tailieunhanh - Class and culture: A study of social dynamism

The author of this article makes an attempt to explore how culture emerged and became a tool of perpetuating or resisting exploitative social order. An attempt has been made to show how, like capital, culture is produced by the working class but the exploiting class appropriates it and turns it against the interests of the producer. It also tries to show that, as a dynamic component of class struggle, the dominance of the capitalist culture can be challenged, resisted, and at times replaced by the culture of the dominated class. | CLASS AND CULTURE A STUDY OF SOCIAL DYNAMISM Dharma Thapa ABSTRACT The author of this article makes an attempt to explore how culture emerged and became a tool of perpetuating or resisting exploitative social order. An attempt has been made to show how like capital culture is produced by the working class but the exploiting class appropriates it and turns it against the interests of the producer. It also tries to show that as a dynamic component of class struggle the dominance of the capitalist culture can be challenged resisted and at times replaced by the culture of the dominated class. Key Words Culture production labour capital appropriation dominant emergent INTRODUCTION The term Culture designates activities which humans perform in the production and exchange of labour goods and values in a given socio-historical context. In this sense it encompasses wide and varied domains of social activities interactions and concepts. In this article I have attempted to analyze the origin and development of culture from Marxist viewpoint which takes it as one of the components of superstructure which in turn is the outcome of the given socio-economic base. I have tried to show how a culture is formed how it creates and activates social dynamism how it gets transformed and serves the ends of the conflicting classes. I have discussed it as an active agency which serves the interests of the classes which have conflicting interests. In other words as a component of superstructure it can be a tool either of perpetuating or disrupting the dominant order of the exploiting class. In order to explain the concept of culture as a tool of class struggle I have cited examples from common and familiar zones. DEFINITIONS The New Oxford Dictionary of English 2000 defines culture as the customs arts social institutions and the achievements of a particular nation people or the social group 447 . Chris Jenks has thrown light on the concept of culture from various facets and perspectives. .