Günter Dinhobl (Hrsg.): Sonderband 7. Eisenbahn/Kultur – Railway/Culture (2004)
IV. Die Eisenbahn-Technik / Railway-technics - Manfred E. A. Schmutzer: Iron Rules Rule Iron Rails. Cultures and Their Technologies
Manfred E. A. Schmutzer eration of technologies is largely missing, much attention is given to two topics: The autonomy of culture from society and the significance of religion. We shall define the term „culture“ with the following:’ Culture is a way of life simultaneously creating a distinction between groups of persons, but allowing at the same time a definition of equality, similarity and consensus and the capability to co-operate with others within a group of persons. P. Bourdieu explains this correspondence by the availability of material and symbolic capital, hence as a result of the mode of distribution of resources.4 Distinguishing cultures has hardly ever been a topic of dispute although the line of demarcation is usually drawn along geographical borders or between religious confessions. Reference to regions is unsatisfactory, as they simultaneously contain quite dissimilar groups with respect to their particular life styles. At the same time similarities between groups locally far apart can be made manifest. Therefore the necessity arises to define the concept of culture more clearly by attaching it to some more appropriate sociological variable. This contradicts the manifest intention articulated by many writers (as Alexander demonstrates) to keep Society and Culture apart, be it for methodological reasons, as Parsons suggests, or for more substantial ones. Some authors, who hardly find recognition in Alexander’s reader, would object to such a separation. ’ "Culture": the concept relates to the care of that which has been handed down, which has been raised through the years, of that which has been shared and groomed within a dedicated space. Thus the concept of "culture" is meant to signify: Away of life shared with others, which not only expresses a shared treasure of potent images and symbols, but is the very precondition of such a treasure. "Culture”, one might say, is that which constitutes difference and distinction between human beings while at the same time also forming the base for consensus, cooperation, equality and similarity. If culture is defined as a shared way of life, this creates the necessity to establish marked differences by ourselves, since gradual distinctions are present even in the most routinely performed acts of individuals. Despite gradual transitions it is customary to postulate the existence of different cultures, languages and classes. Very often simple geographical criteria are used to define such differences, from which the spatial segregation of ways of life follows eo ipso. Empirical evidence pro and contra may be cited. (Translation: Schmutzer, Manfred E. A.: Kulturen, Zeit, Verkehr, ln: Beiträge zur Soziologie und Politologie im Verkehr. Schriftenreihe des 1VT 123 (1999), S. 69-85. 4 Bourdieu, Pierre: Die feinen Unterschiede. Kritik der gesellschaftlichen Urteilskraft. Frankfurt am Main 1994 (Orig. 1984). 306
