1. Chapter Two Culture
Society, The Basics
10th Edition
John J. Macionis

2. What is Culture?
Culture – the ways of thinking, the ways of acting, and the material objects that together form a people’s way of life
Only humans rely on culture rather than instinct to ensure survival.

3. What is Culture?
Nonmaterial culture – ideas created by members of a society.
Material culture – tangible things created by members of a society.

4. What is Culture?
Society refers to people who interact in a defined territory and share culture.
Culture shock refers to personal disorientation when experiencing an unfamiliar way of life.

5. How Many Cultures? One indication of culture is language
Global estimates document 7,000 languages
In the USA, there are about 200 languages
Upcoming decades will show the disappearance of hundreds of languages

6. The Elements of Culture
Although cultures vary, they all have five common components:
(1) Symbols
(2) Language
(3) Values and Beliefs
(4) Norms
(5) Ideal and Real
Culture

7. Elements of Culture Symbols
Symbols – anything that carries a particular meaning recognized by people who share culture.

8. Elements of Culture Symbols
Symbols – collective creations
General Marketing
Aimed at a total population
Segmented (section) Marketing
Aimed at a specific population

9. Elements of Culture Language
Language – a system of symbols that allows people to communicate with one another.
Language allows for the continuity of culture.
BBC

10. Elements of Culture Language
Cultural transmission (Oral traditions) – the process by which one generation passes culture to the next.
Every society transmits culture through speech.
                        
                              

11. The Sapir-Whorf Thesis
Languages are not just different sets of labels for the same reality.
All languages fuse symbols with distinctive emotions.
The Sapir-Whorf Thesis – people perceive the world through the cultural lens of language.

12. Don’t write
For example, Margaret Mead pointed out that some of the South Pacific people whom she studied did not have a word for "war" in their vocabularies. Interestingly, these people did not participate in war. So, the hypothesis is that we must be able to think of some phenomenon before we can name it or experience it.

13. Elements of Culture Values and Beliefs
Values – culturally defined standards by which people assess desirability, goodness, and beauty and that serve as broad guidelines for social living.
Values are abstract standards of goodness.

14. Don’t write
If someone values hard work, that someone will go out of their way to shower a hard worker with praise, bonuses and other benefits. If someone values honesty, they avoid lying and reward honesty from those in their lives.

15. Elements of Culture Values and Beliefs
Beliefs – specific statements that people hold to be true.
Beliefs are particular matters that individuals consider true or false.

16. Elements of Culture
Societies show significant cultural variations in their favorite sports.
Canada: Ice Hockey
Jamaica: Cricket
Thailand: Kite flying
China: tai chi chuan

17. Key Values of United States Culture
Robin M. Williams, Jr.
Equal Opportunity
Achievement and Success
Material Comfort
Activity and Work
Practicality and Efficiency

18. Key Values of United States Culture
Robin M. Williams, Jr.
Progress
Science
Democracy and Free Enterprise
Freedom
Racism and Group Superiority

19. Elements of Culture Norms
Norms – rules and expectations by which a society guides the behavior of its members.
Most important norms in a culture apply everywhere and at all times.

20. Elements of Culture Norms
Mores – norms that are widely observed and have great moral significance. (Ex. Rape)
Folkways – norms for routine, casual interaction. (Eating Big Macs, using Deodorant)

21. Elements of Culture Norms
Mores
Societal taboos such as:
Murder
Treason
Child sexual abuse
Inspire intense reactions
Punishment inevitably follows
(Right vs. wrong)

22. Elements of Culture Norms
Folkways (polite vs. rude) –
People chew quietly with mouths closed
Accepting one’s place in line
People avoid facing each other in elevators
No written rules
No one physically harmed

23. Technology & Culture Sociocultural evolution
Material culture also reflects a society’s technology – knowledge that people use to make a way of life in their surroundings.
Sociocultural evolution

24. Technology and Culture
hunting and gathering societies
horticultural & pastoralism
agriculture
industry
postindustrial information technology

25. Cultural Diversity Cultural diversity can involve social class.
Many cultural patterns are readily accessible to only some members of a society.

26. Cultural Diversity
High culture – cultural patterns that distinguish a society’s elite
Popular culture – cultural patterns that are widespread among a population.

27. Subcultures
Subculture – cultural patterns that set apart some segment of society’s population. (Ex: Amish and Mormons)

28. Multiculturalism
Multiculturalism – an educational program recognizing the cultural diversity of the United States and promoting the equality of all cultural traditions.

29. Multiculturalism
Afrocentrism – the dominance of African cultural patterns.
Eurocentrism – the dominance of European cultural patterns.

30. Counterculture
Counterculture – cultural patterns that rejects and opposes those widely accepted within a society.
Examples:
Hippies of the 60’s
Street Gangs
Hare Krishna
Extreme right-wing religious groups

31. Cultural Change
Cultural integration – the close relationships among various elements of a cultural system.
Some elements of culture change faster than others – cultural lag.

32. Cultural Change Cultural integration Women in the workforce
Examples:
Women in the workforce
Later first marriages
Change in family patterns
Increased use of day care

33. Cultural Change Cultural lag Contraception Increased availability
Examples:
Contraception
Increased availability
Use by adolescents
Medical Advances
Little or no ability to provide higher quality of life

34. Cultural Change Cultural changes New cultural elements Cell phones
Blackberry
iPhones
Diffusion
Spread of objects from one society to another

35. Ethnocentrism and Cultural Relativism
Ethnocentrism – the practice of judging another culture by the standards of one’s own culture.

36. Ethnocentrism and Cultural Relativism
Cultural Relativism – the practice of evaluating a culture by that culture’s own standards.
Cultural Universals

37. A Global Culture Global economy: the flow of goods
Global communication: the flow of information
Global migration: the flow of people

38. Theoretical Analysis of Culture
The structural–functional paradigm depicts culture as a complex strategy for meeting human needs.
The social–conflict paradigm suggests that many cultural traits function to the advantage of some and the disadvantage of others.
Sociobiology explores ways in which human biology affects how we create culture.