Culture and Civilisation
Introduction
The society we live in is composed of people with discernible characteristics. The groups or
communities are associated with some culture and civilization.
Culture is the pattern of behaviour of groups and is a part of civilization. Civilization is a
broader and complex concept in which large aggregations of people came into
existence. Culture and Civilization coexist and are understood simultaneously.
A change in culture or civilization leads to advancement in the other. Civilizations can be
saved from falling or failing through strong cultures. Also, culture reaches new heights, and
an advanced state of human society is achieved through civilization.
What do you mean by culture?
The way of living of a group of people transmitted from generation to generation is referred to
as the culture of that particular group. Culture is the behaviour and acceptable standards
among persistent social groups. It is acquired through understanding knowledge, behaviour,
skills, art, capabilities, values, attitudes and preferences. Culture comes in by gaining
knowledge about the surrounding values and norms, resulting in heterogeneity.
Culture refers to the composition of customs, traditions, values, knowledge, and habits
acquired over time. Cultural norms or the standards of acceptable behaviour serve as the basis
for guidelines for expectations in a social group.
It mainly has three dimensions – normative, expressive and institutional.
Characteristics of culture include:
Culture is learned and acquired through formal or informal learning instead of being inherited
Culture is dynamic as it responds to the social-economic, technical and political changes
Culture is shared socially with the members of the community through social interaction,
mainly the language
What is civilization?
Civilization is the progressive state of human society, in line with the advanced level of
culture and standards. It is a stage of cultural development and is limited to a few societies.
Civilization is an intricate entity having different elements. These elements combine to form
an image of a society or a nation. This image becomes a notion of how the society or the
nation is.
Society categorises it based on socio-economic factors, urban development, government
system, technology advancement, social structure, religious system, language and food
stability.
It is a process where human existence can be developed socially and culturally to a more
advanced level.
Key traits of civilisation:
Advanced Cities – birthplaces of first civilizations
Specialised Workers – growth of cities require more skilled workers
Complex Institutions – leaders, emerge to maintain the order song people
Record-Keeping – record maintenance is significant in a complex economy
Improved Technology – problem-solving tools and techniques for a new emerging economy
Culture V/S Civilisation
Culture exists within civilization as it is the behavioural aspect of some individuals or groups,
but civilization is a vast community that can be made up of several cultures
There is a considerable variation in the timeline of culture and civilization
The culture was developed earlier than civilization
Culture can exist without a certain civilization, but it cannot exist without a certain culture
Culture is present in tangible and intangible forms, whereas civilization has various more or
less tangible aspects.
Culture transfers from generation to generation and thus cannot be said to be advancing, but
civilisation is always evolving
All societies consist of culture, but only a few comprises civilization
Culture and civilization have different expansions
Culture is a part of civilisation whereas civilisation combines various cultures
There are no standards for measuring culture but civilization has an abstract measurement
standard
Relation between Culture and Civilization
Culture is a part of civilization. The community’s diverse culture acts as a fragment to form a
civilization. Culture and civilization are associated with each other in that culture is a
precondition for developing civilization, and civilization represents a platform for cultural
advancement. Both are contingent, and change in either two leads to variation in the other.
Culture and civilization require some medium of expression, like society, though tangible or
intangible. There is a need for means to demonstrate their existence; it can also be through
actions, preferences, behaviour, etc. The culture and civilization of any nation or society
define the people living there. It helps other people to know them based on where they come
from. Like, the Indian culture is very rich, and we have a variety of everything here. Most
people from outside India love it and come to visit it because of the culture here; to know
more about the people.
In recent decades there has been an emphasis on the “thick description” of culture and
civilisation, which forces us to believe that cultures and civilizations are not essences floating
in the air but directly rooted in well-established geographical and cultural codes. They
encompass the political and religious conflicts of the times and are increasingly given to
incommensurability, relativism and perspectivism. But cultures, languages, civilizations and
traditions cannot be incommensurable.
Conclusion
Culture and civilization, the two societal concepts, are not divergent from each other but
differ in nature. Culture denotes the ideas, customs, social outlook, and actions of a particular
society. Civilization manifests culture in the physical form through arts, literature, life pattern,
architecture, etc. We reflect our culture, and civilization is what we have. It is worth
considering keeping our civilization safe because preserving what we have will keep us
shielded and safeguard what we are. The effects of civilization on culture can be observed
more in the current period, and also, the repercussions can be observed in civilization because
of every culture change.
