MODULE 1: DEFINING CULTURE
LESSON 1: CULTURE
Culture is defined as 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.
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.
How Many Cultures?
• One indication of culture is language
• Global estimates document 7,000 languages
• In the USA, there are about 200 languages
• In the Philippines, there are about 170 + languages
• However, upcoming decades will show the
disappearance of hundreds of languages.
The Elements of Culture
Although cultures vary, they all have five common
components:
(1) Symbols
(2) Language
(3) Values and Beliefs
(4) Norms
(5) Material culture
(1) Symbols
This pertains to anything that carries a particular
meaning recognized by people who share the same
culture.
i.e. the gesture of doing a “mano po” to older people
symbolizes a sign of respect for Filipinos
(2) Language
It is a system of symbols that allows people to
communicate with one another. Language allows for the
continuity of culture.
(2.1)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.
(2.2)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. It means that
language possesses an ability to influence the person on
how to perceive the surroundings.
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.
(3) Values and Beliefs
Values are 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.
The Secret to Sustaining Success in Teams – Values
Values are the common language we connect on. In other
words, people from different backgrounds and belief systems
can connect and agree on common values. In relationships,
casual or personal this is the most important factor for
success. Think of your own personal relationships, we can be
comfortable around many different people and types of
people, but we are most comfortable with those whose values
we admire or are most similar to ours. Sports teams such a
Munster Rugby, Canterbury Crusaders or Liverpool football
club all have strong cultural values. Values fundamentally
dictate our attitudes and our behaviors, and those whose
behaviors we admire are those whose who we wish to be with.
However, if you are in a relationship where values are not
similar this eventually leads to discontent, mistrust and at best
uneasiness.
Influencing Values
Values are not fixed in stone and in many organizations,
we need to reinforce and encourage the values we’ve
agreed on. Following are the four main ways values can
be affected:
 Moralizing
“Do as I say”—giving verbal instruction, such
as, “You must treat each other with respect.”
Moralizing can get quick results among those
who welcome structure and respect authority,
but it usually fails to win over those who like to
think for themselves.
 Modeling
This is how many of use inherit values, we pick
them up from family and friends who act in a
certain way. This is a major method of influence
on young players when they join a locker room,
a cadet joins a military unit or any group – good
or bad, people are influenced by the actions of
others.
 Experimenting
“You figure it out”—laissez-faire leadership, in
which several concepts are introduced and then
people are left to go their own way.
Exploratory learners gravitate to this style.
 Clarifying
“We’re going to meet to talk about our values.”
This approach reiterates what the leaders believe
and what the organization stands for. Clarifying
can be combined with the previous three styles
to great effect. Unlike with moralizing, here the
group together explores and investigates what
the values of the team mean to each person.
Beliefs are specific statements that people hold to be
true. Beliefs are particular matters that individuals
consider as true or false.
The Foundation – Your Belief System
To understand culture, one must first understand people and
their belief systems. One key way that a culture — or team —
defines and distinguishes itself is through a set of ideas that
are held in common. But we all think differently, we all have
different belief systems – I’ve seen this first hand working with
teams and people all around the world. Although shared
beliefs can drive the thoughts and actions of an organization’s
members in the same direction, one’s beliefs also provide a
moral compass that guides everyone to make the best
decisions as they see fit.
(4) Norms
These are 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.
(A) Mores (right vs. wrong)
 norms that are widely observed and have great
moral significance.
 (i.e. rape, treason, and child sexual abuse are
generally perceived as wrong acts everywhere
in the world, as such it tells us that it is morally
wrong to commit those acts based on the norms
we usually follow.)
 Mores inspire intense reactions, and punishment
inevitably follows (right vs. wrong) if these
norms are not executed. Usually, the norms that
are considered as mores entail huge
punishment/intense disgust from the public
once these are not obeyed or done.
(B) Folkways (polite vs. rude)
 norms for routine, casual interaction (eating
rice as a usual part of a meal, using
deodorant/tawas, respecting others)
