Culture, Development and Society: Understanding Development in Relation to Culture

Culture being one of the main pillars of development and sustenance of communities can be seen as reason for any progress in society. It is the identity where common values, attitudes, preferences, knowledge are attributed in the behaviour of the people of a particular social group and has a positive influence on social development in any country. Culture is the cornerstone of development and fundamental to understand society from different perspectives. Culture can be seen working in celebrations, like; wedding, a harvest festival, a religious holiday, or a national observance, our celebrations are woven tightly into our overall cultural identity. Hence, can be stated that to understand society at different levels, culture is required for well-functioning of society which is essential for critical debate and the exchange of ideas on the one hand, and on the other, the identity of any individual is being expressed through culture in the process of human development. Largely, culture creates the fundamental building blocks in our personality and it further link these with communities and nations. To a great extent, the quality of our lives depends on the benefit of our culture. The culture is the mirror of society and the rich tradition can be seen in form of our connections with historic and rich heritage, language, music, arts and literature etc., which accompanied us throughout our life, is fundamental for our unity by providing a sense of who we are. Culture consists of the beliefs, behaviors, objects, and other characteristics common to the members of a particular group or society. Thus, culture includes many societal aspects; language, customs, values, norms, mores, rules, tools, technologies, products, organizations, and institutions etc. Sociologists define society as the group of people who interact in such a way as to share a common culture. The cultural bond may be ethnic or racial, based on gender, or due to shared beliefs, values, and activities. The term society can also have a geographic meaning and refer to people who share a common culture in a particular location. Culture and society are intricately related. A culture consists of the objects of a society, whereas a society consists of the people who share a common culture. By considering above facts, the first conference of Sociological Society of Himachal Pradesh was organised on the basis of three most important and inter-woven concepts; culture, development and society in the month of November, 2019 at Govt. College Chamba. For this conference more than 100 papers were received and out of those papers, 22 papers selected for the publication in form of edited book. We are expecting that, this book will open a new inter-disciplinary debate in academic arena and prove beneficial for the readers across the subject sociology. This is also an attempt to touch three most important dimensions; culture, development and society in reciprocal relationship.