Emergent

Tuesday, April 28, 2009 17:08 - 0 Comments

Emergent Culture as Regenerative Dynamic of Culture

Emergent culture will not be defined

by the brands we consume

nor the socio-economic status we achieve,

but by the values we uphold

Raymond Williams, the cultural historian defined emergent culture as, “the result of processes where “new meanings and values, new practices, new relationships and kinds of relationships are continually being created.”

Williams also used the terms dominant and residual culture in referring to two other mechanisms involved in general culture dynamics. The dominant would refer to existing and widespread cultural features and practices in use by the majority.

Williams defines the residual element as follows: “The residual has been effectively formed in the past, but is still active in the cultural process as an effective element of the present” (Williams, 122). It is separate from the archaic, because the archaic is completely part of the past[no longer acting on the present], whereas the residual is part of the past as well as an effective part of the present.

For my work on emergent culture, the social phenomenon, I am specifically referring to cultural aspects as they pertain to socio-cultural dynamics. One can refer to other cultural domains such as technology, architecture, spirituality, the arts, among others and employ general culture dynamics to discuss the dominant, residual and emergent elements of the aforementioned domains.

As such, I have chosen the term prevailing culture to denote the dominant aspects of the particular social class who by and large is the same agency responsible for the preponderance and maintenance of the dominant cultural traits as they pertain to socio-cultural dynamics.

The Traits and Values of Emergent Culture Continue…