essay about cultural values

What are Cultural Values? A Comprehensive Guide for All

 Cultural values are the shared beliefs, norms, and practices that guide the behavior and attitudes of a group of people. They influence how people communicate, interact, and cooperate. They also shape how people view themselves, their identity, and their place in the world. Cultural values are not fixed or static; they can change over time and vary across different contexts and situations. 

Sanju Pradeepa

You know cultural values shape so much of how we see the world, yet we rarely stop to ponder their meaning and influence. Cultural values are the beliefs and ideals that bind groups together and guide behavior. They influence everything from etiquette to ethics, holidays to habits. Understanding cultural values—both your own and those of others—is key to navigating our increasingly global society.

In this article, we’ll unpack the meaning of cultural values, explore how they form and spread, see how they differ around the world, and discuss why they matter in today’s world. By the end, you’ll have a deeper appreciation for the cultural values that make us who we are. So find a comfy seat, grab a cup of your favorite beverage, and let’s dive in.

Table of Contents

What are cultural values.

Cultural values are the principles and standards of a society that guide the way people think, feel, and behave. They shape our beliefs, attitudes, and actions.

Some key cultural values include:

• Individualism vs. collectivism: Individualist cultures value independence and personal achievement, while collectivist cultures emphasize group harmony and loyalty.
• Power Distance: This refers to how much inequality people accept in a culture. High power distance means hierarchy and unequal power distribution are accepted, while low power distance means people value equality and decentralization of power.
• Uncertainty Avoidance: Cultures with high uncertainty avoidance prefer rules, structure, and predictability. Those with low uncertainty avoidance are more tolerant of ambiguity and chaos.
• Masculinity vs. Femininity: Masculine cultures value competitiveness, ambition, and achievement, while feminine cultures emphasize quality of life, relationships, and work-life balance.
• Long-term vs. short-term Orientation: Long-term-oriented cultures value thrift, perseverance , and adaptation to changing circumstances. Short-term-oriented cultures emphasize tradition, personal stability, and fulfilling social obligations.
• Indulgence vs. Restraint: Indulgent cultures allow relatively free gratification of natural human drives related to enjoying life, while restrained cultures suppress gratification of needs and regulate it by means of strict social norms.

Cultural values shape how we see the world, interact with each other, and go about our daily lives. Understanding them leads to more effective cross-cultural communication and cooperation. What values does your culture hold dear?

The Origins and Evolution of Cultural Values

Cultural values shape societies in profound ways. They originate from a mix of influences: religion, language, ethnicity, history, and environment. As cultures evolve, values adapt to changing circumstances.

The role of religion

Many cultural values stem from religious beliefs. For example, Christian societies often emphasize kindness, forgiveness, and charity. Buddhist cultures promote harmony, patience, and humility and also value concepts like dharma (duty), karma (cause and effect), and ahimsa (non-violence).

Language and ethnicity

Shared language and ethnicity strengthen cultural connections and shape values within groups. Concepts like hospitality, family loyalty, or honor are commonly emphasized. Minority ethnic groups may highlight values that strengthen their identity.

Historical experiences

A culture’s history significantly impacts its values. Societies that have endured hardships like famine, war, or oppression frequently value qualities like perseverance , courage , or independence. Values can also be influenced by interactions with other groups as cultures blend together over time through trade, migration, or colonization.

Environmental factors

Geography and climate shape cultural values by necessitating certain qualities for survival. For example, cultures in harsh, resource-scarce environments often emphasize self-reliance , hard work, and thriftiness. Coastal societies frequently value concepts related to fishing, sailing, and trade. Agricultural communities tend to value harmony with the land and seasons.

Cultural values provide a shared sense of meaning , purpose, and identity within societies. While values originate from a culture’s unique circumstances, there are also universal values common to humanity—things like love, compassion, justice, and wisdom—that transcend cultural differences and unite us all.

Why Cultural Values Matter

Cultural values are the beliefs and ideals that shape how a group views themselves and the world around them. They govern behavior, shape attitudes, and influence important life decisions. Understanding cultural values—both your own and those of others—is key to effective communication and building meaningful relationships.

Shared Identity

Cultural values connect us to others in our group, creating a sense of shared identity. When we uphold the same values as our peers, it strengthens our bonds and reinforces our place within the community. However, this can also lead to an “us vs. them” mentality towards those with differing values. It’s important to balance cultural pride with openness to other perspectives.

Influence Outlook

The cultural values we absorb from an early age shape how we interpret the world around us . They act as a lens, filtering our perceptions and judgments. We tend to see those who share our values as “right” or “normal,” while perceiving those with opposing values as “strange” or even “wrong.” Recognizing this tendency in ourselves and others can help promote understanding.

Guide Behavior

Cultural values are not just abstract ideals. They directly impact how we live our lives and interact with others. The values we hold dear shape the choices we make, the way we communicate, and our unquestioned habits and routines. When values come into conflict, it can lead to misunderstandings and tensions. Navigating these differences with empathy, respect , and an open mind is key to overcoming cultural barriers.

In an increasingly connected world, understanding cultural values—both shared and diverse—is crucial. Appreciating both the uniting and distinguishing power of values allows us to build common ground while also honoring what makes each culture unique. By understanding why cultural values matter, we can work to promote inclusion, foster meaningful connections across perceived divides, and make progress together.

Examples of Common Cultural Values

Cultural values refer to the ideals and beliefs that shape how people in a society live and interact. They influence attitudes, priorities, and behaviors within a culture. Here are some of the most common cultural values found around the world:

Individualism vs. collectivism

Some cultures emphasize individualism, prioritizing individual goals and achievements. Others focus on collectivism, valuing group cohesion and harmony. Individualistic cultures like those in the US and Western Europe encourage uniqueness , while collectivist cultures in Asia, Africa, and Latin America stress community and social bonds.

Power Distance

This refers to how much inequality people accept in a culture. High-power distance cultures like China and India accept an unequal distribution of power, while low-power distance cultures such as Australia aim for equality and less hierarchy.

Uncertainty Avoidance

Cultures with high uncertainty avoidance, like Japan and Germany, value rules, order, and clear expectations. They prefer to avoid ambiguity and minimize risk. Cultures low in uncertainty avoidance, such as the US and UK, are more tolerant of uncertainty and open to unstructured ideas or situations.

Masculinity vs. Femininity

Masculine cultures value competitiveness , achievement, and material success. Feminine cultures emphasize quality of life, caring for others, and social relationships. Japan and Austria rank high in masculinity, while Scandinavian countries like Sweden are more feminine.

Long-term vs. short-term orientation

Long-term-oriented cultures such as China and Japan focus on perseverance, thrift, and future rewards. Short-term-oriented cultures like the US and France value immediate gratification, consumption, and quick results.

Cultural values shape how we interpret the world around us and interact with each other. Recognizing these values in yourself and others can help promote cross-cultural understanding and bring greater harmony between people from diverse backgrounds.

How Cultural Values Shape Society

Cultural values are the ideals and beliefs within a society that shape behaviors and social norms. They influence how people think, communicate, and interact with one another in their daily lives. Cultural values also help determine what is considered right or wrong, good or bad, and important or unimportant in a society.

Tradition and Change

Cultural values often represent a balance between tradition and change. Societies value tradition by passing down beliefs and practices between generations. However, as societies evolve, cultural values also adapt to fit the times. Older generations may cling to more traditional values, while younger generations push for progressive changes. Finding the right balance between honoring tradition and embracing change is key to the growth and prosperity of any culture.

Morality and ethics

Cultural values shape a society’s morality and sense of ethics. They determine views on fundamental issues like life and death, family and relationships, and justice and human rights. Societies grapple with moral questions of what constitutes virtuous behavior and how to achieve “the good life.” Cultural values provide a moral compass for navigating these complex questions.

Cooperation and conflict

Cultural values influence how people in a society interact and relate to one another. Values like individualism versus communalism, competition versus cooperation, and harmony versus confrontation shape the nature of social relationships. Societies that emphasize cooperation and communalism tend to have more collectivist cultures , while those that emphasize individualism and competition tend to have more individualistic cultures. A society’s orientation towards cooperation or conflict impacts social cohesion and quality of life.

In summary, cultural values are the DNA of society. They shape how people think and act, determine morality and ethics, influence tradition and change, and affect cooperation and conflict. Cultural values reflect what really matters in a society, so understanding them is key to understanding the society itself.

Cultural Values Across Different Cultures

Cultural values represent the collective beliefs and ideals that shape a society. They are passed down through generations and influence how people think and behave. Cultural values can vary widely between different groups of people.

Individualism versus collectivism

Some cultures promote individualism, emphasizing personal achievement and independence. Others are more collectivist, focusing on group harmony and loyalty.

• Individualist cultures like those in the U.S. and Western Europe value personal freedom and achievement. People see themselves as autonomous individuals.
• Collective cultures in Asia, Africa, and South America value community over the individual. People see themselves as interdependent and define themselves by group membership. Loyalty to family and community is key.

This refers to how cultures view power hierarchies and inequality. High power distance means people accept an unequal distribution of power as normal. Low power distance means people value equality and challenges to authority.

• High power distance: Cultures in the Middle East, Asia, and Latin America accept hierarchy and authority. People respect age, status, and titles.
• Low power distance: Western cultures question authority and value egalitarianism. People see themselves as equals, regardless of age, status, or gender.

This refers to how cultures view uncertainty and ambiguity . High uncertainty avoidance means people prefer order, rules, and security. Low uncertainty avoidance means greater tolerance for ambiguity and risk.

• High uncertainty avoidance: Cultures in East Asia, Eastern Europe, and Latin America prefer structure, rules, and traditions. People seek security and conformity.
• Low uncertainty avoidance: U.S. and Western European cultures are comfortable with ambiguity and risk. People value independence, creativity, and openness to change.

In summary, cultural values shape how people think, communicate, and behave in profound ways. Recognizing these differences can help promote cross-cultural understanding and bring people together, despite their diverse beliefs and worldviews.

The Impact of Cultural Values on Business

Cultural values shape how businesses operate and interact with customers in society. Understanding the cultural values of your target market is key to success.

Communication

How people communicate varies across cultures. Some prefer direct, blunt communication, while others rely more on context and reading between the lines. When marketing or providing customer service, adapt your communication style to match your audience. For indirect cultures, focus on building relationships and trust. For direct cultures, get straight to the point.

Time Orientation

Cultures also differ in their view of time. Some see time as rigid and unchanging, while others see it as fluid. In monochronic cultures like Germany or the US, people value punctuality and efficiency . In polychronic cultures like Brazil or Egypt, flexibility and relationships are more important. Accommodate these differences when scheduling meetings or deadlines.

Some cultures emphasize individual goals and achievements (individualism), while others focus on group harmony and loyalty (collectivism). In individualist cultures, highlight personal benefits and freedom of choice in your messaging. In collectivist cultures, the focus is on the benefits to families, communities, and society.

Risk Tolerance

The level of uncertainty and risk deemed acceptable varies across cultures. Some cultures, like the US, tend to be more risk-tolerant, while others, like Japan, are more risk-averse. When introducing new products or services, determine the risk profile of your target market and adjust accordingly. In risk-averse cultures, the focus is on stability, security, and risk mitigation. In risk-tolerant cultures, highlight opportunities for reward and status.

Understanding cultural values provides insight into your target customers and how to best serve them. Adapt your business practices, marketing, and customer service to align with the values of your audience. Respecting cultural differences will lead to greater success in today’s global marketplace.

Promoting cross-cultural understanding

To truly understand different cultures, you need to recognize and respect their values. Cultural values are the ideals and beliefs that shape how a group thinks and acts. Promoting cross-cultural understanding means appreciating how values differ between societies.

Openness and Curiosity

The first step is developing an open and curious mindset . Try to understand cultural values from an insider’s perspective, not an outsider looking in. Ask questions, do research, and seek to learn why certain values are meaningful to that group. For example, many Western cultures value independence, while other societies put more emphasis on interdependence and community. Neither is right nor wrong; they are just different.

Recognize Differences

Don’t assume all cultures share your values. What you consider normal or ethical may be viewed very differently elsewhere. For instance:

• Views on family and gender roles can vary widely between cultures.
• Concepts of personal space and privacy are culturally dependent.
• The importance placed on traits like assertiveness , competitiveness, and ambition differs across societies.

Appreciating these differences will help you avoid insensitive or disrespectful behavior. Make an effort to understand values in the proper cultural context.

Find common ground.

While values may differ between groups, all cultures share some universal values like compassion, kindness , and fairness. Focus on the values you have in common rather than those that divide you. Look for opportunities to build connections and foster mutual understanding. Engage in open and honest dialog to promote cooperation and trust between cultures.

Promoting cross-cultural understanding is a lifelong process that requires patience, empathy, and a willingness to step outside your comfort zone . But by making the effort to learn about different cultural values, you can help create a more inclusive society where diversity is celebrated rather than feared. Understanding each other’s differences is the first step to overcoming them.

