What is culture? What is the best way to study culture?

Question

What is identity? What is the relationship with identity and political economy? And how are these cultural expectations, social roles, and power relations contested in everyday life?

Answer 1

Cultures are simply the patterns of human activity in response to local environmental conditions.

The best way to study culture is to get a good evolutionary grounding, especially in human evolution, and to reject extraneous social science blather.

Answer 2

The best way to study culture, is to grow moldy bread in a Petrie Dish!

Answer 3

Culture - the shared system of rule and meanings aquired as a member of society

                       - or-

-  a societies shared and socially transmitted ideas, values, and perceptions, which are used to make sense of the expiriences and world around them and which generate behavior and are reflected in behavior.

Best way to learn about culture in general is in school (college) or to learn about a particular culture imerse yourself in it. Following the ideas of Branislaw Malinowski:

1. Live in the community for atleast 1 year

2. learn the language in detail

3. practice participant observation (participate when appropriate)