Culture
I. What Is Culture?
Culture refers to the
beliefs, values, behavior and material objects that, together, form a
people’s way of life.
1.
A. Culture has two basic components: nonmaterial culture, or the intangible creations of human society,
and material culture, the tangible
products of human society. Together,
these two components describe a people’s way of life. Culture also plays an
important role in shaping the human personality.
2.
Culture shock occurs when an individual suffers
personal disorientation when experiencing an unfamiliar way of life.
3.
Reverse Culture Shock:
returning to one’s own culture after being away for a long time.
High Context and Low Context Cultures - Contrast makes
communication particularly challenging.
B.
Only humans depend on culture rather than instincts to
ensure the survival of their kind.
C.
Do we have instincts?
Cannot see them clearly: no human behavior without culture.
D.
What sets primates apart is their intelligence. Human achievements during the Stone Age set
humans off on a distinct evolutionary course, making culture their primary
survival strategy.
E.
The concept of culture
(a shared way of life) must be distinguished from those of nation (a political entity) or society
(the organized interaction of people in a nation or within some other
boundary). Many modern societies are multicultural,
meaning that their people follow various ways of life that blend and sometimes
clash.
a.
Is the
II. The Elements of Culture.
All cultures have five common components: symbols, language, values and beliefs, norms,
and material culture, including technology.
A.
Symbols are defined as
anything that carries a particular meaning recognized by people who share
culture. The meaning of the same symbols varies from society to society, within
a single society, and over time.
B.
Language is a system of
symbols that allows people to communicate with one another.
2. Language is the key to cultural transmission, the process by which one generation passes
culture to the next. Through most of human history, cultural transmission has
been accomplished through oral tradition.
3. English is the language of global culture.
4. Only
humans can create complex systems of symbols, but some other animals have the
ability to use symbols in communicating.
4a. “Language sets
humans apart as the only creatures who are self-conscious, aware of our
limitations and ultimate mortality, yet able to dream and hope of a better
future.”
5. The Sapir-Whorf thesis holds that people
perceive the world through the
cultural lens of language.
C.
Values are culturally
defined standards by which people judge desirability, goodness and beauty, and
which serve as broad guidelines for social living. Values are broad principles
that underlie beliefs, specific
statements that people hold to be true.
i.
1. Robin Williams identifies ten key values of
a. Equal opportunity
b. Achievement and success
c. Material comfort
d. Activity and work
e. Practicality and efficiency
f. Progress
g. Science
h. Democracy and
free enterprise
i. Freedom
j. Racism and group superiority
4.
Values within one society are frequently inconsistent and
even opposed to one another. Leads to
conflict.
5.
THINKING CRITICALLY BOX—Don’t Blame Me! The “Culture of Victimization.” Americans
may be becoming increasingly unwilling to accept personal responsibility for
their failings and misfortunes.
D.
Norms are rules and
expectations by which a society guides the behavior of its members. They may be
either proscriptive (don’t do that!) or prescriptive (you must do that!).
a. Mores
are norms that are widely observed and have great moral significance.
1) Often reflected in laws.
b. Folkways
are norms for routine, casual interaction.
2. Sanctions are a central mechanism of social control, various means by
which members of society encourage
conformity to norms.
E. Sociologists distinguish between ideal culture, social patterns
mandated by cultural values and norms, and real culture, actual social patterns that only approximate
cultural expectations.
1) Example: monogamy in marriage.
F. Material culture reflects a society’s
values and a society’s technology, the
knowledge that people apply to the
task of living in their surroundings.
1) Creation of artifacts
2) Technology is
always a social creation.
G. Many rich nations have entered a postindustrial phase based on computers
and new information economy.
H. Does more sophisticated technology mean that
life is better?
III. Cultural Diversity:
The
the most monocultural of all industrial nations.
A. High
culture refers to cultural patterns that distinguish a society’s elite; in
contrast, popular culture designates
cultural patterns that are widespread among a society’s population. High
culture is not inherently superior to popular culture.
1) Middle culture: popular culture with
sophistication of high culture.
B. Subcultures
are cultural patterns that distinguish some segment of a society’s population.
They involve not only differences but also hierarchy.
C. Multiculturalism
is an educational program recognizing the cultural diversity of the
1.
Multiculturalism stands in opposition to Eurocentrism, the dominance of European
(especially English) cultural patterns.
2.
Supporters of multiculturalism argue that it helps us come
to terms with our diverse present and strengthens the academic achievement of
African- American children.
3.
Opponents of multiculturalism argue that it encourages
divisiveness rather than unity.
a.
Actually harms minority members by discouraging integration
in mainstream culture.
b.
Unified national culture essential to healthy democracy,
etc.
4.
“Melting pot” vs. “Salad bowl.”
5.
Reflected in present debate over immigration.
D. Counterculture
refers to cultural patterns that strongly oppose those widely accepted within a
society.
1) 1960’s as an example.
E. Cultural change.
1.
As cultures change, they strive to maintain cultural integration, the close relationship among various elements of a
cultural system.
2.
William Ogburn’s concept of cultural lag refers to the fact that cultural elements change at different rates,
which may disrupt a cultural system.
a.
Example of cell phones.
b.
Women leaving home, entering work force.
F. Ethnocentrism
and cultural relativism.
1.
Ethnocentrism is the practice
of judging another culture by the standards of one’s own culture.
2. Sociologists tend to discourage this
practice, and instead advocate cultural
relativism, the practice of judging a culture by its own standards.
G. Some evidence suggests that a global culture
may be emerging.
1. Three
key factors are promoting this trend:
a. Global economy: the flow of goods.
b. Global communications: the flow of
information.
c. Global migration: the flow of people.
2. Three limitations with the global culture
thesis:
a. Global
culture is much more advanced in some parts of the world than in
others.
b. Many people cannot afford to participate in
the material aspects of a
global culture.
c. Different people attribute different meanings
to various aspects of the
global culture.
IV. Theoretical Analysis of Culture.
A. Sociobiology
is a theoretical approach that explores ways in which human biology affects how
we create culture. Sociobiology has its roots in the theory of evolution
proposed by Charles Darwin.
Example: men are
“naturally” polygamous, women are “naturally” monogamous.
1. Critical review.
a. Sociobiology may promote racism and sexism.
b. Research support for this paradigm is limited.
c. Cannot see pre-social tendencies
clearly.
V. Culture and Human Freedom
A. Culture as constraint. Humans cannot live without culture, but the capacity for culture does have some drawbacks.
B. Culture as freedom. Culture forces us to choose as we make and remake a world for ourselves. Freedom always occurs within the context of culture. Understanding that allows us to be freer.