How to Uphold and Strengthen Cultural Values

To uphold and strengthen cultural values within a society, community, or organization, there are several effective strategies you can implement:

Promote understanding

Educate others about the origins and meaning behind your cultural values. Explain how they shape attitudes, beliefs, and behaviors. Increase insight into why certain traditions, rituals, or practices are important. The more people comprehend the significance, the more they will appreciate and support the values.

Honor traditions

Continue established customs, ceremonies, and celebrations that highlight meaningful cultural values. Participate in cultural events and invite others to join in. Make cultural values visible through symbolic representations like flags, statues, paintings, or clothing.

Share stories

Pass down cultural values through narratives, folklore, music, or art. Stories are a powerful way to convey morals, lessons, and wisdom to future generations. Share stories of role models or key historical figures who embodied important cultural values.

Set an example.

Model the behaviors and attitudes you want to see in others. Practice the cultural values in your own words, actions, and decisions. Be a mentor for those who want to strengthen their connection to the culture. Your passion and commitment will inspire others.

Reward and recognize

Provide positive reinforcement by acknowledging those who demonstrate cultural values. Thank them for their efforts and contributions. Highlight their achievements within the community. Recognition motivates people to continue promoting cultural values.

Strengthening cultural values requires ongoing dedication and teamwork. But by making the values a central part of individual and community identity, you ensure they endure and remain a source of meaning for generations to come. Focus on understanding, tradition, storytelling, leading by example, and positive reinforcement. Together, these strategies will keep cultural values alive and thriving.

Attitude and Mindset: Intersection, Importance & Difference

Threats to cultural values in today’s world.

Globalization and access to technology have exposed most of the world’s cultures to outside influences, which can threaten traditional cultural values. Some of the biggest threats to cultural values today include:

Cultural appropriation

When aspects of a minority culture are adopted by members of the dominant culture, it can feel disrespectful or like the meaning and importance are lost. Cultural appropriation of clothing, hairstyles, music, or religious practices can damage or dilute cultural values when done without proper understanding, respect, or permission.

Spread of misinformation

The internet and social media have enabled the rapid spread of both information and misinformation. False or misleading information about cultural beliefs , practices, or histories can undermine and distort cultural values. It’s important we educate ourselves about cultures different from our own to avoid perpetuating stereotypes or spreading misinformation, even unintentionally.

Globalization of media.

Access to media from around the world through streaming services and the internet exposes us to cultures different from our own. While cultural exchange can be positive, the globalization of media does threaten local cultural values by promoting more western or American ideologies. Local media, arts, music, and entertainment industries struggle to compete, and traditions can be lost.

While tourism promotes cultural appreciation and economic benefits, uncontrolled tourism can be damaging. Disrespectful tourists who treat cultural sites and practices as spectacles rather than with reverence can degrade sacred values. Overtourism leads to overcrowding, environmental damage, and a loss of authenticity. Regulations and sustainable tourism practices are needed to protect cultural values from the threats of tourism.

Overall, protecting cultural values in today’s connected world requires education, open-mindedness, cultural sensitivity, and a willingness to listen and understand each other, even when we don’t see eye to eye. Promoting inclusiveness, fighting misinformation, and encouraging cultural diversity will help ensure traditional values survive and thrive. But change is inevitable, and cultural values will continue to evolve and adapt to the modern world, as they always have.

Looking Ahead: The Future of Cultural Values in a Globalized World

Cultural values shape societies and bring people together, but in today’s globalized world, cultural identities are evolving. As cultures blend and ideas spread, cultural values are adapting to reflect more inclusive and progressive ways of thinking.

Looking ahead, cultural values will likely drift in a more humanitarian direction. There will be a greater emphasis on human rights, empathy, and mutual understanding between groups. Discrimination based on attributes like ethnicity, gender, sensual orientation, and religion will continue to decline. People will value diversity and push for equal treatment of all individuals.

Interconnectedness will be highly prized. Things that divide us, like nationalism and tribalism, will be discouraged in favor of a shared human identity. There will be more appreciation for how our fates are bound together in an increasingly global community. Cooperation and collaboration across borders will be seen as vital to solving problems that affect us all.

Environmentalism will likely feature more prominently in cultural values. As the impacts of climate change intensify, cultures will promote more sustainable ways of living that reduce humanity’s ecological footprint. Protecting biodiversity and natural habitats will be seen as keys to ensuring a livable planet for future generations. An ethic of environmental stewardship will spread.

Even as cultures blend, cultural traditions will still be honored. While globalization exposes us to outside influences, people will continue to value the histories, languages, arts, and other hallmarks that make their cultural identities unique. The trick will be balancing cultural preservation with a spirit of openness, inclusion, and shared progress.

The future of cultural values looks bright if we make the well-being of all people and our planet central to how cultures evolve in the decades ahead. By embracing diversity, championing human rights, and protecting our environment, cultural values can help create a more just, sustainable, and prosperous world for all.

You now have a sense of what cultural values are and how deeply they shape society. But cultural values are complex; they evolve over time and differ across groups. The values you hold dear say a lot about your identity and experiences. At their best, cultural values bind communities together and give life deeper meaning. At their worst, they can promote close-mindedness and conflict with others.

Understanding cultural values—both your own and those of others—is so important in today’s global world. So keep exploring, questioning assumptions, and seeking to understand people who are different. That’s the only way we’ll build a future filled with more connection and less division. Cultural values matter, so make the effort to understand them.

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38 Cultural Values Examples

Cultural values are the key principles or morals that underpin a cultural group. They may be based on religion, tradition, philosophy, collective memory , and custom. Examples of cultural values include respect for elders, family values , individualism, and egalitarianism.

Cultural values are passed on from one generation to another, which ensures continuity of traditions within a group of people. They may also be passed on through media.

Acquisition of a culture and its values occurs through socialization. In other words, by growing up in a culture, we often come to internalize our culture’s values.

Cultural Values Definition

The primary definition of cultural values and value theory used in sociology is the one by Clyde Kluckhohn:

“A value is a conception, explicit or implicit, distinctive of an individual or characteristic of a group, of the desirable, which influences the selection from available modes, means, and ends of action.” (Kluckhohn 1951, p. 395)

Societies strive to put values into action through the establishment of norms , taboos , laws, and sanctions.

Sanctions as a system of rewards and punishments that encourage or demand people to live according to their society’s ideas about what is good and just.

Examples of Cultural Values

American values.

• Individualism – The United States of America is famous for valuing individualism and individual rights above those of the collective or the government.
• Freedom – The USA’s mantra is: “Freedom!” It’s a nation that believes that you should be free from coercion so you can pursue your own happiness in life.
• Meritocracy – The dominant American culture , perhaps above all other cultures, a culture that believes people should be rewarded for their hard work and judged based on their skills and abilities, not based on an ascribed status .
• Christianity – To this day, Christian values are a dominant force that influences hundreds of millions of Americans and is a driving force behind their actions.
• Limited Government – The United States was built upon the ideas of the pioneers who were fleeing the government oppression in Britain. From the early days of colonial America, limited government was a central philosophy.

Related: Stereotypical American Characteristics

Australian Values

Dominant Australian culture (where I grew up) holds the following as core values :

• The Weekend – Aussies love the weekend – to the point that it’s become a part of our mythology . In 2019, there was even a scare campaign by the government who said that the opposition party was waging “war on the weekend” for having policies that would supposedly increase the price of cars!
• A Fair Go – A core Australian cultural value is the idea of the fair go – or in other words, an egalitarian ideal that everyone deserves a chance at life and shouldn’t be discriminated against.
• Freedom – Like the United States of America, Australia loves its freedom and upholds it as a sacred feature of the culture.
• Mateship – ‘Mateship’ is a uniquely Australian term used to refer to the importance of sticking by one another through tough times.
• Sporting Spirit – Australia considers sports to be one of its central pastimes and fancies itself as a “sporting nation”.
• Sarcasm – The dominant culture of Australia values sarcastic humor. Compare this to American slapstick comedy and British dark humor.
• Informality – While in the United States, you would refer to the president as “Mr President”, Aussies don’t think anyone is better than anyone else, so they call their Prime Minister by his or her first name – Scotty – or even an affectionate nickname, like “Albo”!
• Authenticity – Australians value authenticity highly, and are often highly critical of people who come across as inauthentic.

Related: Types of Values

British Cultural Values

• Politeness – There are few nations that are as polite as the British. Sure, there are rude sub-cultures, but they’re well-known for being polite, even to the extent that they say ‘Hi’ and ‘Bye’ two or three times when greeting and saying goodbye.
• Tolerance – Tolerance is one of the five official British values . It refers to the importance of accepting difference – so long as we all treat each other with respect, we can be different.
• Waiting your Turn – In British culture, it is considered very rude to push through a queue. Waiting in line is highly valued.
• The “Stiff Upper Lip” – Based upon the resilience developed during WWII, Britain has come to see themselves as a nation of stoic people.
• National Healthcare – During the London Olympics opening ceremony, it was telling that they decided to highlight the British National Healthcare System (NHS) as a feature of Britain that was worth celebrating.
• British Banter – British humor (as seen in famed British comedies like Monty Python ) is ironic, tongue-in-cheek and highly satirical.

French Cultural Values

France is another nation that has some core cultural values that it very explicitly highlights:

• Liberty – France overthrew its monarchy and, ever since, has been a key proponent of liberty and democracy worldwide.
• Equality – When comparing French-European values to those of North America, we see a stronger focus on equality, leading to a more interventionist state that aims to redistribute wealth to strive for equality.
• Fraternity – The idea behind this phrase is that the French people are bound together in solidarity , standing together for their free republic.

Liberal Values

If you grew up in a liberal culture or even sub-culture within a society, you’re more likely to hold some of the following things as your core cultural values:

• Egalitarianism – Liberals are more inclined to strive toward egalitarianism, meaning a sense that all people are equal, including marginalized communities.
• Equality of Opportunity – You’ll find that liberal societies also aim for equal opportunity, meaning they want to ensure the poor also have good education, healthcare, and so on.
• Gender Equality – Progress on gender equality is very important to liberals, including things like trying to break the glass ceiling and achieve gender parity in politics.
• Racial Equality – Liberals will often cite racial and ethnic rights, especially the rights of minority groups , as a core cultural value.
• Workers’ Rights – Left-leaning liberals have for centuries stood for workers’ rights, under the banner of “a fair day’s wage for a fair day’s work”.
• Freedom of Thought – Classical liberalism , advocated by people like John Locke, emphasizes individual freedom, including the freedom to believe and think what you want to believe.

Conservative Values

If you grew up in a liberal culture or sub-culture, you’re more likely to hold some of the following things as your core cultural values:

• Family – Conservative communities tend to hold family and commitment to family at the core of their sense of self. This is because a conservative worldview sees the family as the fundamental building block of a functioning and moral society.
• Religion – Organized religions have historically upheld conservative values, like tradition and deference to elders. (This is not to discount the fact that some religious sub-groups are quire liberal).
• Tradition – Conservative cultures tend to revere tradition and carrying-on traditions and customs.
• Entrepreneurialism – Throughout the 20 th Century, conservative movements have been the strongest proponents of free markets and capitalism.
• Meritocracy – Conservative values tend to emphasize the importance of pulling yourself up by your bootstraps, working hard, and reaping the rewards of your hard work through merit.

Cultural Universals

There’s also an idea that there are some cultural values that cross all – or most – cultures. Examples include:

• Do unto others (the golden rule) – Most cultures and religions have a core rule, called the golden rule, which emphasizes the fact you should not do anything to anyone else that you wouldn’t want done to yourself.
• Respect your elders – Most cultures have implicitly learned rules about respecting elders, and particularly parents.
• The family unit – Nearly all cultures are built upon family units, although there are different types of family units accepted around the world.
• Rites of passage – Most cultures have rites of passage . These can be religious rites, marriage, initiations, etc.
• Rule of law – Nearly all cultures develop a rule of law. While the laws may change, respect for the concept of rule of law appears nearly universal.

Go Deeper: What is Cultural Universalism?

Cultural values are the key principles society is based around. These values include a society’s traditions, language, beliefs, customs, arts, literature, and laws.

Cultural values are important for individuals and groups to be included into society. Without knowing the language or participating in traditions one is easily left aside.

Values implies how people should behave, but they don’t necessarily reflect how people really behave. In real culture , police officers, lawmakers, educators, and social workers constantly strive to prevent or repair accidents, crimes, and injustices provoked by people not following the core cultural values of the society.

Furthermore, societies strive to put values into action through different methods, for example sanctions, in order to create good and well-being for its members. Hence cultural values provide important social and economic benefits. With improved learning, increased tolerance, and opportunities to come together with others, culture improves people’s quality of life and benefits both individuals and communities.

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Browne , K. (2005). An Introduction to Sociology, Polity Press, Third Edition

Crossick, G. & Kaszynska, P. (2016). Understanding the value of arts & culture – The AHRC Cultural Value Project G., Arts and Humanities Research Council.

