National Cultures Revisited

Abstract

Anthropology can make a holistic contribution to the study of the com plex societies of today's nations, by identifying key issues, relevant to both the in dividual and the social system, on which these nations differ in empirically verifiable ways. This is labelled the "national cultures approach" and can be con sidered an extension, with a broader purpose and more effective research methods, of the "national character" approach of the 1950's. The paper describes a large research project by the author covering over 50 nations, which identified four such "key issues", labelled Power Distance, Uncertainty A voidance, Individualism ver sus Collectivism and Masculinity versus Femininity. It is argued that this type of contribution by anthropologists can make practical sense to policy makers, and of fers an opportunity for new jobs for anthropologists.