Raymond Williams, "Culture"

 Understanding the Concept of 'Culture' in Modern Thought

• 'Culture' is a complex concept that embodies various issues and contradictions through its historical development.
• Engaging with the concept involves a historical consciousness, revealing underlying issues that disrupt the richness of developed theory and practice.
• 'Society,' 'Economy,' and 'Culture' are relatively recent historical formulations, each emerging from specific practices.
• Modern development of these concepts did not occur simultaneously but influenced each other at critical points.
• 'Society' evolved from a conscious alternative to formal rigidities of an inherited order to become abstract and systematic.
• 'Economy' transitioned from household management to a broader system of economic activities, perceived as 'natural' with its own laws.
• Modern social thought often starts from these concepts, overlooking their inherent formation issues.
• Disciplines such as 'political,''social,' and 'economic' thought are based on perceived entities, with 'psychological' and 'cultural' areas acknowledged but not fully integrated.
• Debates about whether 'psychology' is 'individual' or'social' stem from unresolved issues within the concept of'society.'
• Questions of defining 'culture' relate to how'society' and 'economy' have been abstracted and limited.

The Evolution of 'Culture' and its Implications

The Concept of 'Culture'
• Initially, 'culture' was a process referring to the cultivation of crops, animals, and human faculties.
• The concept of'society' and 'economy' had already undergone significant changes, influencing the new meanings of 'culture.'

The Concept of 'Civilization'
• Initially, 'civilization' meant bringing people into a social organization, aiming for an orderly and polite state.
• It evolved to signify an achieved state of development, contrasting with 'barbarism.'
• This view became problematic as it implied history had culminated in an achieved state, limiting further rational progress to the extension of existing values.

The Emergence of 'Culture' and 'Socialism'
• 'Culture' offered an alternative sense of human growth and development, while'socialism' provided a social and historical critique of 'civilization' and 'civil society.'
• The interplay between these concepts and residual older notions created complex overlaps and extensions.

The Shift from 'Inner' to 'Spiritual' Development
• An alternative view of 'culture' associated with religion, art, and personal life contrasted with the abstract and general sense of 'civilization' or'society.'
• 'Culture' became linked to 'the arts' and 'literature,' seen as the deepest expressions of the 'human spirit.'

The Impact of 'Civilization' on 'Culture'
• As secularization and liberalization progressed, 'civilization' became an ambiguous term, representing both enlightened progress and a threatened, retrospective state.
• This overlap between civilization and culture was attacked by forces such as materialism, commercialism, democracy, and socialism.

The Complexity of 'Culture'
• The complexity in the concept of 'culture' resulted in two main senses: as an 'inner' process linked to intellectual life and the arts, and as a general social process shaping distinct 'ways of life'.
• This complexity influenced definitions in the humanities and social sciences, often leading to conflicts over the proper use of the term.

Marxism's Critical Intervention
• Marxism's critical intervention was the analysis of 'civil society' and 'civilization' as specific historical forms shaped by the capitalist mode of production.
• However, it also rejected 'idealist historiography', emphasizing material history and labor over the abstract ideas of the Enlightenment.
• The alternative concept of culture, focusing on intellectual life and the arts, was compromised by being reduced to'superstructural' status, disconnected from society and history.

The 20th Century
• This alternative sense of culture overshadowed Marxism, exploiting its errors without addressing the real challenge posed by the original Marxist intervention.