Graburn, N.H. (2008). What is Tradition?, Museum Anthropology 24(2‐3):6 – 11

J. L. Spates (1983). The Sociology of Values. Annual Review of Sociology, 9 (1).

Kluckhohn, C. K. (1951). Values and value orientations in the theory of action , Harvard University Press.

Langer, S.K. (1966). The Cultural Importance of the Arts. The Journal of Aesthetic Education, Vol. 1, No. 1 (Spring, 1966), pp. 5-12.

Sumner, W. G. (1906).  Folkways. Folkways: A Study of the Sociological Importance of Usages, Manners, Customs, Mores, and Morals

Pernilla Stammler Jaliff (MSSc)

Pernilla Stammler Jaliff has a master’s degree in Political Science and in Investigative Journalism. She has published several academic articles, and reports on human rights and sustainability for different NGOs. She also works independently as an investigative journalist writing articles on environmental issues such as the lithium and oil industry.

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Chris Drew (PhD)

This article was peer-reviewed and edited by Chris Drew (PhD). The review process on Helpful Professor involves having a PhD level expert fact check, edit, and contribute to articles. Reviewers ensure all content reflects expert academic consensus and is backed up with reference to academic studies. Dr. Drew has published over 20 academic articles in scholarly journals. He is the former editor of the Journal of Learning Development in Higher Education and holds a PhD in Education from ACU.

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Introduction

Issue 1: the long history of globalization and cultural interactions, issue 2: the legacy of methodological nationalism, issue 3: the overly complex and easily contested concept of culture, issue 4: values as systems and imprints, issue 5: the triad of identity, memory, and heritage, issue 6: culture and the economy, issue 7: cultural policy and soft power, cultures, values, and identities: what are the issues.

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Helmut K. Anheier; Cultures, Values, and Identities: What Are the Issues?. Global Perspectives 11 May 2020; 1 (1): 11755. doi: https://doi.org/10.1525/001c.11755

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This article reviews the state of the social sciences with respect to the study of culture and cultures. It also examines the closely related concepts of values and identities. It does not attempt to be comprehensive—a task that would be daunting given the diverse and rich literatures that quickly come into focus. Rather, the purpose is to highlight a limited number of issues central to moving an international, comparative, and interdisciplinary agenda forward, in the hope that Global Perspectives will become a recognized and central address for current and future research in this field.

Even limiting oneself to key issues is no easy task, as various disciplines regard culture as their terrain. Anthropology, economics, political science, sociology, history, and the humanities, including cultural studies and the arts themselves, all lay some claim to the topic. Diverse and dispersed literatures complicate matters. Frequently divided by methodology and a split between quantitative and qualitative approaches, disciplines function too much as closely guarded silos, discouraging inter- and transdisciplinary dialogue of the kind that Global Perspectives encourages.

Moreover, there are strikingly contrasting presuppositions within the social sciences toward culture: Too often, culture is treated as a residual once the “hard” economic, political, and sociological factors are considered. Alternatively, it can become the all-encompassing construct that supposedly explains everything. Similarly, culture is seen as something that either prohibits or accelerates progress, or it becomes a politically innocent reference category to paint over increasingly absent shared values and common narratives.

There are also deeply rooted clashes of national cultural interest that have been set in motion as globalization has advanced. Is the world moving toward cultural uniformity or toward tensions and conflicts? Or are there signs of an alternative set of outcomes rooted in a more polycentric system of cultures in terms of meaning and identity, production or consumption? What is the meaning and validity of a Western or an Asian “cultural imperialism” thesis, or a “clash of civilizations” between East and West?

In contemporary society, there is a deepening intersection between the economic and the cultural, as Singh (2011, 2017) demonstrated in his analysis of globalized art markets and North-South trade relations. The media presents one dramatic illustration of this intersection: that is, commercially produced cultural artifacts. At the same time, culture has come to be seen as an instrument of economic development and urban revitalization—a view encapsulated in terms like creative class, creative cities, and the creative economy.

Yet culture is also about the arts. Notions of l’art pour l’art, or “art for art’s sake,” in the sense that culture is first and foremost about creative expression, are challenged by the deepening intersection of culture with economics and politics. Interpretative frames for what counts as art, what can be regarded as cultural innovations, and who “owns” or represents art imply many changes for how works of art are appreciated, collected, presented, bought and sold, and preserved.

The concepts of culture, value, and identity are as intricate and multifaceted as their relationships are to each other. Anheier and Isar (2007, 3) write in their introduction to the five-volume Cultures and Globalization Series “that globalization has a profound impact on culture, and that cultures shape globalization may seem like a truism. Yet the two-way interaction involves some of the most vexed and at the same time taken-for-granted questions of our time.” This interaction challenges previously more stable cultural systems, forms of everyday life, and identities, and it does so in very uneven and diverse ways. The triangle of collective heritage, identity, and memory, long assumed a foundation of societies, has become uncertain and is being transformed (Anheier and Isar 2011) .

Globalization is both a process and an outcome that involves economic supply and distribution chains, financial flows and investments, international law and institutions, and communication and mobility. Castells (1996, 1997) uses the apt imagery of “decentralized concentration” to describe this phenomenon. He argues that a multiplicity of interconnected tasks that take place in different sites results in people and organizations forming a metanetwork at the transnational level. Held (2002) argues that the 1990s globalization spurt reached an extensity and intensity that went beyond previous phases, and with greater impact on different cultures and societies.

Globalization evolved over time and continues to change, as Baldwin (2019) demonstrates. The “old” globalization, driven by the Industrial Revolution, involved two phases: from the early nineteenth century to the start of World War I, and from World War II to the fall of the Soviet Union. The “new” globalization had a first phase, fueled by financial deregulation, transnational supply chains, and information technologies, and lasted until the global financial crisis of 2008–9. It was in this phase that countries outside the northern industrial sphere—namely, China and other Asian countries—joined the globalized core. The second phase, still emerging, is based on digitization and is likely to expand the extensity and intensity of global networks further.

Each globalization phase brought societies into contact with each other, be it through trade, colonization, proselytizing religions, or domination. It was often an unequal contact. Not all cultures survived, as some merged and new ones emerged. The important point is that for centuries, most of the world’s cultures have been in contact in some form or another, and increasingly so over time. They have been in contact ,and continue to be, in a context characterized by mutual understandings and misunderstandings, cooperation and conflict, domination and submission, and affection and aversion. The current globalization phase, given its reach and impact, certainly adds another layer to the complex web of intra- and intercultural relations, bringing about value changes and challenges to collective and individual identities.

Globalization can retreat, as it did after the Great Depression; it can accelerate and slow down, as it did before and after the 2008–9 global financial crisis. To put it another way, since about 1820, the world has known only a few episodes of “non-globalization.” This means that the world’s diverse cultures, peoples’ values, and their identities have been exposed to the “other,” as have collective memory, cultural heritage, and forms of cultural expression. Cultures past and present are the co-production of “domestic” content and developments and exposures to (and interactions with) other societies and their respective cultures.

Therefore, the first issue is to get a better historical understanding of how cultures interacted in the context of globalization phases, what the drivers of cultural flows were, and how values and identities changed over time. Historical perspectives are as important as contemporary analyses.

Envisioning cultures, values, and identities as the product of past exposures and interactions also means that the notion of national cultures and national society is historically highly questionable. Yet the social sciences, which emerged during the end of the “old” globalization phase—when the nation-state was naturalized—engaged in an epistemological framing of cultures, values, and identities close to the notion of the nation-state. This framing was sometimes explicit: an early example is Aaron’s influential book on German sociology (1935); much later examples include Lipset’s American Exceptionalism (1996) or Huntington’s Who Are We? (2004). But mostly the framing was implicit, almost taken for granted in the sense that students of the social sciences in the United States read and studied American society just as the British or the French did theirs. For a long time, anthropology developed along a different path, with its emphasis on the “other”—that is, non-Western, nonstate societies and cultures.

The nation-state framing is still dominant today, referred to as methodological nationalism. This term refers to the intellectual orientation fortified within each social science discipline that treats the nation-state as the primary unit of analysis and the primary reference point, ascribing agency to it as the given container for social processes. For Wimmer and Schiller (2002), methodological nationalism is built on the assumption that the nation-state is the seemingly natural social and political form of the modern world.

The implied reification of nation-states as actors sui generis in a transnational cultural space can be very misleading. For example, the United States does not “act” in a cultural sense, organizations and people do. It is US corporations like Microsoft, Facebook, Google, or the Walt Disney Company, missionary societies, art museums, and the people who work there that act, as do artists, activists, and robots. Of course, the nation-state plays an important role, but when studying culture in a globalizing and changing world, it cannot be the assumed primary unit of analysis (see Anheier 2007, 336). The upshot is that the social sciences have to overcome the twentieth-century legacy of methodological nationalism if we want to get a fuller understanding of culture, cultural flows, and developments.

Most definitions are neither true nor false; they are ultimately judged by their fruitfulness in advancing our understanding of a phenomenon. Following Deutsch (1963), a fruitful definition must be parsimonious and focus on the truly critical characteristics of the phenomenon. It also must have organizing power in the sense that it helps to establish relations with other concepts and adds value overall. Parsimony and added value, however, never seemed to have much currency among students of culture, who proudly point to the many attempts to define what culture is, and they reference Kroeber and Kluckhohn, who identified 281 definitions in their 1952 book  Culture: A Critical Review of Concepts and Definitions. Kroeber and Kluckhohn then organized these diverse concepts of culture into eight categories, including topical (the cultural economy), historical (heritage, tradition), behavioral (learned human behavior, a way of life), normative (values, norms), mental (ideas), and structural (symbols).

Yet none of these categorizations, or others that followed, made much progress in bringing greater clarity in terms of parsimony and value added. The classical nineteenth-century definition of culture by anthropologist E. B. Tylor is still being referenced (“that complex whole which includes knowledge, belief, art, morals, law, custom and any other capabilities and habits acquired” (Tylor 1920, 1). The same is true of UNESCO’s definition of culture in the Preamble to the UNESCO Universal Declaration on Cultural Diversity as the “set of distinctive spiritual, material, intellectual, and emotional features of society or a social group… it encompasses, in addition to art and literature, lifestyles, ways of living together, value systems, traditions and beliefs.”

In the face of such general statements, most analysts define culture in a broad and a narrow sense. Broadly, culture is a system of meaning, its social construction, articulation, and reception, including religion, ideologies, value systems, and collective identity. More narrowly, it refers to the arts—that is, what artists create and what is regarded, preserved, exchanged, and consumed as cultural artifacts. Straddling both notions are concepts such as cultural diversity, cultural expression, and the creative or cultural economy.

So it is no wonder that in his seminal Keywords, Raymond Williams (1976) famously stated that culture is one of the most complex words in the English language. The same statement could be made today. Why are we holding on to an imprecise term, especially as it is being deeply implicated in diverse and contested disciplinary discourses in the social sciences today? Yet the word does hold some meaning. Appadurai (1996) and Crawford (2007), among others, have observed how culture is being mobilized in a politics of recognition and representations. The divisive debates about migration worldwide and fundamentalist reassertions in all major world religions are just two examples that show the instrumentalization of culture. Achieving greater clarity and precision in terms of definition and classifications is a major challenge ahead.

Like culture, the concept of values carries different meanings and is used rather loosely. For individuals, values act as an internal moral compass and are “evaluative beliefs that synthesize affective and cognitive elements to orient people to the world in which they live” (Marini 2000, 2828; see also Hitlin and Piliavin 2004, 360). Values typically form a value system as a relatively consistent orienting framework. Ideologies are relatively constant sets of beliefs that explain the world, usually in terms of cause-and-effect relationships.

Even though values are unobservable directly and often conflated with other phenomena such as norms or attitudes, much progress has been made in recent decades to measure value systems cross-nationally and over time. The most prominent effort to do so is the World Values Survey ( www.worldvaluessurvey.org ). The resulting Inglehart-Welzel Cultural Map plots countries along two major dimensions: traditional versus secular values and survival versus self-expression. Of course, here we encounter the unit-of-analysis problem we confronted above, and innovative approaches are needed to show how and when what values matter, change, and the like.

Yet who has agency in such maps? They offer useful markers and reveal persistent patterns as well as shifts over time. But a larger question looms regarding how the values they present are produced and reproduced. Of course, psychology and sociology have answers, mostly at the micro level, through socialization processes. Emphasizing the link between value systems and ideologies, social institutions and organizations, and groups and individuals, however, could offer one way forward to accommodate agency. We live in societies made up of institutions and organizations, as Perrow (1986) pointed out long ago, and as North et al. (2009) pointed out: institutions are the rules of the game and hence the embodiment of value systems, whereas organizations are the tools of enactment.

