Defining Culture

While the question of culture has seemingly vanished from contemporary geographical thought, for most of the nineteenth and twentieth century it was a central pillar of both geographical theory and social scientific debate. The aim of this chapter is to trace some of the key traditions that defined the culture question – within geography and beyond – as well as explore why those traditions ultimately led to the question's demise. In particular, the chapter focuses on three traditions: an anthropological tradition, a geographical tradition, and a Cultural Studies tradition. While these traditions no doubt cross-fertilise each other, and influenced disciplinary trends, they nonetheless constitute distinctive approaches to the culture question. The chapter concludes by discussing some of the reasons these traditions reached a dead-end and how the question of culture may be potentially revived in the future.