county council. As a member of staff of the department, every so often I was required to attend one or other of a number of standard training courses. In my last job I was a trainer, working in the unit that delivered many of these courses and I delivered a few of them myself. It was a principle of the unit that training staff should demonstrate the importance of these courses by ensuring that they themselves attended them regularly so I have participated in most, if not all of them. One example of these sorts of courses is any focussed on understanding social and cultural difference between peoples, including those looking at the processes of stereotyping, prejudice and discrimination, etc.
When I was a junior manager in a day centre, I helped design and deliver one such course for our staff team. A colleague and I worked with an experienced trainer in this field who happened to be of Indian descent. This, perhaps, gave him added credibility as he was considered to be part of an ethnic minority in the U.K. Well, it was quite a long time ago. The course we designed followed a fairly standard format, addressing ethnic and cultural differences from an historical perspective and identifying examples of cultural behaviours and traditions of people from various backgrounds. The basic purpose of such courses is to enable staff to have a greater understanding of services users from differing cultural and personal backgrounds. Over the years that I worked in the department there were many such courses, some better than others, some more controversial than others, varying from gentle encouragement of understanding to direct challenging of prejudice and discrimination, particularly racism.
Most of these events were fine as far as they went in providing information and raising awareness. Often their titles or the accompanying information included the phrase "understanding cultural difference" or something similar. Looking back now, I think their general content was okay for helping participants recognise or identify cultural differences and understand the development of aspects of different cultures. And perhaps that was enough. However, I would contend that they did little to develop an understanding of cultural difference. To do that the course providers would need to ensure that participants had an understanding of culture itself. I think that there was a general assumption that participants arrived knowing what it is and in particular, being fairly aware of their own culture. I suspect that both these assumptions were false. Only on the basis of understanding what culture is, how it works and, in that context, have an awareness of our own culture can we begin to understand other cultures and the differences between them.
Having lived for the past six years as a foreigner in Greece, trying to learn the language, observing and trying to understand the ways the local people behave and think, I have experienced cultural differences quite keenly. Also, the area I live in has a comparatively large population of foreigners from various countries and cultural heritages in Europe. There are ex-pats from northern European countries, mostly retirees or those able to continue working from their new homes, and amongst the working population, a significant number of Albanians. Of course, the experience of most of these cannot be compared with that of ethnic minorities in Britain, although Albanians here have suffered and continue to suffer high levels of prejudice and discrimination from the indigenous population (I have even heard other foreigners express discriminatory attitudes about Albanians). Generally though, foreigners are accepted and welcomed here, especially as we tend to bring in and spend quite a lot of money! Integrating with people with a variety of different cultures highlights our differences in all sorts of ways and, for me at least, emphasises many aspects of my own culture. It has made me think about what constitutes my culture; what exactly describes my personal culture and the culture of the place(s) where I have spent most of my life? How has my culture developed and changed? How does anyone's culture develop? How does culture vary, even from one town to another and between people of different economic classes as well as between people of differing ethnicity?
Clearly, there are no simple answers to these questions and no simple ways of describing any culture. And this is my point. Surely, it is an awareness of the complexity of culture that people need to have before they can begin to understand cultural differences. In fact, while it is important to recognise and respect the particular differences between people, it is just as important to understand that it is those differences that are often the source of misunderstandings and conflict, but which also can be the driving force behind social, political and cultural change.
So, what is culture, how is it manifested and how is it propagated? If I asked you to describe your own culture, how would you do it? Would you focus mainly on personal experiences or would you think of the many events and celebrations common to people living in your community or country? Do you see your culture as largely personal or communal or a mixture of both? I think most people, if they analysed it carefully, would see their culture as a dynamic mix in which personal beliefs and behaviours interact with the wider communal ones, reinforcing certain patterns and diminishing others as part of our ever changing world. Wikipedia quotes Sir Edward Burnett Tylor (1832 - 1917), an English anthropologist and the founder of cultural anthropology, who said that culture is "that complex whole which includes knowledge, beliefs, art, morals, law, custom and any other capabilities and habits acquired by man as a member of society." More simply, the Cambridge English Dictionary states that it is "the way of life, especially the general customs and beliefs, of a particular group of people at a particular time." While they are good descriptions, neither of these definitions indicate how it all works.
In my opinion, central to all cultures is the way people think. More specifically, the similarity of the way individuals with a common culture think. To be clear, I am not referring here to basic cognitive or learning processes; while individuals all vary from one another in these, research has shown that there is very little variation purely on the basis of cultural difference. However, recent research has also shown that the language people use is influential in the development of cognitive skills such as spatial awareness, for example, and does vary from one language to another and therefore, also from one culture to another. Some cultural differences can be seen by the way a concept may have a specific word in one language and several words in other languages. So people with a common culture express themselves and behave in similar ways. Their modes of thinking, in terms of what they think about (or do not think about), their ideas, their beliefs, their morals and their general customs are all embodied in the language, including dialect, common to them. The language itself is instrumental in maintaining, reinforcing, modifying and developing the culture, as people interact with other individuals and other ways of life. Of course, no two individuals with a common culture think exactly alike and many people are part of, or are influenced by more than one cultural group. Nevertheless, a common language is a very powerful maintainer of a culture, even if individuals do not share an interest or belief in every aspect of that culture.
