Sociology: Your Compass for a New World Robert J. Brym and John Lie Wadsworth Group/Thomson Learning © 2003

Culture Chapter 3

Sources of Culture WBecause They Can Create Culture, Humans Have Been Able to Adapt to Their Environments. WIn Particular, Humans Have Been Able to Thrive Because They Can: W Create Symbols W Make Tools  Cooperate

Biology and Culture WBiology Set Human Limits and Potentials. WNo Hard Evidence Supports the View That Specific Human Behavior and Social Arrangements Are Biologically Determined.

Observing Culture WA Culture Can Be Best Understood If W You Are Neither Too Deeply Immersed in It nor Too Much Removed From It. WUnderstanding Culture Requires Refraining From W Taking Your Culture for Granted and W Judging Other Cultures by the Standards of Yours.

The Two Faces of Culture WCulture Increases Our Freedom. W Multiculturalism W Globalization W Postmodernism WCulture constrains us. WRationalization W Consumerism

Multiculturalism I WAdvocates Want Curricula W To Reflect Growing Ethnic and Racial Diversity W To Stress That All Cultures Have Equal Value W To Promote Self-esteem and Economic Success

Multiculturalism II WCritics fear that multiculturalism causes W Declining educational standards W Political disunity, interethnic/interracial conflict W Extreme cultural relativism

The Globalization of Culture Globalization Results From the Growth of WInternational Trade and Investment WEthnic and Racial Migration WInfluential “Transnational” Organizations WInexpensive Travel and Communication

Internet Usage by Language Group, June 2001 Source: “Global Reach” (2001)

Postmodernism Postmodernism Involves WAn Eclectic Mixing of Elements From Different Times and Places WThe Decline of Authority  The Erosion of Consensus Around Core Values

Unconventional Beliefs, Christian Fundamentalists, U.S.A., 1989 Percent Source: National Opinion Research Center (1999). Belief ESP Spirits Visions

Confidence in Washington, (in percent) Year Percent confident “just about always” or “most of the time” Source: U.S. Information Agency ( : Vol. 1, 46; Vol. 2, 42).

Does Science Benefit Humanity? (in percent) Percent “will help” Source: World Values Survey (1994). Country U.S.A. Canada U.K. Mexico France Norway Japan

Rationalization WRationalization Involves W Applying the Most Efficient Means to Achieve Given Goals W Unintended, Negative Consequences of Doing So W Rationalization Is Evident in W The Growth and Operation of Bureaucracies  The Increasingly Regulated Use of Time

Consumerism WConsumerism W The Tendency to Define Our Selves in Terms of the Goods We Purchase. WExcessive Consumption W Puts Limits on Who We Can Become W Constrains Our Capacity to Dissent From Mainstream Culture W Degrades the Natural Environment

Advertising as % of GDP, U.S.A., Year Percent of GDP Source: Television Bureau of Advertising (2000).