MESOC Serapeum | Where culture meets AI

Id		101
Author		Stanley, D.,
Title		Introduction: the Social Effects of Culture
Reference		Stanley, D. (2006). Introduction: the Social Effects of Culture, Canadian Journal of Communication, 31 (1): 7-15.
Link to article		http://www.cjc-online.ca/index.php/journal/article/view/1744/1856
Abstract		This article outlines the results of 2004 workshop held by the Department of Canadian Heritage and the Canada Council for the Arts, which discussed the various dimensions of a possible research initiative to study the social effects of culture. (This initiative was not pursued at the time but was revived in 2015.)

Results:

Candidate transition variables
It therefore better equips collectivities and communities to enter into relationships and cooperate with others as equals. .
By fostering a sense of collective identity, by increasing community confidence and the willingness of individuals to cooperate, a dynamic and diverse culture will be a significant contributor to community development. .
Cultural participation in all forms therefore tends to promote group interaction and cooperation. .
We have seen that culture contributes to people's willingness to cooperate both directly and through increased understanding and strengthened identity. .
In other words, the end result of cultural participation is the improved capacity to take part in the collective life of society: cultural citizenship. .
Heritage experiences therefore help us to find our roots and enhance our confidence at belonging (Connecticut Commission on Culture and Tourism, 2004; Matarasso, 1997). .
In any case, the purpose of revering a past through heritage is to give people a sense of belonging to a social group. .
Cultural participation enhances social cohesion because it creates occasions for socialization that are particularly attractive. .
Culture is important both to the individual and to the health of the nation. .
Several articles in this volume address the idea that art, heritage, and culture enhance our understanding and capacity for action. .
ENHANCING UNDERSTANDING AND CAPACITY FOR COLLECTIVE ACTION Encounters with arts or heritage expose people to ideas and understandings, new or old, about how to interpret the world around them. .
Heritage activities thus increase a net willingness to cooperate through the creation of stronger group identities and confidence. .
Both an encounter with the arts and a heritage experience are quintessentially social events. .
As such, it too is fostered indirectly by individual encounters with arts and heritage. .
Increased civic participation is a consequence of a dynamic and diverse cultural scene in the community. .
As the arts increase our awareness of alternative patterns of living, the options for cooperation with others (both in ways to cooperate and potential new partners) are increased. .
I further propose that societies that have dynamic and diverse cultures will evolve toward greater tolerance and respect for human rights, the individual, and the diversity of ideas, thereby increasing a willingness to cooperate. .
By helping to reaffirm a group's identity, it helps groups gain pride and confidence in their abilities. .
The participants at the workshop identified six social effects of culture, arts, and heritage: enhancing understanding and capacity for action; creating and retaining identity; modifying values and preferences for collective choice; building social cohesion; contributing to community development; and fostering civic participation. .
I would argue that continued exposure to a diversity of ideas from cultural experiences of all kinds will, over time, change attitudes and values. .
Cultural participation increases the diversity of ideas available to society as a whole and the capacity of citizens to make wise judgments about public issues. .
CONTRIBUTING TO COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT AND FOSTERING CIVIC PARTICIPATION We have seen that culture equips people with the social repertoire necessary to understand and interpret other people's actions and motivations, and gives people the confidence necessary to act socially. .
The Montreal workshop concluded that arts and heritage participation enhances social understanding, promotes identity formation, modifies values, builds social cohesion, and fosters community development and civic participation. .
The long-term aggregate trend of both arts and heritage is to foster more sustainable social values. .
This provides people with a greater diversity of options for social action and relationships. .
By providing socially authorized and acceptable ideas about human relationships where none existed before, heritage experiences can create cultural identities and give communities confidence to view themselves as valuable and to undertake collective acts. .

ARTICLE - CANDIDATE TRANSITION VARIABLES

Results: