Cultural Performance

Cultural Performance

Society has been long identified primarily with the exploration of relationships and interdependencies among specialized institutions and aspects of communal life, such as the economy, the State, the family, and religion. The oldest sub fields in the “discipline of sociology are those that concentrate on social phenomena that have not previously been adopted as objects of study by other of the social sciences.” 0 These include marriage and the family, social inequality and social stratification, ethnic relations, “deviant” behavior, urban communities, and complex or formal organizations. Sub fields of more recent origin examine the social aspects of gerontology and the sociology of sex and gender roles. Because nearly all human activities involve social relations, another major source of specialization within sociology is the study of the social structure of areas of human activity. These areas of teaching and research include the sociology of politics, law, religion, education, the military, occupations and professions, governmental bureaucracies, industry, the arts, science, language, medicine, mass communications, and sport. Consequently, society with all of its twists and turns generates an intriguing and long disputed social phenomenon, culture. Culture is generally defined as a set of beliefs, behavior, language, and an entire way of life of a particular group of people at a particular time. It includes customs, ceremonies, works of art, inventions, technology, and traditions. Thus the term’s interpretation entails and describes the intellectual and artistic achievements of a society in general; it’s the societal “mental programmer”.

Across time, man has been identified as an analytical creatur...

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...alty to a certain group of people. Thus, individualists are supporters of universalism as a dominant factor on the workplace, where all employees are treated equally, and hired, rewarded, or fired on basis of merit and performance. A now more mature individualist is aware of the state as an influential factor in his every day life. He recognizes that the state often places certain social and financial limitations through its proclaimed laws, challenges one’s freedom of speech, and seems to be the basic representative power of its citizens interests and demands. Definitely, such an independent person will not accept to be subdued to all these restraints. Thus, we find in most individualist societies that the state’s power is commonly challenged by citizens and organized interest groups, and the press seems to also have a relatively high rate of freedom of expression.