1.5 Summary

Culture can be viewed from different perspectives. The expanded concept of culture and in particular the open perspective of this concept inherently leads to an understanding of culture as our living environment or lifeworld, i.e. the part of an individual’s reality that is seen as self-evident and unquestionable. From such a perspective culture is something which is created through social practice in everyday actions. This also means that the open perception of culture acknowledges that culture is dynamic and thus subject to change. The open concept of culture also acknowledges that we are members of many different collectives and maintain relations with people from a variety of sub-cultures. As such it also takes cognisance of the fact that in today’s world it is possible for people to come from a variety of backgrounds, acknowledge membership of a wide range of collectives and yet identify with the same overarching collective (or ‘roof collective’ (Hansen, 2009)). An open concept of culture therefore not only unites in diversity but also allows us to search for commonalities as well as differences across cultures and lay the groundwork for consensus-based, synergetic interaction, through which everyone can flourish.