- Library Home /
- Search Collections /
- Open Collections /
- Browse Collections /
- UBC Community, Partners, and Alumni Publications /
- The perils of parsimony. "National culture" as red...
Open Collections
UBC Community, Partners, and Alumni Publications
The perils of parsimony. "National culture" as red herring? Macfadyen, Leah P.
Abstract
This paper discusses the ways in which Hofstede’s model of ‘dimensions of (‘national’) culture’ – and similar models developed in a functionalist paradigm – are problematically used to classify people. It briefly surveys critiques of Hofstede’s research method, but focusses on the dangers of attempting to develop models of culture within a functionalist paradigm. Although such models may be parsimonious and rapidly applied, I argue that they are a poor fit for CATaC investigations of the dynamic and reciprocal interactions between human cultures and technology. Instead, I contend, we must abandon this paradigm, and embrace methodologies that permit meaningfully explorations of the multiple and dynamic conditions influencing the field of cultural practices in human societies. I discuss the merits of ‘articulation’ as theory and method, and offer Hacking’s theory of “dynamic nominalism” as one example.
Item Metadata
Title |
The perils of parsimony. "National culture" as red herring?
|
Creator | |
Contributor | |
Date Issued |
2008
|
Description |
This paper discusses the ways in which Hofstede’s model of
‘dimensions of (‘national’) culture’ – and similar models developed in a
functionalist paradigm – are problematically used to classify people. It briefly
surveys critiques of Hofstede’s research method, but focusses on the dangers of
attempting to develop models of culture within a functionalist paradigm. Although
such models may be parsimonious and rapidly applied, I argue that they are a
poor fit for CATaC investigations of the dynamic and reciprocal interactions
between human cultures and technology. Instead, I contend, we must abandon this
paradigm, and embrace methodologies that permit meaningfully explorations of
the multiple and dynamic conditions influencing the field of cultural practices in
human societies. I discuss the merits of ‘articulation’ as theory and method, and
offer Hacking’s theory of “dynamic nominalism” as one example.
|
Extent |
194375 bytes
|
Subject | |
Genre | |
Type | |
File Format |
application/pdf
|
Language |
eng
|
Date Available |
2008-08-09
|
Provider |
Vancouver : University of British Columbia Library
|
Rights |
Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International
|
DOI |
10.14288/1.0058428
|
URI | |
Affiliation | |
Citation |
Proceedings, Cultural Attitudes to Technology and Communication, Nimes, France, June 2008.
|
Peer Review Status |
Reviewed
|
Scholarly Level |
Researcher
|
Rights URI | |
Aggregated Source Repository |
DSpace
|
Item Media
Item Citations and Data
Rights
Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International