The concept of Traditional Culture is commonly associated with a very important work of George Foster, Traditional Cultures and the Impact of Technological Change (1962). This work is a product of his long experience in Latin American countries (Mexico, Columbia, Peru and Brazil) where some sociocultural factors affected the functioning of public health centres.
Thus, largely, this concept deals with cultural barriers to change in the peasant/rural societies because of their traditional cultures are often resistant to socio-economic and technological change.
The stereotyped portrayal of traditional cultures is often in terms of non-rationality, inactivity, fatalism and ‘other worldliness’ (non-secular attitude). One of the most characteristic features of traditional culture is the anonymous character of its original producers and contributors. Apart from direct oral transmission and practical demonstration the folk/peasant communities may also develop some other means to transmit their traditional knowledge from one generation to the other such as linguistic formulae put into thyme which may contain facts about climate, weather conditions, agriculture, animal farming, religious and moral instructions as well as a whole range of experiences forming that is popularly known as ‘wise sayings’. Many of these formulae belong to the category of proverbs. These may be common in current speech.
Institutionalized social gatherings are very important media for the preservation of traditional culture. Such gatherings may be meetings at home, ritual occasions, fair and festivals etc.
Glorification of the past is, perhaps, the most important part of the traditional culture. “Our fathers and grandfathers have always done this, thus we shall do” is a statement often heard from peasants from the traditional cultures.
Thus, we find that traditional rural communities have a traditional culture with its own values and rationale. Their “Cultural Ethnocentrism” often makes them stubborn and resistant to change. Therefore the planners must know and understand this before introducing a new idea or technology into such traditional societies. Even otherwise all the traditions are not bad and a happy convergence of tradition and modernity is not impossible.
In India Case: