For a culture of peace: rethinking our idea of culture

Abstract

Today we can't understand culture in the same manner as anthropologists did in the last century: something static, immutable, a supra-subjective entity. We should see it as something always variant, which is continuely adapting to new circumstances. That is, culture as a continuous negotiation, as something which isn't given by nature but built every day by persons. This fact has two implications ofinterest regarding ourwished culture of peace: 1. The need of abandoning an idea of culture bounded too much to the ethnicist ideologies and which has been a further cause for struggle and intransigent attitudes. 2. The need of recognizing the high versatility of culture. Evidently, it is not too easy to change culture. We can't change cultural traits in the way we can change our shirt or necktie; but we also need don't to carry the burden of cultural traits which are clearly negative for current society. Since culture was not given by nature, we can also try to modify very consciously the cultural e1ements which are causes of struggle.