This article reviews current criticism of the concept of culture among academics, identifying the misuses and the social context which have led to calls for it to be abandoned. Drawing extensively on recent critical approaches to the concept, it outlines a complex multi-level approach avoiding the traps of determinism and methodological nationalism, allowing us to better understand and deal with contemporary debates and discourses surrounding culture, in the light of which it appears ever more important that social science scholars make their voices heard.