|
What is culture and how does it evolve? | 5,000 years of increasing monopolization of the culture of war by the state |
The History of the Culture of War What is culture and how does it evolve? Warfare in prehistory and its usefulness The culture of war in prehistory Data from prehistory before the Neolithic Enemy images: culture or biology War and the culture of war at the dawn of history --Ancient Central American civilization Warfare and the origin of the State Religion and the origin of the State A summary of the culture of war at the dawn of history The internal culture of war: a taboo topic --2.External conquest and exploitation: Colonialism and Neocolonialism --3.The internal culture of war and economies based on exploitation of workers and the environment --5.The military-industrial complex --9.Identification of an "enemy" --10.Education for the culture of war --12.Religion and the culture of war --13.The arts and the culture of war |
Introduction
As demonstrated by the Seville Statement on Violence (Adams, 1989, 1991), the institution of warfare and its associated culture of war are not biological phenomena inherited from our primate ancestors; instead they are cultural phenomena. Therefore it is important to ask what is culture, and how and why the culture of war developed and has been sustained. To ask these questions, we then need to understand the usefulness of war and the culture of war.
What is culture and how does it evolve
"We may think of the culture of mankind as a whole, or of any distinguishable portion thereof, as a stream flowing down through time. Tools, implements, utensils, customs, codes, beliefs, rituals, art forms, etc., comprise this temporal flow, or process. It is an interactive process: each culture trait, or constellation of traits, acts and reacts upon others, forming from time to time new combinations and permutations. Novel syntheses of cultural elements we call inventions . . " In the present book, the culture of war is considered in the framework of the preceding anthropological analysis: it is a cultural system that has evolved over the flow of time. Although at one time or another, some tribes or regions have been relatively independent from the culture of war, over the course of history most peoples have come under its influence. And, as we shall see, the system of nation-states has been from its beginning embedded within the context of the culture of war. Going back to seek the origins of the culture of war, we will consider it as a cultural invention with a certain usefulness at the time it was invented. Also following White's analysis we will see that the various components of the culture of war are all interrelated. As he says, "It is an interactive process: each culture trait, or constellation of traits, acts and reacts upon others." Hence, to give just one of many possible examples, the secrecy of the culture of war supports authoritarian control by allowing certain information to be held only by those in power, and both make possible the practice of warfare by concentrating the command structure in the hands of a few. |
World Peace through the Town Hall
1) The difference between "peace" and "culture of peace" and a brief history of the culture of war 2) The role of the individual in culture of war and culture of peace 3) Why the state cannot create a culture of peace 4) The important role of civil society in creating a culture of peace --Peace and disarmament movements --International understanding, tolerance and solidarity --Movements for free flow of information --The strengths and weaknesses of civil society 5) The basic and essential role of local government in culture of peace --Transparency and the free flow of information --Education for a culture of peace 6) Assessing progress toward a culture of peace at the local level --Culture of peace measurement at the level of the state 7) Going global: networking of city culture of peace commissions |