Table of Contents
Definition of Microculture
(noun) A distinctive culture shared by a small group that is often based on location or within an organization.
Examples of Microculture
- The microculture within a community center, restaurant, school, sports team, student organization.
- British horse-racing enthusiasts as studied by Kate Fox in The Racing Tribe (2002). Fox identified unique codes of conduct, customs, etiquette, hierarchies, language, and rituals.
Microculture Pronunciation
Syllabification: mi·cro·cul·ture
Audio Pronunciation
Phonetic Spelling
- American English – /mIE-kroh-kuhl-chuhr/
- British English – /mIE-kroh-kuhl-chuh/
International Phonetic Alphabet
- American English – /ˈmaɪkroʊˌkəltʃər/
- British English – /ˈmʌɪkrə(ʊ)ˌkʌltʃə/
Usage Notes
- Plural: microcultures
- Not to be confused with subculture, through the terms are similar and often used interchangeably. A microculture has a unique identity within and as part of the dominate culture, but a subculture is contrasted to the dominate culture and separated from it.
- Microcultures often have a specialized language called an argot.
- Variant spellings:
- micro culture
- micro-culture
Related Quotation
- “Members of a microculture will usually share much of what they know with everyone in the greater society but will possess a special cultural knowledge that is unique to the subgroup” (Spradley and McCurdy 2008:3).
Additional Information
- Wulff, Helena. 1988. Twenty Girls: Growing Up, Ethnicity and Excitement in a South London Microculture. Stockholm, Sweden: University of Stockholm.
Related Terms
Reference
Spradley, James P., and David W. McCurdy. 2008. Conformity and Conflict: Readings in Cultural Anthropology. 13th ed. Boston: Pearson Education.
Cite the Definition of Microculture
ASA – American Sociological Association (5th edition)
Bell, Kenton, ed. 2014. “microculture.” In Open Education Sociology Dictionary. Retrieved April 18, 2024 (https://sociologydictionary.org/microculture/).
APA – American Psychological Association (6th edition)
microculture. (2014). In K. Bell (Ed.), Open education sociology dictionary. Retrieved from https://sociologydictionary.org/microculture/
Chicago/Turabian: Author-Date – Chicago Manual of Style (16th edition)
Bell, Kenton, ed. 2014. “microculture.” In Open Education Sociology Dictionary. Accessed April 18, 2024. https://sociologydictionary.org/microculture/.
MLA – Modern Language Association (7th edition)
“microculture.” Open Education Sociology Dictionary. Ed. Kenton Bell. 2014. Web. 18 Apr. 2024. <https://sociologydictionary.org/microculture/>.