Culture

Chapter Outline Culture as Problem Solving The Origins and Components of Culture Culture as Freedom and Constraint Culture as Freedom Culture as Constraint

Defining Culture Culture is a set of widely shared, socially transmitted ideas, practices, and material objects. Culture is created to deal with real-life problems and enable people to adapt to their environments. Sociologically speaking, culture should not be confused with high culture or popular culture.

Society Society is a number of people who interact, usually in a defined territory, and share a culture. Culture requires a society to persist.

The Origins of Culture 100,000 years ago, humans lived in harsh natural environments, were slower runners and weaker fighters than many other animals. They survived, prospered and came to dominate nature by creating cultural survival kits.

Cultural Survival kits Abstraction - creating symbols or ways of thinking that are not linked to particular instances. Cooperation - establishing norms, generally accepted ways of doing things, and values, ideas about what is right and wrong. Production -making and using tools and techniques that improve our ability to take what we want from nature.

Material and Nonmaterial Culture Material culture is composed of the tools and techniques that enable people to get tasks accomplished. Nonmaterial culture is composed of symbols, norms, and other nontangible elements of culture.

Language A system of symbols strung together to communicate thought. Allow us to share understandings, pass experience and knowledge and make plans for the future. In these ways, language allows culture to develop.

The Sapir-Whorf Thesis

We experience certain things in our environment and form concepts about those things. We develop language to express our concepts. Language itself influences how we see the world.

Ethnocentrism Ethnocentrism is the tendency to judge other cultures exclusively by the standards of one’ own. To develop a sociological understanding of culture, it is necessary to refrain from judging other societies by the standards of your own.

Two Faces of Culture: Freedom and Constraint 1. Culture provides us with an opportunity to exercise our freedom. 2. Existing culture puts limits on what we can think and do. In that sense, culture constrains us.

Culture as Freedom Freedoms that culture encourages include: Diversity Globalization Rights Revolution Postmodernism

Cultural Production Until the 1960s, most sociologists argued that cultural beliefs developed out of social necessity. More recently, sociologists who ascribe to symbolic interactionism are inclined to view culture as an independent variable, something that we actively create and interpret.

Cultural Diversity American society is undergoing rapid cultural diversification. Greater diversity has led to an increasing ability to choose how culture influences us.

Multiculturalism Highlights the achievements of nonwhites and non- Europeans in American society. Supporters argue that the curricula of America’s public schools and colleges should reflect the country’s diversity and recognize the equality of all cultures. Critics fear that multiculturalism is being taken too far and encourages conflict and cultural relativism.

Critics of Multiculturalism Negative consequences of multiculturalism: Teaching of multiculturalism distracts from core subjects. Fosters conflict. Encourages cultural relativism.

Cultural Relativism The belief that all cultures have equal value. Critics believe that by encouraging cultural relativism, multiculturalism encourages respect for practices and cultures that oppose traditional American values

Consider this… Cultural Relativism or Ethnocentrism? Female genital mutilation (FGM) includes “procedures that intentionally alter or injure female genital organs for nonmedical reasons.” FGM has no medical benefits and often results in pain and trauma Some cultures believe that FGM enhances fertility and that women are “masculine” if they have not experienced genital mutilation.

The Rights Revolution The process of socially excluded groups struggling to win equal rights under the law. Examples: women’s rights, minority rights, gay and lesbian rights, the rights of people with special needs Because of the rights revolution, democracy has widened and deepened. The rights revolution has also fragmented American culture

Globalization The process by which formerly separate economies, states, and cultures are being tied together and people are becoming increasingly aware of their growing interdependence. People are less obliged to accept the culture into which they are born and are freer to explore and combine other cultures into their own.

Postmodernism Culture

Another aspect of postmodern culture is the erosion of authority. 1950—Three-quarters of Americans expressed confidence in the government 2010—One-third of Americans expressed confidence in the government

Postmodernism Culture The third aspect of postmodern culture is the decline of consensus around core values.

Culture as Constraint Constraining forces include: Cultural Lag Rationalization Consumerism

Cultural Lag Occurs when changes in material culture outpace changes in values Technological advances sometimes conflict with and weaken religious values. Traditional values and cultural lag caused the United States to become one of the last countries in the world to allow homosexuals to openly serve in the military

Rationalization Rationalization is the application of the most efficient means to achieve given goals and the unintended, negative consequences of doing so. Mechanical clocks have led to the maximization of time, but also what is often described as a too-hectic life.

Consider this… How does this image illustrate the concept of rationalization?

Consumerism The tendency to describe ourselves in terms of the goods one purchases. The desire to be “good consumers” acts as a constraint on our lives. Consumerism subverts countercultural movements by transforming them into opportunities for profit

1. Which of the following is not an important human cultural capability? a. abstraction b. cooperation c. production d. ethnocentrism

Answer: d Ethnocentrism is not an important human cultural capability.

2. Which of the following is a fear that critics of multiculturalism have? a) Multiculturalism leads to cultural relativism and respect for abhorrent practices. b) Teaching multiculturalism in schools is taking time away from essential subjects such as English and math. c) Multiculturalism encourages conflict by causing political disunity. d) All of the above

Answer: d Critics believe that the three negative consequences of multiculturalism are cultural relativism, cultural conflict, and distraction from core school subjects.

3. The Sapir-Whorf thesis holds that: a. genes account for specific behaviors and social practices b. high culture is consumed mainly by upper classes and popular culture by all classes c. people are usually rewarded when they follow cultural guidelines and punished when they do not d. the language we speak influences how we see the world

Answer: d The Sapir-Whorf thesis holds that the language we speak influences how we see the world.

4. In Weber’s sense of the term, rationalization is: a. a justification for a deviant act b. the loss of faith in “Big Historical Projects” c. the application of the most efficient means to achieve goals and the negative consequences of doing so d. identification with core values such as individualism and success

Answer: c In Weber’s sense of the term, rationalization is the application of the most efficient means to achieve goals and the negative consequences of doing so.

5. According to sociologists, a society is composed of people who a. interact b. share the same territory c. share a culture d. all of these choices

Answer: d According to sociologists, a society is composed of people who interact, share the same territory and share a culture.

6. Which of the following are components of culture as sociologists define the term? a. languages b. symbols c. values d. all of the choices

Answer: d Languages, symbols and values are a components of culture as sociologists define the term.