CULTURE PEOPLE’S WAY OF LIFE

CULTURE  Culture refers to people’s way of life.  Includes how people meet their basic needs for food and shelter  Includes language, literature, music, and art, beliefs about the world and their religion, and even their technology and their material objects.

CUSTOMS  Things people usually do  Foods they eat  Clothes their wear  How holidays are celebrated  Turning points are celebrated (birth, coming of age, weddings, etc)

ROLES  Based on rules for proper behavior of individuals in particular positions and situations  Mother might be expected to behave a certain way toward children

INSTITUTIONS  Organizations developed by each society to make social roles clear and to take care of social needs.  Families  Arrange for reproduction, the care of family members, upbringing of young  Schools  Teach the young the values of society and prepare them for the responsibilities of adulthood  Governments  Governments protect us from outsiders, promote social cooperation, and regulate individual behaviour

RURAL OR URBAN  Culture is also affected by how people live together.  Rural living  Countryside, small villages, simple homes  Generally farmers, herders, or village craftsmen  Do not tend to communicate beyond their local environs  Traditional ways/economies  Urban living  Large cities, advanced technology, roads, bridges, buildings, (infrastructure)  Sewage systems, hot and cold water, electricity, etc.  Read news, watch television, travel widely and generally have more opportunities than rural dwellers

SOCIAL STRUCTURE  Upper Class  Earns or inherits wealth and owns large share of property. Luxurious lifestyle and often serve in leadership roles of a society  Middle Class  Intermediate group of people, mostly educated and successful – managers, professionals, shopkeepers  Working Class  Manual workers who work in factories, mining, transportation, construction, or craftspeople.  Peasants  Farm workers or owners of small farms mainly engaged in subsistence agriculture – little education and limited experiences in the world outside their village  Lower Class  Often uneducated and unskilled. Take least desirable and worst paying jobs. Often face prejudice and social handicaps from members of higher societies.

MULTICULTURAL SOCIETIES  Homogeneous societies  Almost everyone belongs to a same ethnic group and shares same language and traditions  Heterogeneous (multicultural)  Mix of peoples and cultures. Ethnic groups are missed throughout the country  Minority  An ethnic or religious group other than the dominant group – culture of majority often decides how minorities treated (laws to safeguard them, or not, or even persecuted)

GEOGRAPHY AFFECTS CULTURE The Great Wave off Kanagawa Hokusai