 (i.e. People chew quietly with mouths closed,
accepting one’s place in line, people avoid
facing each other in elevators)
  These have commonly no written rules but are
usually done by people. If you fail to practice
such folkways, some may have a little disgust
about it, but not that intense compared to the
degree of disobeying mores. No one is
physically harmed when folkways are not
executed.
(c) Taboos (right vs forbidden)
 behavior that are extremely unacceptable
 more on religious standard
e.g. cannibal, premarital sex
(D) Law (right vs illegal)
 penalized unacceptable behavior.
(5) Material Culture
Material culture also reflects a society’s technology –
knowledge that people use to make a way of life in their
surroundings.
Sociocultural evolution:
● hunting and gathering societies (foraging)- the first
society, depends on hunting for their food and is
nomadic.
● horticultural & pastoralism (slash and burns) - semi-
sedentary life; introduction of agriculture and they relied
on the domestication of animals.
● agriculture - sedentary life; introduction of new
methods in farming; establishment of permanent
settlement.
● industry- inventions of machines that improved
production; the rise of urban centers or cities
● postindustrial information technology -knowledge is
a commodity and technological innovation is the key to
long-lasting growth and development.
Other Concepts We Need to be Familiar when Talking
about Culture
Cultural Diversity - Cultural diversity can involve
social class. Many cultural patterns are readily accessible
to only some members of a society.
High Culture – cultural patterns that distinguish a
society’s elite.
Popular Culture – cultural patterns that are widespread
among a population.
Subculture – cultural patterns that set apart some
segment of society’s population. (Ex: Amish and
Mormons)
Multiculturalism – an educational program recognizing
the cultural diversity of the United States and promoting
the equality of all cultural traditions.
Afrocentrism – the dominance of African cultural
patterns.
Eurocentrism – the dominance of European cultural
patterns.
Counterculture – cultural patterns that rejects and
opposes those widely accepted within a society. i.e.
• Hippies of the 60’s
• Street Gangs
• Extreme right-wing religious groups
Cultural Integration – the close relationships among
various elements of a cultural system.
Cultural Lag - some elements of culture change faster
than others.
Cultural Changes - new cultural elements. i.e. usage of
cellphones, Blackberry, iPhones
Cultural Diffusion - spread of objects from one society
to another
Ethnocentrism – the practice of judging another culture
by the standards of one’s own culture.
Cultural Relativism – the practice of evaluating a
culture by that culture’s own standards.
A Global Culture
● Global economy: the flow of goods
● Global communication: the flow of information
● Global migration: the flow of people
LESSON 2
THEORETICAL PERSPECTIVES ON
CULTURE
Theoretical Analysis of Culture
Functionalism
- structural-functional theory
  sees society as a structure with interrelated
parts designed to meet the biological and social
needs of the individuals in that society.
Herbert Spencer (1820–1903)
 saw similarities between society and the
human body; he argued that just as the various
organs of the body work together to keep the
body functioning, the various parts of society
work together to keep society functioning
(Spencer 1898).
 The parts of society that Spencer referred to
were the social institutions, or patterns of
beliefs and behaviors focused on meeting social
needs, such as government, education, family,
healthcare, religion, and the economy.
Émile Durkheim,
 another early sociologist, applied Spencer’s
theory to explain how societies change and
survive over time.
 believed that society is a complex system of
interrelated and interdependent parts that
work together to maintain stability
(Durkheim 1893),
 and that society is held together by shared
values, languages, and symbols.
 He believed that to study society, a sociologist
must look beyond individuals to social facts
such as laws, morals, values, religious beliefs,
customs, fashion, and rituals, which all serve to
govern social life.
 Durkheim believed that individuals may make
up society, but in order to study society,
sociologists have to look beyond individuals to
social facts.
 Social facts are the laws, morals, values,
religious beliefs, customs, fashions, rituals,
and all of the cultural rules that govern
social life (Durkheim 1895)
 Each of these social facts serves one or more
functions within a society. For example, one
function of a society’s laws may be to protect
society from violence, while another is to
punish criminal behavior, while another is to
preserve public health.
Alfred Radcliff-Brown (1881–1955)
 defined the function of any recurrent activity
as the part it played in social life as a whole,
and therefore the contribution it makes to
social stability and continuity (Radcliff-Brown
1952).
 In a healthy society, all parts work together to