In sociology, Stinchcombe (1965) introduced the concept of “imprinting,” whereby the institutional conditions prevalent in the founding environments of organizations continue to have lasting effects on organizational culture and behavior. Following up on this suggestion, Marquis and Tilcsik (2013) use the term “value imprinting” to describe how the values of founders or equivalents implicitly or explicitly shape the organization and its culture. With a focus on organizational culture and values, including professional value systems, one could at least partially circumvent the limitations of methodological nationalism. This focus would link organizational and management studies to the study of cultural values, and the history of business to the history of values and ideologies.

Such an approach could rekindle the kind of macro-meso-micro studies that characterize some of the seminal works on the interplay between value systems, institutions, and organizations and individuals. Max Weber’s ([1904] 2016) The Protestant Ethic and the Spirit of Capitalism is a study of the interaction between religion and economic behavior. In response to Marx, Weber argues that the world of ideas has its own logic, independent of material interests and property relations. In Elias’s (1997) seminal work on the process of civilization, he analyzes behavioral transformation in the sixteenth century as a reaction to demands for greater political and communicative stability as commerce expanded. Bourdieu’s (1979) analysis of the French class structure and the link between culture and habitus is also a particularly illuminating work. We need more such studies.

Sociologically, identity is a person’s learned notion of self, combined with a sense of belonging expressed and experienced through values, ethnicity, language, nationality, locale, and the like, and is closely related to a sense of “we-ness.” There is a striking disconnect in research on identity: empirical studies based on population surveys show that identities are remarkably stable over time, as the European Commission (2012) found when it summarized the results of several large-scale research projects on the relationship between regional, national, and European identities. Hoelscher and Anheier (2011, 364–86) reviewed different facets of identity (geographical, cyber, citizenship, cultural, economic, and religious) and reached a similar conclusion.

This stability contrasts with two other strands of inquiry: the nuanced debate about the relationship between identity, collective memory, and heritage, on the one hand, and the vehemence of the political meaning of the term (in particular regarding identity politics), on the other. As to the first, Isar et al. (2011) suggest that in the process of globalization, the “triangle” of identity, heritage, and memory has become more unstable and, in some parts of the world, even unhinged. Contradictory developments are taking place: there is a trend whereby cultural heritage assumes a “museal sensibility” (Huyssen 1995, 14) , supported by international conventions (Isar 2011, 39--52) and by a cultural heritage industry (Winter 2011) . There are also powerful economic forces that undermine cultural heritage by eliminating entire peasant cultures and traditional crafts and skills.

The “cult of heritage” comes with a certain “memory boom,” as Isar et al. (2011, 5) put it. Collective memory is “remembrance of the past grounded on more durable carriers of external symbols and representations” (Assmann 2008, 55) . It is an archival memory constructed through a discourse that relies heavily on media institutions and communication (Huyssen 1995, 6) . This memory discourse makes it vulnerable to political and cultural entrepreneurs, and Assmann (2008, 54) calls for “critical vigilance and develop[ing] criteria for probing the quality of the memory constructions, distinguishing more ‘malign’ from more ‘benign’ memories—that is, memories that perpetuate resentment, hatred and violence from those that have a therapeutic and ethical value.”

Yet, irrespective of the quality of collective memories, they are implicated in how we think about identity and how identity politics comes about. The cultural responses to globalization open opportunities for groups and individuals to deploy the notions and resources of heritage and memory in certifying identity. It is a way of coping with the uncertainties about the “us versus them” attitude that globalization frequently brings with it (Appadurai 2006, 6).

Next to scholarly attention to the nexus of heritage, memory, and identity, there is a highly contested debate that links identity to the fate of Western civilization. Four books illustrate the depth of the disputes. First, Huntington’s 2004 book “ Who Are We?: America’s Great Debate ” explores the nature of American identity, taking issue with the idea that the United States is a “nation of immigrants.” Instead, Huntington observes that the founders were settlers who brought with them the cultural kernels of what became the American creed, a unique creation of a dissenting Protestant culture based on the principles of liberty, equality, individualism, representative government, and private property. He argues that American identity began to erode beginning in the 1960s, as a result of, among other factors, the rise of globalization, explicit political appeals to specific identity groups, and changing immigration patterns.

Contradicting Huntington, particularly his civilization thesis, Sen’s 2006 Identity and Violence: The Illusion of Destiny argues that the false notion of a unique identity sustains conflict and violence. He criticizes “solitarist” theories that ignore shifting and multiple identities. In his view, identity is changing and multifaceted; there is no fixed identity, and people comprise many identities related to ethnicity, nationality, gender, religion, and the like. By better understanding identity, societal rifts can be alleviated, resulting in a more peaceful society and world.

Fukuyama’s 2018 book Identity argues that people have clung to identity as a result of economic and social dislocation—for example, job losses due to globalization, economic crisis, or the relative status decline of white males. This focus on identity results in conflict and political dysfunction. Ultimately, Fukuyama views identity politics as a threat to the foundations of liberal democracy and a distraction from real issues. Focus on identity politics has become a convenient and effective substitute for a more in-depth analysis of how to address the trend toward greater socioeconomic inequality in most liberal democracies.

Appiah’s 2018 The Lies that Bind argues that people and their leaders keep making the same mistakes when it comes to the main Cs of identity: creed (religion as a set of immutable beliefs instead of as mutable practices and communities), country (suggesting a forced choice between globalism and patriotism), color (race is constructed, not biological), class (entitlement and resentment, rather than greater equality of opportunities), and culture. As for the latter, he proposes a greater openness and no longer equating individualism, liberal democracy, tolerance, rationality, and science with Western civilization as such.

Clearly, these and other works make for rich opportunities to debate assumptions; to challenge hypotheses, data, and their analysis; and, above all, to bring better and especially comparative evidence to bear.

The relationship between the economic and the cultural has a long history, from Adam Smith’s moral sentiments, Marx’s dichotomy of structure and superstructure, Thorstein Veblen’s conspicuous consumption, and Baumol and Bowen’s (1966) cost disease theorem to today’s discourse about the creative city and the cultural economy. Cunningham et al. (2008) propose four models for the relationship between the wider and the cultural economy, defined as a system for the production, distribution, and consumption of cultural goods and services through market as well as nonmarket mechanisms, or, in the words of Scott (2008), as all forms of economic activity that produce outputs with significant aesthetic or semiotic content or symbolic outputs.

The negative model assumes that cultural activities are either public or semipublic goods and therefore inherently deficit making. They rely on public subsidies, voluntary contributions, and philanthropy to compensate for lacking revenue. The negative model views the culture economy as a “welfare case.” The competitive model treats it as just “another industry,” yet one with high demand uncertainty and cost disease tendencies. Alternatively, the positive or growth model highlights the capacity of the creative segments of the cultural economy to initiate growth in the aggregate economy. Finally, the emergent or innovation model views culture as an innovation system that infiltrates the entire economy, promoting “creative disruption” to established practices in business and society at large.

These models are propositions well worth exploring, and they provide a frame for Landry’s “creative city” concept (2000, 2012) as well as for Florida’s “creative class” (2005, 2018). For Landry, cultural resources are the raw materials of the city and its value base. He emphasizes both the “hardware” (physical infrastructure) and the “software” (relationships and atmosphere) for designing successful cities. Florida popularized the concept that cities exhibiting a higher level of economic development tend to be those that attract members of the creative class. Florida’s work gained a great degree of attention due to its simple and catchy argumentation and methodology. The “three Ts” (talent, technology, and tolerance) as the key to economic development were supported by especially designed indicators (e.g., a “bohemian index”).

Florida has been criticized (Glaeser 2005; Peck 2005) for elitism by separating the world into “creatives” and “noncreatives.” Methodologically, scholars have challenged Florida’s indices and quantification of causal factors (Glaeser 2005) . The argument that creativity begets growth has been identified as circular. Furthermore, Florida and Landry’s focus on creativity as a path to economic growth has been criticized for operating within “neoliberal” development agendas, framed around interurban competition, gentrification, middle-class consumption, and place marketing (Peck 2005) .

Despite such criticism, there are clearly important insights here, which are also supported by sociologists studying the relationship between innovation and diversity. Globalization creates more diverse networks among people and organizations and generates many more changes for weak-tie configurations to materialize. Exposure to multiple and heterogeneous contacts and circles encourages creativity and opens new opportunities. This is one reason that geographers like Scott (2008) argue that globalization is leading less and less to cultural uniformity. Markedly more polycentric systems of cultural creativity and production are emerging, suggesting that conventional cultural imperialism arguments seem to be losing some of their force. Yet these are propositions in need of further reflections and, especially, empirical tests to find out if the world is indeed becoming more diverse, even eclectic, in its modes of cultural production and consumption.

Central here is the role of the artist as creator. Within the Western canon, the cult of the artist as the “seer,” the genius who is both inside (and understands) and outside (and questions) a given community or society, is still strong, stemming from Enlightenment notions of individual achievements. Yet how does this notion of the artist, which ties creativity to individuality, fit into the globalized opportunity structure? Will the precarious economic position of many artists change? How can it match non-Western constructions (e.g., of art as expressions of communal creativity and imprinting), and how can it relate to the concept of art whose recognition and legitimacy enhances rather than breaks traditions? Do global art markets, and the speculation that increasingly drives them, favor Western notions over others, or play on some sort of speculative arbitrage? Likewise, are major art exhibitions like Documenta, Frieze, or Art Basel mostly about market making or about art appreciation, or perhaps both?

The final issue is that of cultural policy and the role of governments and international organizations like UNESCO, the Council of Europe, and increasingly also the European Union. Traditionally, the main purpose of cultural policy was to support the arts and appreciation thereof, as well as heritage. In recent years, the creative economy has become a new focus, as have the issues of creativity and innovation more generally. These trends are in line with the fourth model that Cunningham et al. (2008) propose.

Yet countries differ widely with respect to how broadly and in what manner they engage with culture and the arts. The United States shows a very limited involvement throughout, and most activities are at the local and state levels. Other efforts are largely left to private philanthropy and nonprofit organizations. By contrast, cultural policy in France is very much a matter of the central government and public budgets, whereas in Germany a decentralized system prevails that mixes public and private funds under a pattern of cooperative cultural federalism. The United Kingdom is somewhere in between, using arm’s-length institutions with a growing focus on the cultural or creative economy.

The outcomes of different policy approaches are also different dynamics and possibilities for artistic potential, creativity, and economic growth in terms of the models Cunningham et al. (2008) have outlined. It remains an open question how emerging market economies and autocratic regimes position themselves in this triad of cultural policy options (a minimal role of government, a pronounced and centralized role, and a devolved one). Most likely, forms of control will be a critical element, putting cultural policy under state tutelage.

Finally, cultural policy is also foreign policy in the context of soft power and cultural diplomacy. Hard power refers to military power and coercive capacity in terms of deterrence and potential for inflicting violence (Nye 2004) . By contrast, soft power is the ability to persuade others to do what a country wants without relying on force or coercion. Soft power is based on attraction, created by a country’s policies and political ideas. Cultural policy as a tool of soft power is becoming more relevant in a geopolitical sense. Language programs, student exchanges, book tours, exhibitions, and media are examples of the ways in which countries use external cultural policy to wield soft power abroad. With the partial retreat of the United States from cultural diplomacy, countries as different as France, China, Russia, Qatar, and Turkey have taken increasingly prominent positions in this field. With substantial investments, they combine cultural and economic—and increasingly also security-related—objectives. Again, this avenue of study is a wide-open field for research.

Author Biography

Helmut K Anheier (PhD Yale) is editor-in-chief of Global Perspectives , professor of sociology at the Hertie School, member of the faculty of the Luskin School of Public Affairs, and visiting professor at LSE Ideas. He has published widely in the social sciences with an emphasis in civil society, organization, and governance, and received several national and international awards for his academic achievements. Previously, he was president of the Hertie School, and professor at the Max-Weber-Institute of Sociology at Heidelberg University, where he directed the Center for Social Investment and Innovation. Before embarking on an academic career, he served the United Nations as a social affairs officer.

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Essays About Values: 5 Essay Examples Plus 10 Prompts

Similar to how our values guide us, let this guide with essays about values and writing prompts help you write your essay.

Values are the core principles that guide the actions we take and the choices we make. They are the cornerstones of our identity. On a community or organizational level, values are the moral code that every member must embrace to live harmoniously and work together towards shared goals. 

We acquire our values from different sources such as parents, mentors, friends, cultures, and experiences. All of these build on one another — some rejected as we see fit — for us to form our perception of our values and what will lead us to a happy and fulfilled life.

5 Essay Examples

1. what today’s classrooms can learn from ancient cultures by linda flanagan, 2. stand out to your hiring panel with a personal value statement by maggie wooll, 3. make your values mean something by patrick m. lencioni, 4. how greed outstripped need by beth azar, 5. a shift in american family values is fueling estrangement by joshua coleman, 1. my core values, 2. how my upbringing shaped my values, 3. values of today’s youth, 4. values of a good friend, 5. an experience that shaped your values, 6. remembering our values when innovating, 7. important values of school culture, 8. books that influenced your values, 9. religious faith and moral values, 10. schwartz’s theory of basic values.

