Editing Cultural system (section)

===Cultural and socio-cultural integration===
[[Margaret Archer]] (2004) in a revised edition of her classic work ''Culture and Agency'', argues that the grand idea of a unified, integrated culture system, as advocated by early Anthropologists such as [[Bronisław Malinowski]] and later by [[Mary Douglas]], is a myth. Archer reads this same myth through Pitirim Sorokin's influence and then Talcott Parsons' approach to cultural systems (2004:3). The myth of a unified, integrated cultural system was also advanced by Western Marxists such as by [[Antonio Gramsci]] through the theory of [[cultural hegemony]] through a dominant culture. Basic to these mistaken conceptions was the idea of culture as a community of meanings, which function independently in motivating social behavior. This combined two independent factors, community and meanings which can be investigated quasi-independently (2004:4)

Archer, a proponent of [[critical realism (philosophy of the social sciences)|critical realism]], suggests that cultural factors can be objectively studied for the degree of compatibility (and that various aspects of cultural systems may be found to contradict each other in meaning and use). And, social or community factors in socialization may be studied in the context of the transmission of cultural factors by studying the social uniformity (or lack thereof) in the transmitted culture. Cultural systems are used (and inform society) both through idea systems and the structuring of social systems. To quote Archer in this regard:
: "logical consistency is a property of the world of ideas; causal consistency is a property of people. The main proposition here is the two are logically and empirically distinct and, hence can vary independently of one another. Thus it is perfectly conceivable that any social unit, from a community to a civilization, could be found the principle ideational elements (knowledge, belief, norms, language, mythology, etc.) of which do display considerable logical consistency&nbsp;– that is, the components are consistent, not contradictory&nbsp;– yet the same social unit may be low on causal consensus. " (2004:4)

Archer notes that the opposite may be the case: low cultural logical consistency and high social consistency. Complex societies can include complex sociocultural systems that mix of cultural and social factors with various levels of contradiction and consistency.