#131 Concept of Culture

Many people today think of culture in the way that it was thought of in Europe during the 18th and early 19th centuries. This ___ of culture reflected inequalities within European societies and their colonies around the world. This understanding of culture equates culture with civilization and contrasts both with nature or non-civilization. According to this understanding of culture, some countries are more civilized than others, and some people are more cultured than others. Anything that doesn't fit into this category is labeled as chaos or anarchy. From this perspective, culture is closely tied to cultivation, which is the progressive refinement of human ___ . In practice, culture referred to elite goods and activities such as haute cuisine, high fashion or haute couture, museum-caliber art and classical music. The word cultured referred to people who knew about and took part in these activities. For example, someone who used culture in this sense might ___ that classical music is more refined than music by working-class people, such as jazz or the indigenous music traditions of aboriginal peoples.