The field of European ethnology focuses on scientific study of the everyday cultures of the many in Europe, the members of the middle and lower classes. European ethnology deals with cultures in the sense of human interpretation and orientation systems in spaces of various sizes (local cultures, regional cultures, cultures of large regions of Europe such as the Mediterranean, the Alps, the Baltic states, etc.). It is a core belief of the field that cultures can not be defined by ethnicity alone and that it is necessary to take a critical stance against an ethnicization of culture.