Until
recently, studies dealing with the standard of living focused on the
purely economic factors that determine this standard, and on
socio-economic interventions to modify it. However, the cultural and
sociological contributions made by social scientists and anthropologists
showed that human behavior is not confined to purely economic factors
but that culture, in the broad sense, and historical events have an
important role in shaping this behavior. Moreover, the distinction
between basic and non-basic needs, and luxuries, varies from one place,
system and culture, to another.
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The study of the cultural
dimension acquires more significance in developing societies, such as
the Lebanese society which is torn between two different reactions in
facing the life styles associated with the consumer society and the
market economy. The first kind of reaction is generally characterized by
acceptance and adaptation to life styles that appear as reactions to
prevailing norms and practices; the second by rejection and refusal to
identify with the cultural origins of this way of life. The life styles
of the Lebanese and, hence, their living standards, have been influenced
by this duality as manifested in regional, or the multiplicity of
cultural and social, differentiation.
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| Hence, it is expected that
studies of living conditions would take into consideration the cultural
factors and complexities, and the interaction between the cultural and
economic aspects, when designing or adapting tools for measuring the
standard of living. This dimension has been taken into account to a
certain extent when defining the indicators and thresholds of
deprivation for the purposes of this study, and in the course of the
analysis which incorporated the socio-cultural dimension as one of the
ingredients explaining household and individual behavior, and in
assessing their status within the social hierarchy. |
