Culturalism claims that experience is the base of culture; structuralism claims that experience is an effect of culture, that culture is an unconscious manifestation, and that consciousness (self-determination) is merely another effect of unconsciousness.
Culturalism focuses on meaning production by human actors in a historical context. Structuralism points to culture as an expression of deep structures of language that lie outside of the intentions of actors and constrain them.
If culturalism takes meaning to be its central category and casts it as the product of active human agents, structuralism speaks instead of signifying practices which generate meaning as an outcome of structures or predictable regularities which lie outside of any given person.
NGO, indigenous peoples
Structural Analysis of Cultural Systems (S.A.C.S.) is a non-governmental organization in
Special Consultative Status with the Economic and Social Council of the United Nations.
Its
main activities are conducting culture-related research with a focus on indigenous cultures, empowerment of indigenous culture, intervention projects, and knowledge dissemination.
Intervention projects of S.A.C.S. are mainly targeted at applying indigenous rights as formulated in
the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples.
S.A.C.S also offers consultancy, and it is engaged in education and training.
Form of social inequality
Structural inequality occurs when the fabric of organizations, institutions, governments or social networks contains an embedded cultural, linguistic, economic, religious/belief, physical or identity based bias which provides advantages for some members and marginalizes or produces disadvantages for other members.
This can involve, personal agency, freedom of expression, property rights, freedom of association, religious freedom,social status, or unequal access to health care, housing, education, physical, cultural, social, religious or political belief, financial resources or other social opportunities.
Structural inequality is believed to be an embedded part of all known cultural groups.
The global history of slavery, serfdom, indentured servitude and other forms of coerced cultural or government mandated labour or economic exploitation that marginalizes individuals and the subsequent suppression of human rights are key factors defining structural inequality.
In particular the history of oppression of the Jewish people, as victims of historic and ongoing antisemitism that dates back to their slavery under the Pharaohs offer an example of the historic nature and wide variance of structural inequality.