maintain stability, a state called dynamic
equilibrium by later sociologists such as
Parsons (1961).
 It is a repeated activity to make the whole
society function.
 Dynamic equilibrium: the whole society is not
disturbed.
Robert Merton (1910–2003),
 pointed out that social processes often have
many functions.
 Manifest functions are the consequences of a
social process that are sought or anticipated.
 A manifest function of college education, for
example, includes gaining knowledge, preparing
for a career, and finding a good job that utilizes
that education.
 latent functions are the unsought consequences
of a social process.
 Latent functions of your college years include
meeting new people, participating in
extracurricular activities, or even finding a
spouse or partner.
 Another latent function of education is creating a
hierarchy of employment based on the level of
education attained. Latent functions can be
beneficial, neutral, or harmful.
 Social processes that have undesirable
consequences for the operation of society are
called dysfunctions.
 In education, examples of dysfunction include
getting bad grades, truancy, dropping out, not
graduating, and not finding suitable
employment.
A GLOBAL CULTURE
Sociologists around the world look closely for signs of
what would be an unprecedented event: the emergence
of a global culture. In the past, empires such as those that
existed in China, Europe, Africa, and Central and South
America linked people from many different countries,
but those people rarely became part of a common
culture. They lived too far from each other, spoke
different languages, practiced different religions, and
traded few goods. Today, increases in communication,
travel, and trade have made the world a much smaller
place. More and more people are able to communicate
with each other instantly— wherever they are located—
by telephone, video, and text. They share movies,
television shows, music, games, and information over
the Internet. Students can study with teachers and pupils
from the other side of the globe. Governments find it
harder to hide conditions inside their countries from the
rest of the world.
Sociologists research many different aspects of
this potential global culture. Some explore the dynamics
involved in the social interactions of global online
communities, such as when members feel a closer
kinship to other group members than to people residing
in their own countries. Other sociologists study the
impact this growing international culture has on smaller,
less-powerful local cultures. Yet other researchers
explore how international markets and the outsourcing of
labor impact social inequalities. Sociology can play a
key role in people’s abilities to understand the nature of
this emerging global culture and how to respond to it.
Conflict theory
Karl Marx (1818–1883)
 looks at society as a competition for limited
resources. This perspective is a macro-level
approach most identified with the writings of
German philosopher and sociologist who saw
society as being made up of individuals in
different social classes who must compete for
social, material, and political resources such as
food and housing, employment, education, and
leisure time.
 Social institutions like government, education,
and religion reflect this competition in their
inherent inequalities and help maintain the
unequal social structure. Some individuals and
organizations are able to obtain and keep more
resources than others, and these “winners” use
their power and influence to maintain social
institutions.
Social Classes
- Capitalist (bourgeoisie)- middle class/ owner of
means production
- Working class ( proletariat)- sell their labor
Economy – Economic Determinism – social and
political arrangements in society are based of economic
relationships
CONFLICT-CLASSLESS= SOCIAL CHANGE.
Communism- everything is owned by everyone
Ludwig Gumplowicz (1838–1909)
 expanded on Marx’s ideas by arguing that war
and conquest are the basis of civilizations.
 He believed that cultural and ethnic conflicts
led to states being identified and defined by a
dominant group that had power over other
groups (Irving 2007).
 WAR+CONFLICT= SOCIAL CHANGE
Max Weber
 agreed with Marx but also believed that, in
addition to economic inequalities, inequalities
of political power and social structure cause
conflict.
 Weber noted that different groups were affected
differently based on education, race, and
gender, and that people’s reactions to inequality
were moderated by class differences and rates
of social mobility, as well as by perceptions
about the legitimacy of those in power.
 Because of ranking, it leads to conflict.
 Did not suggest an end point, only values and
ideas= social change.
Georg Simmel (1858–1918)
 believed that conflict can help integrate and
stabilize a society.
 He said that the intensity of the conflict varies
depending on the emotional involvement of the
parties, the degree of solidarity within the
opposing groups, and the clarity and limited
nature of the goals.

