Culture-Bearing Units and the Units of Culture: An Introduction

The articles that follow explore two issues. First, is it possible to differentiate empirically useful culture-bearing units from one another? If it is possible in principle, how can it be accomplished in practice? Second, are there operationalizable and empirically useful units of culture itself, and are such units necessary? Or, is it possible—and preferable—to construct a theory or theories of cultural evolution, transmission, and information management without particulate units of culture?