“Connectedness is another core value among Maya families, and teachers seek to cultivate it… While many American teachers also value relationships with their students, that effort is undermined by the competitive environment seen in many Western classrooms.”

Ancient communities keep their traditions and values of a hands-off approach to raising their kids. They also preserve their hunter-gatherer mindsets and others that help their kids gain patience, initiative, a sense of connectedness, and other qualities that make a helpful child.

“How do you align with the company’s mission and add to its culture? Because it contains such vital information, your personal value statement should stand out on your resume or in your application package.”

Want to rise above other candidates in the jobs market? Then always highlight your value statement. A personal value statement should be short but still, capture the aspirations and values of the company. The essay provides an example of a captivating value statement and tips for crafting one.

“Values can set a company apart from the competition by clarifying its identity and serving as a rallying point for employees. But coming up with strong values—and sticking to them—requires real guts.”

Along with the mission and vision, clear values should dictate a company’s strategic goals. However, several CEOs still needed help to grasp organizational values fully. The essay offers a direction in setting these values and impresses on readers the necessity to preserve them at all costs. 

“‘He compared the values held by people in countries with more competitive forms of capitalism with the values of folks in countries that have a more cooperative style of capitalism… These countries rely more on strategic cooperation… rather than relying mostly on free-market competition as the United States does.”

The form of capitalism we have created today has shaped our high value for material happiness. In this process, psychologists said we have allowed our moral and ethical values to drift away from us for greed to take over. You can also check out these essays about utopia .

“From the adult child’s perspective, there might be much to gain from an estrangement: the liberation from those perceived as hurtful or oppressive, the claiming of authority in a relationship, and the sense of control over which people to keep in one’s life. For the mother or father, there is little benefit when their child cuts off contact.”

It is most challenging when the bonds between parent and child weaken in later years. Psychologists have been navigating this problem among modern families, which is not an easy conflict to resolve. It requires both parties to give their best in humbling themselves and understanding their loved ones, no matter how divergent their values are. 

10 Writing  Prompts On Essays About Values

For this topic prompt, contemplate your non-negotiable core values and why you strive to observe them at all costs. For example, you might value honesty and integrity above all else. Expound on why cultivating fundamental values leads to a happy and meaningful life. Finally, ponder other values you would like to gain for your future self. Write down how you have been practicing to adopt these aspired values. 

Many of our values may have been instilled in us during childhood. This essay discusses the essential values you gained from your parents or teachers while growing up. Expound on their importance in helping you flourish in your adult years. Then, offer recommendations on what households, schools, or communities can do to ensure that more young people adopt these values.

Is today’s youth lacking essential values, or is there simply a shift in what values generations uphold? Strive to answer this and write down the healthy values that are emerging and dying. Then think of ways society can preserve healthy values while doing away with bad ones. Of course, this change will always start at home, so also encourage parents, as role models, to be mindful of their words, actions and behavior.  

The greatest gift in life is friendship. In this essay, enumerate the top values a friend should have. You may use your best friend as an example. Then, cite the best traits your best friend has that have influenced you to be a better version of yourself. Finally, expound on how these values can effectively sustain a healthy friendship in the long term. 

We all have that one defining experience that has forever changed how we see life and the values we hold dear. Describe yours through storytelling with the help of our storytelling guide . This experience may involve a decision, a conversation you had with someone, or a speech you heard at an event.  

With today’s innovation, scientists can make positive changes happen. But can we truly exercise our values when we fiddle with new technologies whose full extent of positive and adverse effects we do not yet understand such as AI? Contemplate this question and look into existing regulations on how we curb the creation or use of technologies that go against our values. Finally, assess these rules’ effectiveness and other options society has. 

Highlight a school’s role in honing a person’s values. Then, look into the different aspects of your school’s culture. Identify which best practices distinct in your school are helping students develop their values. You could consider whether your teachers exhibit themselves as admirable role models or specific parts of the curriculum that help you build good character. 

In this essay, recommend your readers to pick up your favorite books, particularly those that served as pathways to enlightening insights and values. To start, provide a summary of the book’s story. It would be better if you could do so without revealing too much to avoid spoiling your readers’ experience. Then, elaborate on how you have applied the values you learned from the book.

For many, religious faith is the underlying reason for their values. For this prompt, explore further the inextricable links between religion and values. If you identify with a certain religion, share your thoughts on the values your sector subscribes to. You can also tread the more controversial path on the conflicts of religious values with socially accepted beliefs or practices, such as abortion. 

Dive deeper into the ten universal values that social psychologist Shalom Schwartz came up with: power, achievement, hedonism, stimulation, self-direction, universalism, benevolence, tradition, conformity, and security. Look into their connections and conflicts against each other. Then, pick your favorite value and explain how you relate to it the most. Also, find if value conflicts within you, as theorized by Schwartz.

Make sure to check out our round-up of the best essay checkers . If you want to use the latest grammar software, read our guide on using an AI grammar checker .

Yna Lim is a communications specialist currently focused on policy advocacy. In her eight years of writing, she has been exposed to a variety of topics, including cryptocurrency, web hosting, agriculture, marketing, intellectual property, data privacy and international trade. A former journalist in one of the top business papers in the Philippines, Yna is currently pursuing her master's degree in economics and business.

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Cultural Values Essay: Types, Topics and Hints

To start with, the topic “Cultural values” is quite a wide field to work on so you should focus on a smaller, more narrow or specific facet of it. Also, the required type of essay matters (you can get this information from your assignment instructions) as the strategy of writing differs depending on whether you have to complete a comparative, argumentative or expository paper.

Here are the hints for students to complete a successful paper about cultural values.

Definition Essay About Cultural Values

Definition essay is a type of writing which requires the writer to develop and explain his or her personal characterization of a notion. Also, the classifications and the view of various scholars can be included.

Possible explanation of the term of “cultural values”, which you can develop in your paper:

• Cultural values as moral norms to pursue;
• Some communities’ specific expression;
• Sociological concept that means set rules and norms developed in a particular place, time and community;
• Ethical view on cultural values;
• Cultural values as an anthropological concept.

Helpful tip: if you are having hard times defining abstract terms, such as “cultural value”, you should think about the example representing these notions. It will help you to find support for the arguments and get reader’s interest, as well.

Comparative Essay on Cultural Values

Comparative essay is a piece of writing providing the analysis of two notions, subjects, or events accenting on their similar and distinctive features. The important requirement for selecting objects to compare – they must fall under one category, which will provide a reasonable contrast and comparison.

When completing a paper about cultural essay there are two certain ways to construct a meaningful comparison: you can write about the cultural values of different historical periods and of different places (countries, cities and even regions). You will be able to find a lot of material when contrasting American and European cultural values. Here are some ideas for your work:

European Cultural Values

• Traditionalism;
• Social values;
• Aestheticism;

American Cultural Values

• Property and finances;
• Equality and safety;
• Unlimited opportunities;
• “American dream”;
• Equal rights;
• Struggling for results.

Argumentative Essay About Cultural Values

Argumentative writing will require you to state your position regarding a certain issue and find at least 3 arguments to prove it. You must use evidence (facts and examples) in order to defend your claims .

Ideas for an argumentative paper:

• Manifesting cultural values in products;
• Dependence of cultural values on social standards;
• How cultural values are represented in closer observation;
• Cultural values and legal systems: does a set of cultural norms influence the law?
• German cultural values through advertising of automobiles;
• Freedom and individuality as basic cultural values of America;
• Impact of religion on cultural values in Latin American countries;
• Are cultural values stereotyped?
• Trends that were influenced by American cultural values;
• Eastern cultural influence in Europe nowadays;
• Cultural values and people behavioral strategies;
• How product design is controlled by cultural patterns.

The Importance of Cultural Values

The main idea of cultural values is about what is right and what is wrong for a certain part of people on our globe, that have been passing down for generations to their sons and daughters. These people belong to one or similar cultures and surely should have similar values in life, like goals they see as important and that deserve their attention. Foe them, cultural values are the principles and core ideals on which the whole community exists.

Do they differ? Yes, of course. Sometimes the discretion is even so big that the whole communities do not understand each other’s way of life and traditions. However, as we are growing in a modern and tolerant world, we should have learnt to take into consideration people from other cultural background as well as they should.

Cultural differences do not always depend on religious specialties; however, they can often be a reason to having some cultural conflicts between people of different beliefs. No doubts, they have been created long time before people realized they have sneaked into their life and have been grounded in everyday routine to rule their making decision process.

Think of what is important in the country or even a region where you have been grown up; depict some interesting customs and traditions of your family and try to explain how did they evoke and interfere into your life, how do they influence your everyday routine and your family’s way of life and get to know much more about your own cultural heritage.

The Pro and Contra on the Globalization Process

One thing is to learn yourself and young children to be tolerant to other cultures and their values and another one is to observe a massive wave of culture unification that we can feel nowadays. Some people claim it will put under the danger a cultural identity of many communities, others congratulate this process as it may raze to the ground the issues of nationalism and racism.

So, what is better, living in peace in a monocultural society where Asian and South American cultures are completely the same or having a diversity of cultural values but constantly fighting discrimination problems? Let us take a look at this point.

Globalization Merits

• International team effectivity. Studies have shown that companies with international co-workers tend to unify themselves, in other words to be alike. This is an advantage of globalization – they find it in a quicker way to communicate without being misunderstood and due to their similarities, they can work together without any prejudices;
• No conflicts and strikes caused by cultural differences. No more offends and insults that some community has more privileges than others in one separate country as all live under one completion of cultural values;
• No more racism, discrimination or cultural stereotypes. We become more tolerant and open to others and do not consider them of a lower class than us based on their cultural background.

Globalization Deficiencies

• The above mentioned international teams will definitely experience a lack of new inspirations when having to deal with a new task. No doubts, we all are individuals and have lots of new ideas but with a different cultural background we can have different points of view on the issue and thus become more creative when it comes to getting out of some frames;
• People often face social injustice as well as prejudices based on cultural and national differences which causes job unemployment;
• The eternal and colorful history of the previous generation, of our ancestors will fade and disappear due to a new trend of being equal in all aspects of life.

So, these are a few tips and hints on a successful writing of your essay on cultural issues, put your thumbs up if they were helpful and stay with us to read more information on our blog!

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• How to Write a Diversity Essay | Tips & Examples

How to Write a Diversity Essay | Tips & Examples

Published on November 1, 2021 by Kirsten Courault . Revised on May 31, 2023.

Table of contents

What is a diversity essay, identify how you will enrich the campus community, share stories about your lived experience, explain how your background or identity has affected your life, other interesting articles, frequently asked questions about college application essays.

Diversity essays ask students to highlight an important aspect of their identity, background, culture, experience, viewpoints, beliefs, skills, passions, goals, etc.

Diversity essays can come in many forms. Some scholarships are offered specifically for students who come from an underrepresented background or identity in higher education. At highly competitive schools, supplemental diversity essays require students to address how they will enhance the student body with a unique perspective, identity, or background.

In the Common Application and applications for several other colleges, some main essay prompts ask about how your background, identity, or experience has affected you.

Why schools want a diversity essay

Many universities believe a student body representing different perspectives, beliefs, identities, and backgrounds will enhance the campus learning and community experience.

Admissions officers are interested in hearing about how your unique background, identity, beliefs, culture, or characteristics will enrich the campus community.

Through the diversity essay, admissions officers want students to articulate the following:

• What makes them different from other applicants
• Stories related to their background, identity, or experience
• How their unique lived experience has affected their outlook, activities, and goals

Prevent plagiarism. Run a free check.

Think about what aspects of your identity or background make you unique, and choose one that has significantly impacted your life.

For some students, it may be easy to identify what sets them apart from their peers. But if you’re having trouble identifying what makes you different from other applicants, consider your life from an outsider’s perspective. Don’t presume your lived experiences are normal or boring just because you’re used to them.

Some examples of identities or experiences that you might write about include the following:

• Race/ethnicity
• Gender identity
• Sexual orientation
• Nationality
• Socioeconomic status
• Immigration background
• Religion/belief system
• Place of residence
• Family circumstances
• Extracurricular activities related to diversity

Include vulnerable, authentic stories about your lived experiences. Maintain focus on your experience rather than going into too much detail comparing yourself to others or describing their experiences.

Keep the focus on you

Tell a story about how your background, identity, or experience has impacted you. While you can briefly mention another person’s experience to provide context, be sure to keep the essay focused on you. Admissions officers are mostly interested in learning about your lived experience, not anyone else’s.

When I was a baby, my grandmother took me in, even though that meant postponing her retirement and continuing to work full-time at the local hairdresser. Even working every shift she could, she never missed a single school play or soccer game.

She and I had a really special bond, even creating our own special language to leave each other secret notes and messages. She always pushed me to succeed in school, and celebrated every academic achievement like it was worthy of a Nobel Prize. Every month, any leftover tip money she received at work went to a special 509 savings plan for my college education.