 Simmel also showed that groups work to create
internal solidarity, centralize power, and reduce
dissent.
 Resolving conflicts can reduce tension and
hostility and can pave the way for future
agreements.
 Both parties should meet half way.
In the 1930s and 1940s, German philosophers, known as
the Frankfurt School, developed critical theory as an
elaboration on Marxist principles.
Critical theory
 A critical theory attempts to address structural
issues causing inequality; it must explain
what’s wrong in current social reality, identify
the people who can make changes, and provide
practical goals for social transformation
(Horkeimer 1982).
Janet Saltzman Chafetz (1941–2006)
 feminist theory that attempts to explain the
forces that maintain gender inequality as well
as a theory of how such a system can be
changed (Turner 2003).
 critical race theory grew out of a critical
analysis of race and racism from a legal point of
view. Critical race theory looks at structural
inequality based on white privilege and
associated wealth, power, and prestige.
The social–conflict paradigm suggests that many
cultural traits function to the advantage of some and the
disadvantage of others.
Conflicts present in our society includes gender, race and
class struggles. The tendency of a given culture to
ascribe particular characteristics and roles is called
stereotyping.
Men and women are conditioned to act out roles in their
behavior and thinking which are determined by society
as appropriate. It is important to note and realize that
their stereotyped roles/characteristics and their fictitious
idea are assigned by society and therefore can be
challenged and undone.
(C) Sociobiology, the systematic study of the biological
basis of social behaviour. The term sociobiology was
popularized by the American biologist Edward O.
Wilson in his book Sociobiology: The New Synthesis
(1975). Sociobiology attempts to understand and explain
animal (and human) social behaviour in the light of
natural selection and other biological processes. One of
its central tenets is that genes (and their transmission
through successful reproduction) are the central
motivators in animals’ struggle for survival, and
thatanimals will behave in ways that maximize their
chances of transmitting copies of their genes to
succeeding generations. Since behaviour patterns are to
some extent inherited, the evolutionary process of
natural selection can be said to foster those behavioural
(as well as physical) traits that increase an individual’s
chances of reproducing.
Sociobiology has contributed several insights to the
understanding of animal social behaviour. It explains
apparently altruistic behaviour in some animal species as
actually being genetically selfish, since such behaviours
usually benefit closely related individuals whose genes
resemble those of the altruistic individual. This insight
helps explain why soldier ants sacrifice their lives in
order to defend their colony, or why worker honeybees
in a hive forego reproduction in order to help their queen
reproduce. Sociobiology can in some cases explain the
differences between male and female behaviour in
certain animal species as resulting from the different
strategies the sexes must resort to in order to transmit
their genes to posterity.
Sociobiology is more controversial, however, when it
attempts to explain various human social behaviours in
terms of their adaptive value for reproduction. Many of
these behaviours, according to one objection, are more
plausibly viewed as cultural constructs or as
evolutionary by-products, without any direct adaptive
purpose of their own. Some sociobiologists—Wilson in
particular—have been accused of attributing adaptive
value to various widespread but morally objectionable
behaviours (such as sexism and racism), thereby
justifying them as natural or inevitable.
Defenders of sociobiology reply that at least some
aspects of human behaviour must biologically influenced
(because competition with other species would select for
this trait); that evolutionary explanations of human
behaviour are not defective in principle but should be
evaluated in the same way as other scientific hypotheses;
and that sociobiology does not imply strict biological
determinism.
 using mobile phones to talk, text, take photographs, or
listen to music. As such, it democratized the self-portrait
– making possible the so-called “selfie”.

