Culture can be understood as the sum of a society's symbols, values, norms and material objects. It is transmitted between generations and includes both material and non-material elements. Dominant cultures influence social institutions while subcultures reflect distinct norms and values. Cultural change occurs through processes like invention, diffusion and cultural lag as social changes occur at different paces than technological advancement.
Culture can be understood as the sum of a society's symbols, values, norms and material objects. It is transmitted between generations and includes both material and non-material elements. Dominant cultures influence social institutions while subcultures reflect distinct norms and values. Cultural change occurs through processes like invention, diffusion and cultural lag as social changes occur at different paces than technological advancement.
Culture can be understood as the sum of a society's symbols, values, norms and material objects. It is transmitted between generations and includes both material and non-material elements. Dominant cultures influence social institutions while subcultures reflect distinct norms and values. Cultural change occurs through processes like invention, diffusion and cultural lag as social changes occur at different paces than technological advancement.
and material objects that a society creates MATERIAL CULTURE: physical items that a society uses or makes NON- MATERIAL CULTURE: non-physical products of society CULTURAL TRANSMISSION: passing of culture from one generation to the next CULTURAL UNIVERSALS: elements that are common to all human cultures worldwide What is culture? DOMINANT CULTURE: usually but not always practiced by the majority and controls many of the social institutions SUBCULTURE: subset of the dominant culture that has distinct values, beliefs, and norms COUNTERCULTURE: group whose values and norms are in opposition to the dominant culture LANGUAGE: system of spoken and/or written symbols used to convey meaning and to communicate SAPIR-WHORF HYPOTHESIS: speakers of a different language think differently because of differences in languages What comes to mind when you see these two flags?
SYMBOLS: things/items that represent, suggest, or
stand for something else GESTURES: are symbols we make using our bodies Non-material culture: Values VALUES: shared general beliefs about what is desirable or undesirable, good or bad, or right or wrong IDEAL CULTURE: values and behaviours to which a society aspires REAL CULTURE: society’s actual value and behaviours Seymour Lipset: cultural traditions are shaped by historical circumstance Americans: rebellious, individualistic, egalitarian Canadians: respectful of authority, elitist, collectivist Non-material culture: Norms NORMS: relatively precise rules for permitted or prohibited behaviours INFORMAL NORMS: those norms that dictate appropriate behaviours without the need of written rules Garfinkel: examined customs in order to determine how tacit and unconscious nature of societal rules and norms BREACHING EXPERIMENT: researcher purposely breaks a social norm or behaves in a socially awkward manner in order to assess responses SANCTION: reward for following or punishment for violating a norm Non-material culture: Norms FOLKWAYS: informal norms that when violated do not evoke severe moral condemnation MORES (more-ayes): norms whose violation provokes condemnation and are a community’s more important values LAWS: formal norms that are enforced through social institutions TABOOS: norms based on the belief that such behavior is either too sacred or too accursed for ordinary individuals to undertake Cultural biases ETHNOCENTRISM: occurs when an individual uses his or her culture to judge another culture XENOPHOBIA: fear and hostility toward those from other countries or cultures XENOCENTRISM: perceiving other groups or societies as superior to your own CULTURAL RELATIVISM: making a deliberate effort to appreciate a group’s way of life without prejudice Cultural change CULTURE SHOCK: occurs when an individual encounters a culture foreign to his/her own and has an emotional response to the differences between the cultures GLOBAL VILLAGE: refers to the shrinking of the world through immediate electronic communications CULTURAL IMPERIALISM: global situation in which powerful culture industries dominate other local, national, and regional cultures Cultural Change Cultural change INVENTION: occurs when something is deliberately changed or made to produce something new DISCOVERY: occurs when humanity better understands or observes something that already exists DIFFUSION: occurs when an item or a method of doing things is transmitted to one culture to another CULTURAL LAG: when social and cultural changes occur at a slower pace than technological changes Symbolic interactionism Symbolic interactionists explore how small-group interactions create cultural elements Meaning behind elements of culture lie in how individuals interpret and use societal symbols, norms, and values SLUR: negative term use to depreciate members of certain groups, usually minorities RE-APPROPRIATION: process by which these groups reclaim/re-appropriate a slur Functionalism Functionalists examine how culture serves an important function in helping societies meet their basic needs and how culture helps to bind people together Malinowski: Magic provided a sense of control and confidence that enabled Trobriand Islanders to fish in the dangerous waters each day. Hence, it performed an important and rational function in their life Culture is so important that structural institutions (such as the media) may be called upon to direct and support the diffusion of certain cultural values Conflict Conflict theorists argue that the values and norms of society reflect the interests of the dominant groups and how those norms and values are maintained IDEOLOGY: set of ideas that legitimates existing inequalities of wealth and power AGGRESSIVE ASSIMILATION: Canadian government policy whose goal was to integrate Indigenous peoples into Canadian culture Feminist Feminist perspective emphasizes the importance of gender in social institutions and social interactions Androcentric bias means that women may be culturally invisible or devalued Feminism has brought about a cultural change in how women are viewed and in how they participate in society