When I was in the 10th grade, my grandmother was diagnosed with ALS. We didn’t have health insurance, and what began with quitting soccer eventually led to dropping out of school as her condition worsened. In between her doctor’s appointments, keeping the house tidy, and keeping her comfortable, I took advantage of those few free moments to study for the GED.

In school pictures at Raleigh Elementary School, you could immediately spot me as “that Asian girl.” At lunch, I used to bring leftover fun see noodles, but after my classmates remarked how they smelled disgusting, I begged my mom to make a “regular” lunch of sliced bread, mayonnaise, and deli meat.

Although born and raised in North Carolina, I felt a cultural obligation to learn my “mother tongue” and reconnect with my “homeland.” After two years of all-day Saturday Chinese school, I finally visited Beijing for the first time, expecting I would finally belong. While my face initially assured locals of my Chinese identity, the moment I spoke, my cover was blown. My Chinese was littered with tonal errors, and I was instantly labeled as an “ABC,” American-born Chinese.

I felt culturally homeless.

Speak from your own experience

Highlight your actions, difficulties, and feelings rather than comparing yourself to others. While it may be tempting to write about how you have been more or less fortunate than those around you, keep the focus on you and your unique experiences, as shown below.

I began to despair when the FAFSA website once again filled with red error messages.

I had been at the local library for hours and hadn’t even been able to finish the form, much less the other to-do items for my application.

I am the first person in my family to even consider going to college. My parents work two jobs each, but even then, it’s sometimes very hard to make ends meet. Rather than playing soccer or competing in speech and debate, I help my family by taking care of my younger siblings after school and on the weekends.

“We only speak one language here. Speak proper English!” roared a store owner when I had attempted to buy bread and accidentally used the wrong preposition.

In middle school, I had relentlessly studied English grammar textbooks and received the highest marks.

Leaving Seoul was hard, but living in West Orange, New Jersey was much harder一especially navigating everyday communication with Americans.

After sharing relevant personal stories, make sure to provide insight into how your lived experience has influenced your perspective, activities, and goals. You should also explain how your background led you to apply to this university and why you’re a good fit.

Include your outlook, actions, and goals

Conclude your essay with an insight about how your background or identity has affected your outlook, actions, and goals. You should include specific actions and activities that you have done as a result of your insight.

One night, before the midnight premiere of Avengers: Endgame , I stopped by my best friend Maria’s house. Her mother prepared tamales, churros, and Mexican hot chocolate, packing them all neatly in an Igloo lunch box. As we sat in the line snaking around the AMC theater, I thought back to when Maria and I took salsa classes together and when we belted out Selena’s “Bidi Bidi Bom Bom” at karaoke. In that moment, as I munched on a chicken tamale, I realized how much I admired the beauty, complexity, and joy in Maria’s culture but had suppressed and devalued my own.

The following semester, I joined Model UN. Since then, I have learned how to proudly represent other countries and have gained cultural perspectives other than my own. I now understand that all cultures, including my own, are equal. I still struggle with small triggers, like when I go through airport security and feel a suspicious glance toward me, or when I feel self-conscious for bringing kabsa to school lunch. But in the future, I hope to study and work in international relations to continue learning about other cultures and impart a positive impression of Saudi culture to the world.

The smell of the early morning dew and the welcoming whinnies of my family’s horses are some of my most treasured childhood memories. To this day, our farm remains so rural that we do not have broadband access, and we’re too far away from the closest town for the postal service to reach us.

Going to school regularly was always a struggle: between the unceasing demands of the farm and our lack of connectivity, it was hard to keep up with my studies. Despite being a voracious reader, avid amateur chemist, and active participant in the classroom, emergencies and unforeseen events at the farm meant that I had a lot of unexcused absences.

Although it had challenges, my upbringing taught me resilience, the value of hard work, and the importance of family. Staying up all night to watch a foal being born, successfully saving the animals from a minor fire, and finding ways to soothe a nervous mare afraid of thunder have led to an unbreakable family bond.

Our farm is my family’s birthright and our livelihood, and I am eager to learn how to ensure the farm’s financial and technological success for future generations. In college, I am looking forward to joining a chapter of Future Farmers of America and studying agricultural business to carry my family’s legacy forward.

Tailor your answer to the university

After explaining how your identity or background will enrich the university’s existing student body, you can mention the university organizations, groups, or courses in which you’re interested.

Maybe a larger public school setting will allow you to broaden your community, or a small liberal arts college has a specialized program that will give you space to discover your voice and identity. Perhaps this particular university has an active affinity group you’d like to join.

Demonstrating how a university’s specific programs or clubs are relevant to you can show that you’ve done your research and would be a great addition to the university.

At the University of Michigan Engineering, I want to study engineering not only to emulate my mother’s achievements and strength, but also to forge my own path as an engineer with disabilities. I appreciate the University of Michigan’s long-standing dedication to supporting students with disabilities in ways ranging from accessible housing to assistive technology. At the University of Michigan Engineering, I want to receive a top-notch education and use it to inspire others to strive for their best, regardless of their circumstances.

If you want to know more about academic writing , effective communication , or parts of speech , make sure to check out some of our other articles with explanations and examples.

Academic writing

• Writing process
• Transition words
• Passive voice
• Paraphrasing

 Communication

• How to end an email
• Ms, mrs, miss
• How to start an email
• I hope this email finds you well
• Hope you are doing well

 Parts of speech

• Personal pronouns
• Conjunctions

In addition to your main college essay , some schools and scholarships may ask for a supplementary essay focused on an aspect of your identity or background. This is sometimes called a diversity essay .

Many universities believe a student body composed of different perspectives, beliefs, identities, and backgrounds will enhance the campus learning and community experience.

Admissions officers are interested in hearing about how your unique background, identity, beliefs, culture, or characteristics will enrich the campus community, which is why they assign a diversity essay .

To write an effective diversity essay , include vulnerable, authentic stories about your unique identity, background, or perspective. Provide insight into how your lived experience has influenced your outlook, activities, and goals. If relevant, you should also mention how your background has led you to apply for this university and why you’re a good fit.

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Cultural Identity Essay

27 August, 2020

12 minutes read

Author:  Elizabeth Brown

No matter where you study, composing essays of any type and complexity is a critical component in any studying program. Most likely, you have already been assigned the task to write a cultural identity essay, which is an essay that has to do a lot with your personality and cultural background. In essence, writing a cultural identity essay is fundamental for providing the reader with an understanding of who you are and which outlook you have. This may include the topics of religion, traditions, ethnicity, race, and so on. So, what shall you do to compose a winning cultural identity essay?

Cultural Identity Paper: Definitions, Goals & Topics 

Before starting off with a cultural identity essay, it is fundamental to uncover what is particular about this type of paper. First and foremost, it will be rather logical to begin with giving a general and straightforward definition of a cultural identity essay. In essence, cultural identity essay implies outlining the role of the culture in defining your outlook, shaping your personality, points of view regarding a multitude of matters, and forming your qualities and beliefs. Given a simpler definition, a cultural identity essay requires you to write about how culture has influenced your personality and yourself in general. So in this kind of essay you as a narrator need to give an understanding of who you are, which strengths you have, and what your solid life position is.

Yet, the goal of a cultural identity essay is not strictly limited to describing who you are and merely outlining your biography. Instead, this type of essay pursues specific objectives, achieving which is a perfect indicator of how high-quality your essay is. Initially, the primary goal implies outlining your cultural focus and why it makes you peculiar. For instance, if you are a french adolescent living in Canada, you may describe what is so special about it: traditions of the community, beliefs, opinions, approaches. Basically, you may talk about the principles of the society as well as its beliefs that made you become the person you are today.

So far, cultural identity is a rather broad topic, so you will likely have a multitude of fascinating ideas for your paper. For instance, some of the most attention-grabbing topics for a personal cultural identity essay are:

• Memorable traditions of your community
• A cultural event that has influenced your personality 
• Influential people in your community
• Locations and places that tell a lot about your culture and identity

Cultural Identity Essay Structure

As you might have already guessed, composing an essay on cultural identity might turn out to be fascinating but somewhat challenging. Even though the spectrum of topics is rather broad, the question of how to create the most appropriate and appealing structure remains open.

Like any other kind of an academic essay, a cultural identity essay must compose of three parts: introduction, body, and concluding remarks. Let’s take a more detailed look at each of the components:

Introduction 

Starting to write an essay is most likely one of the most time-consuming and mind-challenging procedures. Therefore, you can postpone writing your introduction and approach it right after you finish body paragraphs. Nevertheless, you should think of a suitable topic as well as come up with an explicit thesis. At the beginning of the introduction section, give some hints regarding the matter you are going to discuss. You have to mention your thesis statement after you have briefly guided the reader through the topic. You can also think of indicating some vital information about yourself, which is, of course, relevant to the topic you selected.

Your main body should reveal your ideas and arguments. Most likely, it will consist of 3-5 paragraphs that are more or less equal in size. What you have to keep in mind to compose a sound ‘my cultural identity essay’ is the argumentation. In particular, always remember to reveal an argument and back it up with evidence in each body paragraph. And, of course, try to stick to the topic and make sure that you answer the overall question that you stated in your topic. Besides, always keep your thesis statement in mind: make sure that none of its components is left without your attention and argumentation.

Conclusion 

Finally, after you are all finished with body paragraphs and introduction, briefly summarize all the points in your final remarks section. Paraphrase what you have already revealed in the main body, and make sure you logically lead the reader to the overall argument. Indicate your cultural identity once again and draw a bottom line regarding how your culture has influenced your personality.

Best Tips For Writing Cultural Identity Essay

Writing a ‘cultural identity essay about myself’ might be somewhat challenging at first. However, you will no longer struggle if you take a couple of plain tips into consideration. Following the tips below will give you some sound and reasonable cultural identity essay ideas as well as make the writing process much more pleasant:

• Start off by creating an outline. The reason why most students struggle with creating a cultural identity essay lies behind a weak structure. The best way to organize your ideas and let them flow logically is to come up with a helpful outline. Having a reference to build on is incredibly useful, and it allows your essay to look polished.
• Remember to write about yourself. The task of a cultural identity essay implies not focusing on your culture per se, but to talk about how it shaped your personality. So, switch your focus to describing who you are and what your attitudes and positions are. 
• Think of the most fundamental cultural aspects. Needless to say, you first need to come up with a couple of ideas to be based upon in your paper. So, brainstorm all the possible ideas and try to decide which of them deserve the most attention. In essence, try to determine which of the aspects affected your personality the most.
• Edit and proofread before submitting your paper. Of course, the content and the coherence of your essay’s structure play a crucial role. But the grammatical correctness matters a lot too. Even if you are a native speaker, you may still make accidental errors in the text. To avoid the situation when unintentional mistakes spoil the impression from your essay, always double check your cultural identity essay. 

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Values are principles that people hold important to them in life. As I gotten older my values have changed based on my experience, knowledge, and goals. Since I am in college and the field of social work forced me to open my eyes to different things and ideas I would 've never thought of. Five values that are important to me while I am on this journey of becoming a social worker is my education, positive energy, not judging people based on their past, a reflect and meditate on my life, and be a generous to other.

My Life Career: My Career As A Doctor

One of my future goals and the most important one is to become a doctor. It is my life dream, and the only thing I am seeking for. Doctor is someone capable to save and help others life in ways that are not possible in other careers. Being a doctor for me is not just like any job, it is achieving a dream I have since I was 6 years old. One of the main reasons I picked this major is my family; my family members are almost all doctors, and my dad too.

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Values and Differences Between My Cultures

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Cultural Value And Cultural Values Essay

Executive Summary Each person is different from one another and so as his culture. Culture differs for each region in a country and each country in a continent. To understand each other, each one should understand his own culture first then accept the reality that another person’s culture might slightly or be extremely different from his own. Cultures are very unique and require a lot of understanding and comprehension. To do this, different cultural value dimensions should be studied and applied to a culture. Applying this to the business environment will be more complicated especially in a multinational company. To be a successful leader or manager in a company, one must fully understand each member of his team as well know his team’s cultural background. Cultural value continuums would be helpful in considering which management style might work best for a team. After which, changes of collaboration and cooperation among members of the team should cross cultural boundaries and should make the team work together harmoniously. Table of Contents 1. Introduction ................................................................................................. 1 2. Cultural Value Dimensions 2.1.1. Power Distance ........................................................................... 1 2.1.2. Uncertainty Avoidance ............................................................... 3 2.1.3. Individualism – Collectivism

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AMERICAN VALUES Essay

R.E.M. ....Religious, educational and moral values. These are the three values that affect society today the most, I think. Society may look down on people if they do not live by what society thinks is correct. For example if a persons values are corrupt then society will look down on that person, but if a person has real high morals then society will think that they are fake of just a “goodie”. In society today you will be looked down anyway your moral beliefs are.

