Complex sentence: The cultural turn predominantly describes a movement beginning in the early 1970s among scholars in the humanities and social sciences to make culture the focus of contemporary debates; it also describes a shift in emphasis toward "meaning" and away from a positivist epistemology.
Split into simpler sentences: The cultural turn was a movement among scholars in the social sciences to make culture the focus of contemporary debates within the discipline. It also describes a shift in emphasis toward "meaning" and away from a positivist epistemology.