kulttuurihistoria

Kulttuurihistoria (cultural history) is the study of how cultures develop and change over time, focusing on beliefs, practices, arts, institutions, material culture, and everyday life. It examines how culture interacts with social, economic, and political structures, shaping identities, norms, and power relations.

It uses diverse sources such as texts, visual culture, architecture, artifacts, oral traditions, and digital media, and adopts methods from history, anthropology, sociology, archaeology, and art history. The field emphasizes long-term processes, cultural transmission, diffusion, syncretism, and cultural change.

Themes include religion, education, language, gender, class, ethnic and regional identities; urbanization, technology, media, consumption, and rituals; the role of institutions such as churches, schools, and museums; and everyday life and material culture.

In Finland and Nordic contexts, kulttuurihistoria often engages with national narratives, language policy, folklore, industrialization, migration, and modernization; it is also comparative with broader Europe and world.

The approach complements political, economic, and social histories, helping explain how meanings and values shape behaviors and institutions, while highlighting contingency and pluralism beyond linear progress narratives.