In that regard we can see how the use of a common language is influential across cultures. English, in all its various forms, is the main language of the media. English language films, music, television and radio are seen and heard all over the world and it is also the prime language of the internet. Languages change and develop all the time, but you may have noticed how similarly people, especially young people, speak across the English speaking world; not just the words, but the style of their speech. Even in non-English speaking countries, English words and concepts are being absorbed into the local language from the media. So along with the language various aspects of cultures are being shared, absorbed and adapted into others.
When we first moved to Greece people spoke of the culture shock experienced by living there. Culture shock is the experience a person may have and the disorientation a person may feel when experiencing an unfamiliar way of life. Personally, I think I was suffering from the wider symptoms of transition shock, and the stress, which may be experienced by anyone moving home or getting a new job, etc. Nevertheless, all expatriates experience, at some level, culture shock, which is a subcategory of transition shock, and have to work through its four basic stages. I think we and many other expats experienced the first stage long before committing to moving to our chosen new country. This is the "honeymoon" stage where cultural and behavioural differences are viewed as novel and in a romantic light. We experienced this via holidays and other visits to the country over many years. The exceptions are those who move to the country and decide to stay for more personal reasons. In the second stage, known as the negotiation or frustration stage, the differences are seen as more problematic. There are communication difficulties to overcome, not only because of language barriers, but also because of differences in ways people think. In addition people find there are physical and practical issues to deal with. Eventually most expats work through the later stages of adjustment and adaptation, accepting and absorbing much of the new culture while maintaining some aspects of their original one. Whatever the country, all immigrants go through this process to a greater or lesser degree. I imagine that even second and third generation descendants of immigrants experience a variation of this process stemming from the perceived discrepancy between their family culture and the wider culture of the society they live in. However, there is a vast difference between those fortunate enough to have the economic means to move abroad to a country of their choice and those immigrants seeking the safety and security of a country that might offer them to chance to settle and earn a living. The experience of the latter will determine how well they will adjust and adapt to the new culture. If, as many have, they experience rejection, antagonism and/or violence towards them, they are probably more likely to remain within their own social groupings, reside close to each other and maintain a greater proportion of their original culture.
Cultures constantly change and develop. A wide variety of factors influence how this happens; sometimes working slowly and apparently gradually, other times more rapidly. Some changes are manipulated and designed such as developments in internal business cultures and political interventions affecting society, others seem to occur naturally or accidentally. Inventions and technological developments are well known for their effects on culture. Some aspects of British culture accepted today were the direct result of the expansion of the British Empire in the 18th and 19th centuries; the interaction between peoples of different cultures and languages leads inevitably to the absorption of aspects of both by both. Events sometimes create changes in the behaviours of whole societies and today, with the communication of such events via the media being almost instantaneous, the social changes can be quite sudden. Examples like the death of Princess Diana affecting people in the UK and 9/11 in America had profound effects on behaviours and on the organisation of those societies. As I have been writing this, we have had the referendum in the UK and the voters have chosen to leave the EU. Already the fallout from this decision is raising questions that everyone there is struggling to come to terms with and there will inevitably be some changes in the general culture.
One of the criticisms that might be levelled at the EU is that it seeks to homogenise the way all the member countries work and relate to each other. In my view, while being an inevitable result of having created a common cooperative economy, this fails to take into account the cultural differences between them. This was clearly the case in respect to Greece from the day it was admitted through the decision to let it join the single currency right up to the current situation today. The governments, particularly the richer, more powerful ones, all seem to view the relationship between the countries as a purely economic relationship. And yet for the peoples, it seems to me, the relationship is about the opportunities to meet and get to know each other, compare and share their differences in lifestyles and culture, to work together and to socialise together. This, for me, is the greater purpose of the EU; the opportunity for people to understand each other and respect their cultural differences. If the EU had had a better understanding of Greece's culture and ways of working, perhaps some of the mistakes leading to the debt crisis might have been avoided. Today, rapid and not necessarily positive cultural changes are being driven by the enforcement of austerity measures demanded by the EU.
Ultimately, truly understanding cultural differences is about relating to and getting to know different people. Living within a culture alien to you provides the most enlightening experience, but is not an option for most people. Apart from anything else, it can be extremely challenging, even if you only move to another part of your own country. However, attempting to empathise with such an experience can provide useful insights. Moreover, wherever you live, opportunities to mix with people with different cultural outlooks are all around. Understanding cultural differences is about opening your mind, developing an understanding of culture itself, gaining an awareness of your own culture and accepting and getting to know people of other cultures.
