Postmodern Multicultural Society

The evolution of a postmodern multicultural society places a premium on increased understanding of issues surrounding culture and ethnic identity. Anthropology has traditionally defined culture as the sum total of artifacts (language, customs, tools/technology, institutions, etc.) that make up a human society. From a psychological perspective, it is useful to focus on the processes of symbolic communication that sanction the coherence of human societies and enable them to evolve such a variety of artifacts. It is generally accepted that humans are a uniquely cultural species. Interesting precursors of human communication, social organization, and tool use have been found in other species. But humans are the only species that has developed the capacity for complex symbolic communication about the world, as well as the capacity to create tools and institutions based on that complex symbolic understanding (Warmoth, 2001).

According to Meriam- Webster dictionary,” Culture is defined as the customary beliefs, social forms, and material traits of a racial, religious, or social group”. India or the Republic of India is a country in South East Asia .It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country with over 1.2 billion people, and the most populous democracy in the world. It's neighboring countries are Bhutan, Pakistan, People Republic of China, Nepal and Bangladesh. Indians personify the country as a goddess. There are 18 major languages spoken in India and over 1600 regional dialects. Hindi is the official language and English is the second common language. It's the world's most ancient civilization, yet one of it's youngest nations( Wolpert, 2009). Much of the paradox found everywhere in In...

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...eneurs; from being an astronaut to the queen of television industry, Indian women have done it all. She has to play a spectrum of roles like the homemaker, a wife, a daughter in law, a mother, a sister, a lover, a daughter, a friend and an “individual”.Indian society still has conservative ideals when it comes to women. The women in lower strata of society are still considered subservient to men and face abuse(Wolpert, 2009).

I would like to conclude by stating that this paper is an attempt to understand in depth the basic values, social norms,traditions and history of my culture; the culture of India. Research on this paper enlightened me on India's war laden past, evolving traditions, regional diversity, but , national unity and reconfirmed my own identity. Respect for one's own culture leads to acceptance and regard for other cultures'.