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cultural ecology

Definition of Cultural Ecology

(noun) The study of how groups of people interact with and adapt to their environment.

Example of Cultural Ecology

Etymology of Cultural Ecology

Cultural Ecology Scholars

Cultural Ecology Pronunciation

Pronunciation Usage Guide

Syllabification: cul·tur·al e·col·o·gy

Audio Pronunciation

– American English
– British English

Phonetic Spelling

  • American English – /kUHl-chuhr-ruhl i-kAHl-uh-jee/
  • British English – /kUHl-chuh-ruhl i-kOl-uh-jee/

International Phonetic Alphabet

  • American English – /ˈkʌlʧərəl iˈkɑləʤi/
  • British English – /ˈkʌlʧərəl ɪˈkɒləʤi/

Usage Notes

  • Plural: cultural ecologies
  • Cultural ecology contends that culture is the primary mechanism by which societies understand and give meaning to their environment.
  • Not to be confused with human ecology.
  • Also called ecological anthropology.

Additional Information

Related Terms


Works Consulted

Ferris, Kerry, and Jill Stein. 2010. The Real World: An Introduction to Sociology. 2nd ed. New York: Norton.

Henslin, James M. 2012. Sociology: A Down-to-Earth Approach. 10th ed. Boston: Allyn & Bacon.

Jary, David, and Julia Jary. 2000. Collins Dictionary of Sociology. 3rd ed. Glasgow, Scotland: HarperCollins.

Macionis, John, and Kenneth Plummer. 2012. Sociology: A Global Introduction. 4th ed. Harlow, England: Pearson Education.

Oxford University Press. (N.d.) Oxford Dictionaries. (https://www.oxforddictionaries.com/).

Wikipedia contributors. (N.d.) Wiktionary, The Free Dictionary. Wikimedia Foundation. (http://en.wiktionary.org).

Cite the Definition of Cultural Ecology

ASA – American Sociological Association (5th edition)

Bell, Kenton, ed. 2014. “cultural ecology.” In Open Education Sociology Dictionary. Retrieved March 19, 2024 (https://sociologydictionary.org/cultural-ecology/).

APA – American Psychological Association (6th edition)

cultural ecology. (2014). In K. Bell (Ed.), Open education sociology dictionary. Retrieved from https://sociologydictionary.org/cultural-ecology/

Chicago/Turabian: Author-Date – Chicago Manual of Style (16th edition)

Bell, Kenton, ed. 2014. “cultural ecology.” In Open Education Sociology Dictionary. Accessed March 19, 2024. https://sociologydictionary.org/cultural-ecology/.

MLA – Modern Language Association (7th edition)

“cultural ecology.” Open Education Sociology Dictionary. Ed. Kenton Bell. 2014. Web. 19 Mar. 2024. <https://sociologydictionary.org/cultural-ecology/>.