When I was a junior manager in a day centre, I helped design and deliver one such course for our staff team. A colleague and I worked with an experienced trainer in this field who happened to be of Indian descent. This, perhaps, gave him added credibility as he was considered to be part of an ethnic minority in the U.K. Well, it was quite a long time ago. The course we designed followed a fairly standard format, addressing ethnic and cultural differences from an historical perspective and identifying examples of cultural behaviours and traditions of people from various backgrounds. The basic purpose of such courses is to enable staff to have a greater understanding of services users from differing cultural and personal backgrounds. Over the years that I worked in the department there were many such courses, some better than others, some more controversial than others, varying from gentle encouragement of understanding to direct challenging of prejudice and discrimination, particularly racism.
Most of these events were fine as far as they went in providing information and raising awareness. Often their titles or the accompanying information included the phrase "understanding cultural difference" or something similar. Looking back now, I think their general content was okay for helping participants recognise or identify cultural differences and understand the development of aspects of different cultures. And perhaps that was enough. However, I would contend that they did little to develop an understanding of cultural difference. To do that the course providers would need to ensure that participants had an understanding of culture itself. I think that there was a general assumption that participants arrived knowing what it is and in particular, being fairly aware of their own culture. I suspect that both these assumptions were false. Only on the basis of understanding what culture is, how it works and, in that context, have an awareness of our own culture can we begin to understand other cultures and the differences between them.
Having lived for the past six years as a foreigner in Greece, trying to learn the language, observing and trying to understand the ways the local people behave and think, I have experienced cultural differences quite keenly. Also, the area I live in has a comparatively large population of foreigners from various countries and cultural heritages in Europe. There are ex-pats from northern European countries, mostly retirees or those able to continue working from their new homes, and amongst the working population, a significant number of Albanians. Of course, the experience of most of these cannot be compared with that of ethnic minorities in Britain, although Albanians here have suffered and continue to suffer high levels of prejudice and discrimination from the indigenous population (I have even heard other foreigners express discriminatory attitudes about Albanians). Generally though, foreigners are accepted and welcomed here, especially as we tend to bring in and spend quite a lot of money! Integrating with people with a variety of different cultures highlights our differences in all sorts of ways and, for me at least, emphasises many aspects of my own culture. It has made me think about what constitutes my culture; what exactly describes my personal culture and the culture of the place(s) where I have spent most of my life? How has my culture developed and changed? How does anyone's culture develop? How does culture vary, even from one town to another and between people of different economic classes as well as between people of differing ethnicity?
Clearly, there are no simple answers to these questions and no simple ways of describing any culture. And this is my point. Surely, it is an awareness of the complexity of culture that people need to have before they can begin to understand cultural differences. In fact, while it is important to recognise and respect the particular differences between people, it is just as important to understand that it is those differences that are often the source of misunderstandings and conflict, but which also can be the driving force behind social, political and cultural change.
So, what is culture, how is it manifested and how is it propagated? If I asked you to describe your own culture, how would you do it? Would you focus mainly on personal experiences or would you think of the many events and celebrations common to people living in your community or country? Do you see your culture as largely personal or communal or a mixture of both? I think most people, if they analysed it carefully, would see their culture as a dynamic mix in which personal beliefs and behaviours interact with the wider communal ones, reinforcing certain patterns and diminishing others as part of our ever changing world. Wikipedia quotes Sir Edward Burnett Tylor (1832 - 1917), an English anthropologist and the founder of cultural anthropology, who said that culture is "that complex whole which includes knowledge, beliefs, art, morals, law, custom and any other capabilities and habits acquired by man as a member of society." More simply, the Cambridge English Dictionary states that it is "the way of life, especially the general customs and beliefs, of a particular group of people at a particular time." While they are good descriptions, neither of these definitions indicate how it all works.
In my opinion, central to all cultures is the way people think. More specifically, the similarity of the way individuals with a common culture think. To be clear, I am not referring here to basic cognitive or learning processes; while individuals all vary from one another in these, research has shown that there is very little variation purely on the basis of cultural difference. However, recent research has also shown that the language people use is influential in the development of cognitive skills such as spatial awareness, for example, and does vary from one language to another and therefore, also from one culture to another. Some cultural differences can be seen by the way a concept may have a specific word in one language and several words in other languages. So people with a common culture express themselves and behave in similar ways. Their modes of thinking, in terms of what they think about (or do not think about), their ideas, their beliefs, their morals and their general customs are all embodied in the language, including dialect, common to them. The language itself is instrumental in maintaining, reinforcing, modifying and developing the culture, as people interact with other individuals and other ways of life. Of course, no two individuals with a common culture think exactly alike and many people are part of, or are influenced by more than one cultural group. Nevertheless, a common language is a very powerful maintainer of a culture, even if individuals do not share an interest or belief in every aspect of that culture.
