ABSTRACT
Culture is not an easy concept to pin down; nor is it easy to define. In his companion volume in this series, Cultural Geography, Craig (1998) defines cultures as ‘sets of beliefs or values that give meaning to ways of life and produce (and are reproduced through) material and symbolic forms’. He further emphasises the value of taking a relativistic stance over culture, pointing out that it applies to all societies: ‘Cultures are not only about exotic faraway peoples, but also about the way we, in the West, do things.’ This is an important point, supporting as it does the dangers of stereotyped views of developing countries, ignoring the many similarities that exist between all cultures, and even casting doubt upon whether the concept of a ‘western’ culture is in any real sense valid. Another writer defines culture as ‘the binding element that ties individuals together through their integrated patterns of behaviour, and as such it acts to include some individuals within the group in question and to exclude others from it’ (O’Malley 1988: 328). Clearly, any discussion of culture can range widely over many aspects of human activity, but in this chapter we are concerned primarily with the relationship between culture and development, especially economic development.
