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Chapter 3
Culture
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What is Culture?
Culture is the
values,
beliefs,
behaviour, and
material objects
that together form a people’s way of life.
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Culture Terms
Nonmaterial culture: The intangible world of ideas created by members of a society
Material culture: The tangible things created by members of a society
Culture shock: Personal disorientation when experiencing an unfamiliar way of life
(Cont’d)
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4. Culture Terms (Cont’d)
Culture is very recent
Homo sapiens years ago
“Civilization” years ago in Middle East
Industrial way of life 300 years ago
Nation: political entity and people
State: political entity in a territory with borders
Society: People who interact in a defined territory and share culture
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Components of Culture
Symbols: Anything that carries a particular meaning recognized by people who share a culture
Language: A system of symbols that allows people to communicate with one another. Other species may have culture, but language skills are limited.
Cultural transmission: process of passing on culture to the next generation.
(Cont’d)
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6. Components of Culture (Cont’d)
Sapir-Whorf hypothesis: people perceive the world through the cultural lens of language.
Values: Culturally defined standards by which people assess desirability, goodness, and beauty and that serve as broad guidelines for social living
Beliefs: Statements that people hold to be true
(Cont’d)
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7. Components of Culture (Cont’d)
Norms: Rules and expectations by which society guides the behaviour of its members
Mores: Norms that are widely observed and have great moral significance, e.g., no sexual relations with children.
Folkways: Norms for routine or casual interaction,
e.g., proper dress.
Social control: means by which members of a society encourage conformity to norms.
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8. “Ideal” and “Real” Culture
IDEAL CULTURE
The way things should be
REAL CULTURE
The way things actually are
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9. Material Culture and Technology
Technology: knowledge that a society applies to the task of living in a physical environment
Humans in original state had little more than simple tools
In Canada, some groups reject modern technology.
New Information Technology: The application of ideas and information using computers and other electronic devices, began 50 years ago. It can generate culture on a grand scale.
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Cultural Diversity
Multicultural: 2001 Census had more than 200 responses to question of ethnic identity in Canada
High Culture: Cultural Patterns that distinguish a society’s elite
Popular Culture: Cultural patterns widespread among society’s population
(Cont’d)
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11. Cultural Diversity (Cont’d)
Subculture: Cultural patterns that set apart some segment of society.
Multiculturalism: Social policy designed to encourage ethnic or cultural heterogeneity.
Eurocentrism: dominance of European cultural patterns
Counterculture: Cultural patterns that strongly oppose those widely accepted
(Cont’d)
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Table 3-1
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13. Cultural Diversity (Cont’d)
Cultural Change: Occurs by invention, discovery, and diffusion
Cultural lag: Some elements change more quickly than others
Ethnocentrism: Practice of judging another culture by the standards of one’s own culture
Cultural Relativism: Practice of evaluating a culture by its own standards
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A Global Culture?
Societies have more contact by the flow of:
goods
information
people
But these flows are uneven:
the goods and services are expensive; and
different meanings are attached to them
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15. Structural-Functional Analysis
Culture is a complex strategy for meeting human needs
Cultural Universals: traits that are part of every known culture and include: family, funeral rites, & jokes
Critical evaluation: downplays importance of change, and overlooks range of diversity.
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16. Social-Conflict Analysis
Culture is a dynamic arena of conflict.
Cultural traits benefit some members at the expense of others.
Approach rooted in Karl Marx and materialism – society’s system of material production has a powerful effect on the rest of a culture.
Critical evaluation: Understates the ways cultural patterns integrate members into society.
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Cultural Materialism
A paradigm that explores the relationship of human culture to the physical environment.
Why do Hindus not eat cows?
Cows cost little to raise and produce oxen and manure, the latter providing building materials and a source of heat.
Critical evaluation: not easy to draw connections and modern society can manipulate the natural world.
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Sociobiology
A theoretical paradigm that explores ways in which human biology affects how we create culture.
Approach rooted in Charles Darwin’s concept of natural selection: living organisms change over long periods of time.
Critical evaluation: May be used to support racism or sexism; and little evidence to support theory, people learn behaviour within a cultural system.
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Culture and Freedom
Culture as constraint
We only know our world in terms of our culture
Culture as freedom
Culture is changing and offers a variety of opportunities
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