In that regard we can see how the use of a common language is influential across cultures. English, in all its various forms, is the main language of the media. English language films, music, television and radio are seen and heard all over the world and it is also the prime language of the internet. Languages change and develop all the time, but you may have noticed how similarly people, especially young people, speak across the English speaking world; not just the words, but the style of their speech. Even in non-English speaking countries, English words and concepts are being absorbed into the local language from the media. So along with the language various aspects of cultures are being shared, absorbed and adapted into others.
When we first moved to Greece people spoke of the culture shock experienced by living there. Culture shock is the experience a person may have and the disorientation a person may feel when experiencing an unfamiliar way of life. Personally, I think I was suffering from the wider symptoms of transition shock, and the stress, which may be experienced by anyone moving home or getting a new job, etc. Nevertheless, all expatriates experience, at some level, culture shock, which is a subcategory of transition shock, and have to work through its four basic stages. I think we and many other expats experienced the first stage long before committing to moving to our chosen new country. This is the "honeymoon" stage where cultural and behavioural differences are viewed as novel and in a romantic light. We experienced this via holidays and other visits to the country over many years. The exceptions are those who move to the country and decide to stay for more personal reasons. In the second stage, known as the negotiation or frustration stage, the differences are seen as more problematic. There are communication difficulties to overcome, not only because of language barriers, but also because of differences in ways people think. In addition people find there are physical and practical issues to deal with. Eventually most expats work through the later stages of adjustment and adaptation, accepting and absorbing much of the new culture while maintaining some aspects of their original one. Whatever the country, all immigrants go through this process to a greater or lesser degree. I imagine that even second and third generation descendants of immigrants experience a variation of this process stemming from the perceived discrepancy between their family culture and the wider culture of the society they live in. However, there is a vast difference between those fortunate enough to have the economic means to move abroad to a country of their choice and those immigrants seeking the safety and security of a country that might offer them to chance to settle and earn a living. The experience of the latter will determine how well they will adjust and adapt to the new culture. If, as many have, they experience rejection, antagonism and/or violence towards them, they are probably more likely to remain within their own social groupings, reside close to each other and maintain a greater proportion of their original culture.
Cultures constantly change and develop. A wide variety of factors influence how this happens; sometimes working slowly and apparently gradually, other times more rapidly. Some changes are manipulated and designed such as developments in internal business cultures and political interventions affecting society, others seem to occur naturally or accidentally. Inventions and technological developments are well known for their effects on culture. Some aspects of British culture accepted today were the direct result of the expansion of the British Empire in the 18th and 19th centuries; the interaction between peoples of different cultures and languages leads inevitably to the absorption of aspects of both by both. Events sometimes create changes in the behaviours of whole societies and today, with the communication of such events via the media being almost instantaneous, the social changes can be quite sudden. Examples like the death of Princess Diana affecting people in the UK and 9/11 in America had profound effects on behaviours and on the organisation of those societies. As I have been writing this, we have had the referendum in the UK and the voters have chosen to leave the EU. Already the fallout from this decision is raising questions that everyone there is struggling to come to terms with and there will inevitably be some changes in the general culture.
One of the criticisms that might be levelled at the EU is that it seeks to homogenise the way all the member countries work and relate to each other. In my view, while being an inevitable result of having created a common cooperative economy, this fails to take into account the cultural differences between them. This was clearly the case in respect to Greece from the day it was admitted through the decision to let it join the single currency right up to the current situation today. The governments, particularly the richer, more powerful ones, all seem to view the relationship between the countries as a purely economic relationship. And yet for the peoples, it seems to me, the relationship is about the opportunities to meet and get to know each other, compare and share their differences in lifestyles and culture, to work together and to socialise together. This, for me, is the greater purpose of the EU; the opportunity for people to understand each other and respect their cultural differences. If the EU had had a better understanding of Greece's culture and ways of working, perhaps some of the mistakes leading to the debt crisis might have been avoided. Today, rapid and not necessarily positive cultural changes are being driven by the enforcement of austerity measures demanded by the EU.
Ultimately, truly understanding cultural differences is about relating to and getting to know different people. Living within a culture alien to you provides the most enlightening experience, but is not an option for most people. Apart from anything else, it can be extremely challenging, even if you only move to another part of your own country. However, attempting to empathise with such an experience can provide useful insights. Moreover, wherever you live, opportunities to mix with people with different cultural outlooks are all around. Understanding cultural differences is about opening your mind, developing an understanding of culture itself, gaining an awareness of your own culture and accepting and getting to know people of other cultures.
