Active Cultures

In our readings several authors look to nature to provide metaphors for social dynamics. For example in Fear of Small Numbers the organization of networks is referred to as being cellular in nature. A lot of these natural metaphors ascribe a seemingly living quality to social phenomena. I have been thinking of the word "culture" in a similar way. When I refer to culture I like to bear in mind these definitions (from Oxford Dictionary):

culture
• noun
1 the arts and other manifestations of human intellectual achievement regarded collectively.
2 a refined understanding or appreciation of this.
3 the customs, institutions, and achievements of a particular nation, people, or group.
4 the cultivation of plants, breeding of animals, or production of cells or tissues.
5 a preparation of cells grown in an artificial medium containing nutrients.

• verb maintain (tissue cells, bacteria, etc.) in conditions suitable for growth.

— ORIGIN Latin cultura ‘growing, cultivation’, from colere ‘cultivate’.

In considering the problems of the Public as posed by Dewey, I think it is helpful to consider these connotative implications of "culture." It is true that a culture needs "cultivation," as well as "conditions suitable for growth." I also like to think of culture as being a bit funky or kind of icky and active; the creation of culture is not a clean enterprise.