There are a lot of material objects that have contributed

to the changes in the way of our lives nowadays.

There are different ways to think theoretically about the

materiality of popular culture
i.e. Actor- Network-Theory, Cultural Studies,&
Material Culture.

A. Actor-Network-Theory
According to actor-network theory, popular
culture is not just people acting and interacting, it is
people acting and interacting with material objects
and material objects interacting with each other.
MODULE 1: DEFINING CULTURE
Example. Whether or not we use a bus or a car to travel,
LESSON 3: THE MATERIALITY OF POPULAR
wear formal or casual clothes to meet friends, drink wine
CULTURE
or water, or sleep on holiday in a tent or a hotel, these
material objects make a difference to the realization of
Culture is about making the world signify. It matters
our actions and interactions.
because signification helps organize and regulate social
practice.
Example: Taking a bus to work: This act involves the
bus, the driver, the passengers, the bus company, the
In a network, all the actor acts: there is a
roads, the city planning department, the fuel that powers
movement not between intermediaries but between
the bus, the technology that built the bus, and even the
mediators. Materiality is mute outside culture until it is
laws that regulate transportation.
made to signify by human action. Material objects have
to be realized as meaningful by social practice. When
Many of our activities are through material
different cultures share the same material object, what
objects of a variety of kinds. Anything that does modify
marks cultural differences is obviously not these objects
a state of affairs by making a difference is called an
but the different meanings of these objects and how
actor (Latour, 2007).
these meanings are realized in social practice.
The interaction between actors always takes
ABSTRACTION
place in networks. In other words, to understand one
Youth subcultures are an obvious example of the
thing, you have to see it in relation to other things; see it
visibility of materiality in popular culture, this can be
as part of a network. It is how something performs or is
seen through the drug of their choice, a particular dress
made to perform within a given network that determines
code, social spaces that are occupied, and a particular
its situated therefore temporary meaning and
music providing an aural landscape.
significance.
Further, most people's lives are filled with
i.e. public library exhibits a collection of photographs of
material objects. We interact with material objects in
a local community (although taken by different
many ways; we produce and consume them, we
individuals, the gallery would situate them all in a
exchange them, we talk about them and admire them,
network in which these differences of subject and
and we use them to say things about ourselves.
purpose would be diminished, as they would all be, at
Sometimes the material capacities of an object are such
least temporarily, of significance because of what that
that they transform what we do.
tell the exhibition's audience about the local area)
CAR: It has helped bring about a fundamental change in
Material objects can be mediators and intermediaries.
the popular culture of shopping -- not only how we shop,
but also who shops.
Intermediaries - convey meaning unchanged. Simply
conveying information without altering its meaning.
MOBILE PHONE: It is now impossible to walk down
the high street of any town or city and not see people
Mediators - transform, translate, distort, and modify the
meaning they are supposed to carry.
Object can become symbolic mediators, taking on new
meanings that go beyond their practical function.
E. g wedding ring- jewelry or symbol of love and
commitment.
i.e. Powerpoint and LED television/Projector (Both
technologies are fundamental to the experience of our
interaction in the class. Interaction between us involves
certain tech and these do not just work as
intermediaries, they act as mediators.)
A Bottle of Drink (at first it is an intermediary,
but when offered to woman by a man, it becomes a
mediator as it convey of an attempt to start a
relationship.
A network is 'a string of actions where each participant
is treated as a full-blown mediator.
In a network all the actors act: there is
movement not between intermediaries but between
mediators. 'As soon as actors are treated not as
intermediaries but as mediators, they render the
movement of the social visible'.
In a network there is not a transport of causality
between intermediaries but a series of connections in
which actors make other actors act.It is by recognizing
the interaction between the human and the material that
popular culture and everyday life become fully visible to
our analysis.
In other words, if we are to understand everyday
life, and popular culture as its primary feature, we have
to fully recognize the role of material objects.
As Latour argues, we should not think of the
social and the material as separate categories. It is the
weaving together of both material and social; that is, it is
human-to-human, object-to-object, and human-to-
object actions and interactions that make visible the
materiality of popular culture.
B. Meaning and Materiality
This admixture can take various forms: a text
message written on a phone, musical sounds produced
by human body, graffti painted on a wall, a toy loved by
a child.
Cultural studies defines culture as a realized
signifying system. Material objects surround us and we
interact with them and we use them to interact with
