Afterword

Abstract

The papers in this book begin with the important premise that culture is a social and political construction, and therefore, when it is used, it serves a range of agendas of the people who use it either explicitly or tacitly. This premise follows from a postmodern, constructivist, non-essentialist view of culture and has become established in critical sociology and much postcolonial and critical theory. It has I think always been the case when talking about culture as creative expression in fine art, music, cuisine, and so on. This means that we need to move away from what has been referred to as a solid notion of culture which often refers to national or religious or even continental blocks which are encased by descriptions of behaviour and values which bind everyone in them to the same characteristics. Therefore, within this thinking, it is not possible to make big generalisations about how people will behave, what values they will have, or how they are able or not able to think as a consequence of this. It means that we cannot define, predict, or suggest boundaries for behaviour by virtue of belonging to a particular culture. We cannot make essentialist statements which confine or reduce anyone to a cultural stereotype.