Abstract

The third chapter deals with the cultural environment of humanity. It exposes its nature and stresses its fundamental historicity. It elaborates particularly on the location of cultures, stressing that culture not only constitutes our environment but it also inhabits us. The chapter underlines the crucial role played by mediations in the incessant transformations taking place between individuals and society. The role played by class position and the problem of predictability of individual actions and social development is touched upon in this context. The chapter outlines also the driving lines of evolution resulting in the society/individual couple as we know it. Finally this chapter offers a Marxist appreciation of some very important authors: George H. Mead, Karen Horney, Harry S. Sullivan, John Bowlby, Erich Fromm, Pierre Bourdieu, and the cultural psychology approach.