Author: Dr Laila Surani
Culture is more than food, music, or tradition—it is a system of meaning, power, belonging, and identity.
For organisations like EMAGE CIC, which supports the wellbeing of ageing Black and Minority Ethnic (BME) communities in Redbridge, understanding how culture shapes people’s lives is essential to designing respectful, inclusive, and empowering programmes.
This article introduces key cultural theories in anthropology and explores how they can strengthen EMAGE’s community approach.
✅ 1) Cultural Relativism
Key Scholar: Franz Boas
Cultural relativism suggests that every culture should be understood in its own context, rather than judged against another.
How This Supports EMAGE
Many older BME adults bring unique health beliefs, traditions, and worldviews. Cultural relativism helps EMAGE:
- Respect cultural differences in care
- Value traditional knowledge
- Avoid ethnocentric assumptions
This leads to services grounded in empathy and lived experience.
✅ 2) Functionalism
Key Scholars: Bronisław Malinowski, A.R. Radcliffe-Brown
Functionalism views cultural practices as fulfilling key social and emotional needs.
How This Supports EMAGE
Faith groups, family networks, and food traditions help elders:
- Maintain identity
- Access support
- Stay socially connected
EMAGE can build on these networks to strengthen health outreach and community participation.
✅ 3) Cultural Materialism
Key Scholar: Marvin Harris
This theory argues that cultural behaviours are shaped by material conditions—economy, environment, and technology.
How This Supports EMAGE
Inequities around housing, jobs, and access to healthcare have deeply influenced BME ageing experiences.
EMAGE responds by:
- Mapping local resources
- Advocating for better access
- Designing support that reflects economic realities
This ensures wellbeing programmes don’t ignore structural challenges.
✅ 4) Structuralism
Key Scholar: Claude Lévi-Strauss
Structuralism proposes that people create meaning through underlying patterns, such as old/young, modern/traditional.
How This Supports EMAGE
Intergenerational tensions often arise from such cultural binaries.
EMAGE helps:
- Facilitate intergenerational dialogue
- Challenge negative ageing narratives
- Create shared meaning across identity groups
This promotes dignity and mutual understanding.
✅ 5) Symbolic / Interpretive Anthropology
Key Scholar: Clifford Geertz
Culture is a “web of meaning,” expressed through symbols—food, rituals, language, clothing.
How This Supports EMAGE
By recognising the symbolic value of tradition, EMAGE:
- Uses storytelling, celebration, memory-sharing
- Helps elders connect with identity and belonging
These practices support mental health and preserve heritage.
✅ 6) Culture as Social Learning
Key Contributors: Edward Tylor & others
Culture is learned—not inherited—through family, community, and education.
How This Supports EMAGE
Migration often disrupts cultural transmission.
EMAGE addresses this by:
- Supporting intergenerational engagement
- Providing culturally relevant activities
This reinforces cultural continuity and family connection.
✅ 7) Cultural Hegemony
Key Scholar: Antonio Gramsci
Dominant groups maintain power by shaping cultural norms and institutions.
How This Supports EMAGE
Many BME elders experience:
- Linguistic exclusion
- Racial bias
- Underrepresentation in services
EMAGE challenges this by:
- Amplifying minority voices
- Co-producing solutions
- Advocating for equity
This promotes empowerment and inclusion.
✅ 8) Postmodern / Hybrid Cultural Theory
Key Scholars: Stuart Hall, Homi Bhabha
Culture is not fixed—it evolves through globalisation, migration, and exchange. People hold multiple identities at once.
How This Supports EMAGE
BME elders may identify as both British and as part of their heritage culture.
EMAGE:
- Embraces hybrid identities
- Encourages cultural fluidity
- Designs flexible, inclusive interventions
This reflects the reality of modern ageing.
Why Cultural Theory Matters for Ageing Well
Culture shapes:
- Health beliefs
- Family roles
- Community engagement
- Identity
- Ageing attitudes
By using cultural theories to guide service design, EMAGE CIC builds programmes that:
✅ Respect community histories
✅ Celebrate cultural identity
✅ Strengthen family support structures
✅ Promote dignity in ageing
✅ Challenge inequality
✅ Foster belonging
Ultimately, cultural understanding nurtures holistic wellbeing—social, mental, emotional, and physical.
Final Thoughts
Ageing is not only a biological process—it is deeply cultural.
By integrating core theories of culture into its work, EMAGE continues to build bridges between communities, generations, and nations. These insights support its mission to improve the quality of life for ethnic minority ageing populations in the UK and connect with global ageing communities through evidence-based, culturally grounded practice.