In growing up in the position of the ‘other’ in society, Smith provides an empowered stance of identity exclusively through the demonstration of cultural hybridity, as evidenced by Millat and his gangster crew, the Raggastani’s. As Millat becomes increasingly connected to a swaggering identity highlighted by Western popular culture, his sense of belonging becomes established with the multicultural mix of South Asian and Caribbean teens he hangs out with: “It was a new breed, just recently joining the ranks of the other street crews. Becks, B-boys, Nation Brothers, Raggas, and Pakis; manifesting itself as a kind of cultural mongrel of the last three categories. Their ethos, their manifesto, if it could be called that, was equally a hybrid thing” (193). Here, Smith uses the Raggastani’s as a symbol representing the emerging identity of a multicultural London transformed by the migration of formerly colonized populations from South Asia and the Caribbean. Their mission, to put the “invincible back in Indian, the Bad-aaaass back in Bengali, the P-Funk back in Pakistani” (193), is about taking their identities which have been devalued in Western society and linking them together through a collective sense of approval. As a productive example of cultural hybridity taking place, they are a direct contrast with the forms of difference and racial purity that the Chalfen`s represent, and the resistance of letting go of traditions that their parents uphold. The group tries on a series

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Essay on Values of Indian Culture

Students are often asked to write an essay on Values of Indian Culture in their schools and colleges. And if you’re also looking for the same, we have created 100-word, 250-word, and 500-word essays on the topic.

Let’s take a look…

100 Words Essay on Values of Indian Culture

Introduction.

Indian culture, rich and diverse, is renowned worldwide. It is a unique blend of various customs, traditions, and rituals which have been passed down from generation to generation.

Respect for All

A key value of Indian culture is respect for all. This includes not only elders and teachers, but also all forms of life. It is ingrained from an early age.

Unity in Diversity

Despite numerous languages, religions, and cuisines, Indians are united by a common thread of cultural values. This unity in diversity is a remarkable feature of Indian culture.

Indian culture, with its values, forms the backbone of the Indian society, promoting harmony and peace.

250 Words Essay on Values of Indian Culture

The essence of indian culture.

Indian culture, one of the oldest and richest in the world, is a testament to the country’s historical evolution and philosophical ethos. It is a vibrant amalgamation of various customs, traditions, and values that have been passed down through generations.

Perhaps the most striking feature of Indian culture is its diversity. The country’s vast geographical expanse and historical influences have given rise to a multitude of languages, religions, and cuisines. Yet, amidst this diversity, there exists an underlying unity, as the values of tolerance, respect, and harmony are deeply ingrained in the Indian psyche.

The Spirit of Non-violence

Non-violence, a value propagated by Mahatma Gandhi, is deeply rooted in Indian culture. It is not just about abstaining from physical violence, but also encompasses mental and emotional non-violence. This principle is reflected in the Indian way of life, where respect for all living beings is emphasized.

Holistic Living

Indian culture promotes a holistic approach to life, integrating physical, mental, and spiritual well-being. Practices like Yoga and Ayurveda, which originated in India, embody this philosophy. They advocate for a balanced lifestyle, focusing on the symbiosis of mind, body, and spirit.

Respect for Nature

Indian culture reveres nature and considers it sacred. This value is evident in the traditional practices and folklore, which often revolve around nature and its elements. The belief in sustainable living and coexistence is a crucial aspect of Indian culture.

In conclusion, the values of Indian culture are not just philosophical concepts but practical guidelines for leading a harmonious life. They are the pillars that have sustained the culture’s vitality through millennia, making it a beacon of wisdom and resilience.

500 Words Essay on Values of Indian Culture

Indian culture, often referred to as the cradle of human civilization, is one of the oldest and richest cultures in the world. It is a unique amalgamation of diverse customs, traditions, and rituals, all of which have been passed down from generation to generation. The values of Indian culture are deeply rooted in its philosophy and spirituality, which have guided the moral, ethical, and social conduct of its people for centuries.

Harmony in Diversity

One of the most significant values of Indian culture is its acceptance and celebration of diversity. India is a land of multiple religions, languages, cuisines, and art forms. Yet, it has always fostered a sense of unity in diversity, promoting mutual respect and tolerance. This value of coexistence has not only enabled India to maintain its cultural diversity but also helped in fostering a harmonious society.

Respect for Nature and All Life Forms

Indian culture places great emphasis on the respect for nature and all life forms. This is reflected in the concept of ‘Ahimsa’ or non-violence, which extends beyond humans to animals and the environment. The reverence for rivers, mountains, plants, and animals as sacred entities is a testament to this value. The tradition of Yoga and Ayurveda, which promote holistic well-being, also exemplify this deep-rooted respect for nature.

Emphasis on Family and Community

Indian culture highly values the family and community system. The concept of ‘Vasudhaiva Kutumbakam’, which translates to ‘the world is one family’, underlines the importance given to relationships and social responsibilities. The joint family system, where multiple generations live together, fosters a sense of unity, cooperation, and mutual respect among family members.

Spirituality and Philosophical Depth

Indian culture is known for its spiritual depth and philosophical insights. The teachings of Vedanta, Upanishads, and Bhagavad Gita have provided profound wisdom about life, death, karma, and dharma. The value of seeking inner peace and liberation (Moksha) from the cycle of birth and death is a central theme in Indian philosophy.

Artistic and Intellectual Contributions

Indian culture has made significant artistic and intellectual contributions. The classical dance forms, music, literature, and architectural marvels like the Taj Mahal are a reflection of India’s rich cultural heritage. The ancient universities of Nalanda and Takshashila, the mathematical concept of zero, and the medical science of Ayurveda showcase the intellectual prowess of ancient India.

The values of Indian culture have withstood the test of time and continue to guide the lives of millions. They not only reflect the country’s rich cultural heritage but also offer a unique perspective on life. The values of harmony, respect for nature, emphasis on family and community, spiritual depth, and intellectual contributions are the pillars of Indian culture. As we move forward, it is crucial to preserve and uphold these values, for they form the essence of India’s cultural identity.

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Cultural and Social Values in Business Essay

Multiple studies have proved the importance of culture and social values within an organization. Among the main advantages of these aspects is success in achieving the set goals, a healthy working atmosphere, competitiveness, and friendly relations in the team. Thus, leaders and managers working in companies must constantly improve their knowledge and train staff to maintain positive dynamics within the organization. Structural and human resource frames can help in gaining awareness about culture and social norms. The first focuses on aspects that shape the company’s activities, such as goals, roles, and relationships, while the second focuses on personnel. These concepts provide a unique perspective on the problems inside and outside the company, which will positively affect its productivity and efficiency. In addition, culture and social values will help to manage personnel relations and ones with partners and other organizations. Considering the above factors, it is essential for leaders and managers of companies to create a healthy and thoughtful culture and social values.

In any modern organization, culture and values form the core of its activities. These aspects become the main drivers, the establishment of which helps to achieve the best results. Moreover, the benefits of gaining an understanding of the importance of the company’s culture and values help to improve the workplace environment and the relationships between employees and between staff and managers. Thus, this work sets itself the task of considering the importance of organizational culture and social value orientations within the organization and how the structural frame and the frame of human resources can help in the study of these aspects.

Therefore, first of all, it is necessary to consider the concept of frames, which can assist in the process of gaining awareness about culture and values. Structural and human resource frames help leaders understand how a company functions from the inside and how a particular behavior is formed. In addition, it shows under the influence of which factors the acceptability of the previously mentioned aspects is best (Bolman & Deal, 2017). Thus, the analysis and interpretation of the information obtained during the examination are valuable as they can assist in the creation of the most productive and effective strategies and policies to strengthen social and cultural values. Another advantage of frames is that they make it possible to look at the problem from different points of view. The joint interpretation of these opinions will help to gain a better understanding of the direction in which the organization should develop in order to increase its effectiveness.

Furthermore, leaders of organizations need to gain an accurate understanding of the concepts of structural and human resource frames. Thus, the first one is an emphasis on the architecture of the organization. In other words, this frame takes into account the main aspects of which the company is built, that is, goals, roles, and relationships. Leaders, who function within this aspect, set themselves the task of correctly defining the goals of the organization. These include working and social aims that company sets for itself. Moreover, they are engaged in ensuring healthy and comfortable relationships between employees and make sure that all roles are performed correctly and consistently. Further, it can be said that the structural framework is focused on task-oriented activities. In addition, Anderson (2018) pointed out “without a well-designed change process plan, a likely outcome will be a false start, resistance, and/or eventual failure” (p. 2). Previous case study has shown that the support of senior leaders and proper planning plays a great role in leadership.

The second but no less critical framework becomes human resource one. It follows from the name of this concept that it draws attention to such an essential component of the organization as its employees. They directly affect how quickly and efficiently the company achieves its goals and objectives, the preservation of a competitive place, and the state of the internal climate. Taking into account this frame has a unique role since culture and social values are in close relationship with it. In addition, it is worth emphasizing that the human resource frame and the leaders who work within it pay attention to the needs of the staff, the feelings and professional skills, and the abilities of the staff (Bolman & Deal, 2017). Hence, they should develop strategies that would help develop the organization’s employees in terms of work and as individuals to ensure the strengthening of culture and social values. Thus, it is worth emphasizing that the structural and human resource frame help to gain a better understanding of what an organization should do to achieve the most productive results of its activities.

Further, this research work can proceed to the consideration the importance of establishing a culture and social values within the organization. First of all, culture occupies one of the top places in the company, especially with the development and widespread introduction of the concepts of diversity and inclusion. Leaders should be able to properly organize the work process, in which each employee has his own culture, worldview, traditions, and faith. For example, according to Uzialko (2018), “In Italy, business is often personal, and relationship-driven, so expect to spend a significant amount of time getting to know your Italian business partners and developing a relationship with them” (p. 5). Therefore, cultural values influence success inside the organization and outside when interacting with stakeholders and partners.

Culture forms concepts and awareness about how employees and managers should behave in order to achieve the desired outcomes. This implies the construction of values and postulates that must be conveyed to every person and constantly followed. This is the primary task of leaders who are responsible for spreading awareness and spreading various kinds of training and encouragement related to compliance with the rules set. Henceforth, the culture within the company is the basis for the formation of all other concepts, including social values.

Social values are closely related to the human resource frame since both of these phenomena are engaged in the study and reinforcement of the human component. Moreover, this aspect takes into account the opinion of the public and forms a set of core beliefs that must be observed by all company personnel. Thus, social values help to shape the company’s image and gain competitiveness in the market. This is due to the fact that they determine how the company makes decisions to limit various kinds of internal and external problems.

In conclusion, culture and social values represent one of the foundations that should be in any successful company. They help to set priorities correctly, ensure compliance with the principles of diversity and inclusion and contribute to the achievement of any goals and objectives. Structural and human resource frames can help leaders achieve understanding and spread awareness about these aspects. Despite the fact that they look at the problem from their own prism, finding this point of view helps in considering the problem from different sides. Therefore, the central inquiry questions that I am now left with as a result of the analysis is how over frames influence the understanding of culture and social values in the organization.

Anderson, L.A. (2018). 5 reasons why organizational change fails . Being First. Web.

Bolman, L. G., & Deal, T. E. (2017). Reframing organizations: Artistry, choice, and leadership (6th ed.). Wiley Professional Development.

Uzialko, A., C. (2018). 15 International business customs that could make or break a deal . Business News Daily. Web.

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Guest Essay

Trump’s Backers Are Determined Not to Blow It This Time Around

By Thomas B. Edsall

Mr. Edsall contributes a weekly column from Washington, D.C., on politics, demographics and inequality.

In a rare display of unity, more than 100 conservative tax-exempt organizations have joined forces in support of Donald Trump and the MAGA agenda, forming a $2 billion-plus political machine.

Together, these organizations are constructing a detailed postelection agenda, lining up prospective appointees and backing Trump in his legal battles.

Most of the work performed by these nonprofit groups is conducted behind closed doors. Unlike traditional political organizations, these groups do not disclose their donors and must reveal only minimal information on expenditures. In many cases, even this minimal information will not be available until after the 2024 election.

Nonprofits like these are able to maintain a cloak of secrecy by positioning themselves as charitable organizations under section 501(c)(3 ) of the tax code or as social welfare organizations under section 501(c)(4 ).

Not only are these tax-exempt organizations attractive to large contributors who want to keep their roles secret; 501(c)(3) groups have an added benefit: Donors can deduct their gifts from their taxable incomes.

The benefits don’t end there. The minimal reporting requirements imposed on political nonprofits lend themselves to self-dealing, particularly the payment of high salaries and consulting fees, and the award of contracts to for-profit companies owned by executives of the charitable groups.

“The growth of these groups is largely flying under the radar,” Sean Westwood , a political scientist at Dartmouth, wrote by email in response to my inquiry. “This level of coordination is unprecedented.”

Theda Skocpol , a professor of government and sociology at Harvard, replying by email to my inquiry, wrote, “These are detailed plans to take full control of various federal departments and agencies from the very start and to use every power available to implement radical ethnonationalist regulations and action plans.”

This activity, Skocpol continued, amounts to a “full prep for an authoritarian takeover, buttressed by the control Trump and Trumpists now have over the G.O.P. and its apparatuses.”