others. They accompany us through the shifting
narratives of our lives, becoming the material of our
emotions and our thoughts.
Popular culture is never just the materiality of
things; it is always a simultaneous entanglement of
meaning, materiality and social practice.
MODULE 2: POPULAR CULTURE AROUND THE
WORLD LESSON 4
A WESTERN POPULAR CULTURE
Western Culture is an incredibly broad term
used to describe the social norms, belief system,
traditions, customs, values, and so forth that have their
origin in Europe or based on European Culture. United
States of America for example, is firmly western in
culture. American culture is as diverse as American
people, drawing on the traditions of the nation’s many
immigrants. American culture also reflects the nation’s
democratic ideals, as Americans have pioneered in
forms of entertainment, such as baseball and movies,
which are aimed at mass audiences.
The east coast of the United States was
originally a British colony, and as America developed its
own independent nation, it carried with it many elements
of European culture. French Culture, Spanish Culture
and British culture are all sub-categories under the broad
loose category of Western Culture. Europe and much of
the western hemisphere is western in culture.
This is in contrast to Asia which is eastern in
culture and Africa which -you guessed it- has its own
unique African culture. Australia is largely western in
culture. Western culture is a pretty fluid and loose term
because it encompasses so much. Some of the central
characteristics of western culture include, democracy,
rational thinking, individualism, Christianity, capitalism,
modern technology human rights, scientific thinking.
Abstraction
Among the three effects of globalization on
culture, the growth of global “pop culture” tends to get
the most attention, and to strike people on a visceral
level. Many complain that this form of globalization is
actually Americanization, because the United States is
by far the biggest producer of popular culture goods.
Pop culture is manifested around the world
through movies, music, television shows, newspapers,
satellite broadcasts, fast food and clothing, among other
entertainment and consumer goods.
 For the United States, the entertainment industry
is one of the most important spheres of economic
activity. In fact, the U.S. entertainment industry
generates more revenue from overseas sales than any
other industry other than the commercial aerospace
industry. Many would say that this new juggernaut of
American industry has propelled the American pop
culture around the world at a frenetic pace.
Reality television is a popular medium for the
broadcast of American culture. One of the most
prominent examples is “Keeping up with the
Kardashians” which follows the family life of the
Kardashian family. The show has developed a dedicated
following internationally and has contributed to an idea
of a glamorous American lifestyle that is practiced by
the family. This reality show and other like it have
contributed to a rise of celebrities who are “famous for
being famous” (O’Rourke, 2011).
The growth of the influence of American
television has been mirrored within the film industry, as
well. Viewed from the perspective of other countries, the
dominance of the United States film industry in Europe
has been a rapidly and recently growing concern (Dager,
n.d).
The products of popular musicians are also
likely to be distributed by non-U.S. companies such as
Japan’s Sony, Germany’s Bertelsmann AG, France’s
Vivendi, or the United Kingdom’s EMI Group.
Similarly, American authors are increasingly published
by foreign media conglomerates.
Canada is one of the best examples of a country
where U.S. cultural products dominate despite the
Canadian government’s efforts to preserve local culture.
Canadian films account for just 2.1 percent of Canadian
film ticket sales, and the vast majority of the remaining
98 percent are American. In most other countries,
however, American cultural products are not as
widespread as they are in Canada, and they face more
domestic competition. In most cases, two general trends
can be observed:
 Many American cultural products tend to be popular
with people of very different societies.
 Despite the popularity of American cultural products,
other countries still produce a substantial number of
films, music, books, and TV shows.

Recently, countries in Europe such as France

have passed protectionist measures, to facilitate the
growth of the film industry domestically, which have
damaged the share of American films overseas. The
current share is 60-75 percent across Western Europe
(Hopewell, 2013).

American movies and television shows, which

are commonly referred to in trade parlance as audio-
visual services, are therefore an important commodity
among U.S. exports. This is perhaps doubly the case
with regard to inherently cultural products. Not only do
foreign nations worry about their own domestic
entertainment industries from an economic standpoint,
but they also worry about the effects on their culture.
For many citizens of other countries, American films and
televisions shows are not just another commodity.

I. The Spread of American Pop Culture

Globalization enables foreign companies to
distribute American cultural products, including music
and books. The spread of American restaurant chains
and consumer products worldwide is accompanied by
the spread of American popular culture. In recent years,
American movies, music, and TV shows have
consistently gained more and more audiences
worldwide.