Culture is unquestionably a central topic in the contemporary social sciences. In order to understand how people think, feel, value, act and express themselves, it is necessary to examine the cultures they create, and are in turn created by. Here, David Inglis shows how the study of culture can be transformed by focusing in on how cultural forces shape, influence, structure - and occasionally disrupt - the day-to-day activities of individuals.

Reconsidering different views on ''culture'' - what it is, how it operates, and how it relates to other aspects of the human (and non-human) world - this new book covers key areas such as:

• high culture versus popular culture
• modern and postmodern culture
• globalization and culture
• culture and nature.

Specific issues covered range from the everyday aspects of sportive play, artistic production and the mass media, to car culture and global cuisine, and students are introduced to some of the major thinkers on culture from Matthew Arnold to Bakhtin and Bourdieu.

Written in a concise, student-friendly manner, theoretical arguments are illustrated with examples from film, architecture and daily life, making this an informative and indispensable introduction for those wishing to understand the complexities of culture.