In this drive by the right to shape policy, should Trump win, there are basically three power centers.

The first is made up of groups pieced together by Leonard Leo , a co-chairman of the Federalist Society, renowned for his role in the conservative takeover of the Supreme Court and of many key posts in the federal and state judiciaries.

If cash is the measure, Leo is the heavyweight champion. Two years ago, my Times colleagues Kenneth P. Vogel and Shane Goldmacher disclosed that a little-known Chicago billionaire, Barre Seid , who made his fortune manufacturing electronic equipment, turned $1.6 billion over to the Marble Freedom Trust , a tax-exempt organization created by Leo in 2021, helping to turn it into a powerhouse.

The second nexus of right-wing tax-exempt groups is the alliance clustered on Capitol Hill around the intersection of Third Street Southeast and Independence Avenue — offices and townhouses that fashion themselves as Patriots’ Row .

Former Trump campaign aides, lawyers and executive appointees, including Mark Meadows , Stephen Miller , Edward Corrigan and Cleta Mitchell , run these organizations. After Trump was defeated in 2020, the cash flow to these groups surged.

The third center is coordinated by the Heritage Foundation , which, under the leadership of Kevin D. Roberts , who assumed its presidency in 2021, has become a committed ally of the MAGA movement.

Heritage, in turn, has created Project 2025 in preparation for a potential Trump victory in November. In a statement of purpose, the project declared:

It is not enough for conservatives to win elections. If we are going to rescue the country from the grip of the radical left, we need both a governing agenda and the right people in place, ready to carry this agenda out on Day 1 of the next conservative administration.

There are more than 100 members of Project 2025, and they include not only most of the Patriots’ Row groups but also much of the Christian right and the anti-abortion movement.

In the view of Lawrence Rosenthal , the chairman and founder of the Berkeley Center for Right-Wing Studies, the convergence of so many conservative organizations leading up to the 2024 election marks a reconciliation, albeit partial, between the two major wings of the Republican Party: the more traditional market fundamentalists and the populist nationalists.

“In 2024,” Rosenthal wrote by email,

the free-market fundamentalists are making their peace on a more basic level than simply tax cuts. Their historic long-term goal — rolling back the federal government to pre-New Deal levels — corresponds to the nationalists’ goal of “deconstruction of the administrative state.” This is what the likes of the now thoroughly MAGA-fied Heritage Foundation is putting together. Recasting the administrative state as the “deep state,” a veritable launchpad for conspiracy-mongering innuendo, easily brings the populists along for the ride despite a “What’s the Matter With Kansas”-like abandonment of their own economic interests on the part of a sector of the population particularly dependent on the range of targets like Social Security and Medicare that the administrative-state deconstructors have in their sights. In return the populists are seeing avatars of Christian nationalism in unprecedented roles of political power — to wit, the current speaker of the House.

The populist-nationalist wing has an agenda that “goes beyond what the free-market fundamentalists have had in mind,” Rosenthal continued:

The model here is by now explicitly Orbanism in Hungary — what Viktor Orban personally dubbed “illiberal democracy.” By now, MAGA at all levels — CPAC, media, Congress, Trump himself — has explicitly embraced Orban. Illiberal regimes claim legitimacy through elections but systematically curtail civil liberties and checks and balances, structurally recasting political institutions so as to make their being voted out of office almost unrealizable.

The centerpiece of Leo’s empire of right-wing groups is the Marble Freedom Trust. The trust described its mission in a 2022 report to the I.R.S.: “To maintain and expand human freedom consistent with the values and ideals set forth in the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution of the United States.”

In 2016, according to an April 2023 I.R.S. complaint against Leo filed by the Campaign for Accountability , a liberal reform advocacy group, Leo created a consulting company, BH Group, and in 2020 acquired a major ownership interest in CRC Advisors . Both are for-profit entities based in Virginia.

The Campaign for Accountability’s complaint alleges that “Leo-affiliated nonprofits” paid BH Group and CRC Advisors a total of $50.3 million from 2016 to 2020. During this period, according to the complaint, Leo’s lifestyle changed:

In August 2018, he paid off the 30-year mortgage on the McLean, Va., home, most of which was still outstanding on the payoff date. Later that same year, Leonard Leo bought a $3.3 million summer home with 11 bedrooms in Mount Desert, an affluent seaside village on the coast of Maine, using, in part, a 20-year mortgage of $2,310,000. Leonard Leo paid off the entire balance of that mortgage just one year later in July 2019. In September 2021, Leonard Leo bought a second home in Mount Desert for $1.65 million.

The complaint was based partly on a March 2023 Politico story by Heidi Przybyla. She wrote that her “investigation, based on dozens of financial, property and public records dating from 2000 to 2021, found that Leo’s lifestyle took a lavish turn beginning in 2016,” citing Leo’s purchases of the Maine properties, along with “four new cars, private school tuition for his children, hundreds of thousands of dollars in donations to Catholic causes and a wine locker at Morton’s Steakhouse.”

In October 2023, Przybyla disclosed (also in Politico ) that Leo was refusing to cooperate with an investigation by Brian Schwalb , the attorney general for the District of Columbia, “for potentially misusing nonprofit tax laws for personal enrichment.”

In a study covering more recent data , Accountable US , another liberal reform group, reported that from 2020, when Leo acquired a share of CRC Advisors, to 2022, seven “groups with immediate ties to Leo’s network have made payments totaling at least $69.77 million to CRC Advisors.”

Those figures were confirmed by Bloomberg’s Emily Birnbaum , who reported that “the sums paid to CRC Advisors by seven nonprofit groups have doubled since Leo came aboard as co-owner and chairman in 2020.”

Leo defended the payments, telling Bloomberg that criticism of the money flowing to CRC Advisors is “baseless” and that CRC performs high-quality work. “CRC Advisors employs nearly 100 best-in-class professionals that put its clients’ money to work,” he told Bloomberg.

In the drive to set the stage for a future Trump administration, the second conservative power center is dominated by the Conservative Partnership Institute , which coordinates its own pro-Trump network.

From 2018 to 2020, the Conservative Partnership was a minor player in Washington’s right-wing community. In that period, according to its 990 report to the I.R.S., its revenues totaled $16.9 million. In the next two years, donations shot up to $80.7 million.

Seven executives at the partnership in 2022 made in excess of $300,000 a year, topped by Meadows, Trump’s last White House chief of staff, whose annual compensation at the Conservative Partnership totaled $889,687 in 2022.

The Conservative Partnership and allied groups do not disclose donors, and none of the data on how much they raised and spent in 2023 and 2024 — or the identities of grant recipients — will be available before Nov. 5, 2024, Election Day.

The Conservative Partnership, like many of its sister groups, filed its 990 reports to the I.R.S. for 2020, 2021 and 2022 on Nov. 15 of each following year. If that pattern continues, its reports covering 2023 and 2024 will not be filed until Nov. 15 of the next year.

The partnership lists its address as 300 Independence Avenue Southeast in Washington, a three-story office building on Patriots’ Row that was originally the German-American Building Association.

Groups using the same mailing address include the Center for Renewing America (“God, country and community are at the heart of this agenda”), the Election Integrity Network (“Conservative leaders, organizations, public officials and citizens dedicated to securing the legality of every American vote”), Compass Legal Group , American Creative Network (“We will redefine the future of media-related conservative collaboration”), the American Accountability Foundation (“Exposing the truth behind the people and policies of the Biden administration that threaten the freedoms of the American people”), America First Legal (“Fighting back against lawless executive actions and the radical left”), Citizens for Renewing America and Citizens for Sanity (“To defeat ‘wokeism’ and anti-critical-thinking ideologies that have permeated every sector of our country”).

Since it was formed in 2020, Stephen Miller’s America First Legal foundation has been a case study in rapid growth. In its first year, it raised $6.4 million. In 2021 this rose to $44.4 million and to $50.8 million in 2022.

America First lawyers wrote two of the amicus briefs arguing to the Supreme Court that Trump should be restored to Colorado’s ballot . In one of the briefs , America First defended Trump’s actions and language on Jan. 6, 2021:

President Trump did not “engage in” insurrection. To engage in something is to take an active, personal role in it. Comparisons in modern language abound. When news emerges that nations have “engaged in military exercises,” one expects to read that “ships and planes” have been deployed, not tweets or press releases. Similarly, if someone has been described as “engaging in violence,” one expects that the person being spoken about has himself used force on another — not that he has issued some taunt about force undertaken by a third party. Engaging in a matter and remarking publicly about it are not the same, even with matters as weighty as wars or insurrections.

While the Heritage Foundation had relatively modest revenues of $95.1 million in 2022, according to its I.R.S. filing , its Project 2025 has become an anchor of the MAGA movement.

Trump has said he does not feel bound to accept all of the Project 2025 proposals, but the weight of institutional support from the right and Trump’s lack of interest in detailed planning suggest that those proposals may well shape much of the agenda in the event of a Trump victory.

The authors of Project 2025 want to avoid a repetition of 2017, when Trump took office with scant planning and little notion of who should be appointed to key positions.

Spencer Chretien , an associate director of Project 2025, put this concern delicately in a January 2023 essay published by The American Conservative , pointedly avoiding any criticism of Trump:

In November 2016, American conservatives stood on the verge of greatness. The election of Donald Trump to the presidency was a triumph that offered the best chance to reverse the left’s incessant march of progress for its own sake. Many of the best accomplishments, though, happened only in the last year of the Trump administration, after our political appointees had finally figured out the policies and process of different agencies, and after the right personnel were finally in place.

One function of the project is to put as much ideological muscle as possible behind Trump to ensure that if he wins the White House again, he does not wander afield.

From the vantage point of the right, that muscle is impressive, ranging from Oren Cass’s populist American Compass to Susan B. Anthony Pro-Life America , from the tradition-minded American Conservative to the Independent Women’s Forum .

In the foreword to the project’s nearly 1,000-page description of its 2025 agenda, “ Mandate for Leadership: The Conservative Promise ,” Roberts, the president of Heritage, wrote:

This book is the work of the entire conservative movement. As such, the authors express consensus recommendations already forged, especially along four broad fronts that will decide America’s future: 1. Restore the family as the centerpiece of American life and protect our children. 2. Dismantle the administrative state and return self-governance to the American people. 3. Defend our nation’s sovereignty, borders and bounty against global threats. 4. Secure our God-given individual rights to live freely — what our Constitution calls “the blessings of liberty.”

Perhaps the most impressive part of Project 2025 is the detailed and ideologically infused discussion of virtually every federal department and agency, all guided by the goal of instituting conservative policies.

Take the 53-page chapter, including 87 footnotes, focused on the Department of Health and Human Services, written by Roger Severino , the vice president for domestic policy at Heritage. The top priority of the department in January 2025, he wrote, must be “protecting life, conscience and bodily integrity.” The secretary “must ensure that all H.H.S. programs and activities are rooted in a deep respect for innocent human life from Day 1 until natural death: Abortion and euthanasia are not health care.”

Going deeper, Severino contended that the department must flatly reject “harmful identity politics that replaces biological sex with subjective notions of ‘gender identity’ and bases a person’s worth on his or her race, sex or other identities. This destructive dogma, under the guise of ‘equity,’ threatens American’s fundamental liberties as well as the health and well-being of children and adults alike.”

Severino did not stop there. In his view, the department must be in the business of “promoting stable and flourishing married families” because “in the overwhelming number of cases, fathers insulate children from physical and sexual abuse, financial difficulty or poverty, incarceration, teen pregnancy, poor educational outcomes, high school failure and a host of behavioral and psychological problems.”

Regarding the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, in Severino’s analysis:

By statute or regulation, C.D.C. guidance must be prohibited from taking on a prescriptive character. For example, never again should C.D.C. officials be allowed to say in their official capacity that schoolchildren “should be” masked or vaccinated or prohibited from learning in a school building. Such decisions should be left to parents and medical providers.

At the start of the book, Paul Dans , the executive director of Project 2025, pointedly wrote that “it’s not 1980,” when Heritage produced the first “Mandate for Leadership” to guide the incoming administration of Ronald Reagan. Instead, Dans argued, the United States in 2024 is at an apocalyptic moment:

The game has changed. The long march of cultural Marxism through our institutions has come to pass. The federal government is a behemoth, weaponized against American citizens and conservative values, with freedom and liberty under siege as never before. The task at hand to reverse this tide and restore our republic to its original moorings is too great for any one conservative policy shop to spearhead. It requires the collective action of our movement. With the quickening approach of January 2025, we have one chance to get it right.

This time, the conservative movement plans to exercise maximum surveillance over an incoming Trump administration. In other words, there will be no kidding around.

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An earlier version of this article misspelled the surname of an associate director of Project 2025. He is Spencer Chretien, not Chretian.

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Thomas B. Edsall has been a contributor to the Times Opinion section since 2011. His column on strategic and demographic trends in American politics appears every Wednesday. He previously covered politics for The Washington Post. @ edsall