Epistemological Culture Theory

A Micro Theory of the Origin and Maintenance of Culture

Bibliographic Data

ID2248347
AuthorsLoren Demerath (Centenary College of Louisiana, corresponding author)
Year2002
Volume20
Issue2
Pages208-226
Publication date2002-07-01
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueSociological Theory (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 0735-2751 • E-ISSN: 1467-9558
PublisherSAGE Publications Inc (PUBLISHER)
DOI10.1111/1467-9558.00159
OpenAlexW2025894436
LanguageEN
Citations received9
References cited25

This paper presents a new 'epistemological' theory of culture that explains how individuals enhance their sense of security in the world by creating and maintaining culture as knowledge of the world. Using cognitive and affective processes previously ignored by culture theorists, the theory posits three dimensions of cultural production: we articulate, typify, and orient our experiences to make them meaningful. The theory asserts that we produce culture because it allows us to feel as if we understand our world, and to perceive it as ordered; this in turn triggers an aesthetic response of knowledge-based affect. The theory explains how cultural production is motivated by the pursuit of meaningfulness as well as material interests. The theory describes how an oppressive culture can be reproduced unintentionally, even by the groups it oppresses. The theory also identifies connections between social structure and culture where conditions of ambiguity or control have implications for how meaning can be created

Ambiguity · Culture theory · Epistemology · Social science · Social theory · Sociology · Language, Metaphor, and Cognition · Philosophy · Psychology · Rhetoric and Communication Studies · Social and Cultural Dynamics · Social Psychology