key geographical concepts and terms. culture culture trait culture region formal functional...

KEY GEOGRAPHICAL CONCEPTS and TERMS

CultureCulture traitCulture region

FormalFunctionalVernacular

Cultural diffusionExpansion diffusion

contagious expansion diffusionhierarchical expansion diffusion

Relocation diffusion

What is Culture?Culture is the set of learned behaviors and symbolic systems transmitted through socialization, as well as the set of material artifacts and systems used by a social group.

You are to your culture as a fish is to water: normally it is so thoroughly ubiquitous that you have no way of recognizing it; you can only know of its existence by temporarily leaping out (through thought or intercultural encounters)

“It's frightening to think that you mark your children merely by being yourself. It seems unfair. You can't assume the responsibility for everything you do -or don't do.”

Simone De Beauvoir

What is culture?Pervasive

Difficult to perceive from “inside”

LearnedTransmitted through socialization

SharedWhat makes “us” different from “them”

ContestedCulture includes forms of social control and oppression that are resisted and negotiated by those in the subordinate positionContestation may lead to occasional shifts in cultural norms

CULTURE TRAITS

Three types of culture traits

Traits are the essential elements of cultureartifacts (material)mentifacts (symbolic)sociofacts (organizational)

These three types of culture traits are interrelated: a trait like the can opener implies the can (artifact), which implies a market-based economy (sociofact), which implies the idea of money (mentifact), etc…

Tiny, fancy shoesWhat sociofacts and mentifacts might go along with these artifacts?

Tiny, fancy shoesWhat sociofacts and mentifacts might go along with these artifacts?

http://www.dynastyantiques.com/

Tiny, fancy feet!

Feet like this were considered pretty for over 1000 years in China

Part of Culture ComplexSociofacts:

ConfucianismChildren are expected to be subservient to adultsWomen are expected to be subservient to men

Status is displayed visually

Mentifacts:Tolerance for odd-smelling feetPhysical impairment is a sign of prestigeIn the “best” families women are dependent and helpless

Does Western culture include deformation of the

body?

An artifactA shape-altering device found as early as 3000 BC in CreteLater used by aristocratic US & European womenPopularized in 19th c.Narrowed waist to 15 inches or less causing health problems

Shortness of breathFaintingBack problems

Sociofacts linked to the use of the corset

Women needed help out of seats, up stairs, etc.Women were unable to engage in strenuous movements like sportsWomen made to be “delicate” and dependent

Mentifacts linked to use of the corset

A class-based body-image of the bodywomen without wasp-waists were seen as unfeminine, lazy, or immoralmiddle & upper class parents and girls saw corsets as necessary despite the pain & physical problems it caused

From an 1883 diaryWhile we were waiting for mother we witnessed [another teen] being most harshly laced by two other corseteriers, while she grasped an overhead bar they leveraged her laces almost brutally despite her painful groans... after brief pauses this process was repeated three times until her mother granted approval.. although her waist was wonderfully narrowed she clearly was in pain having to be assisted to a seat...

http://corsethome.eu.org/diary2.html

More than 50% of American girls in their teens see themselves as overweight63% of American girls in their teens have dietedOnly 14% are happy with their body size and shape

Why sell corsets?When you can market thousands of weight-loss products?In other words, these are the body-deforming artifacts that match our form of social organization (American sociofacts)

What other body-deforming artifacts in

American culture can you identify?

A “rite of passage”"Many kids will get them on when they're 10 or 11, and they'll be getting them off when they're starting to hit 13," Dr. Baarsvik said. "It's a real rite of passage. It kind of prepares them for the teen years."

http://www.s-t.com/daily/10-99/10-12-99/c01he206.htm#cut

What sociofacts and mentifacts are associated

with braces?

CULTURE REGION

Types of Culture RegionsFormal

Area where one or more traits can be found or is dominant

FunctionalArea tied together by a coordinating system (law, monetary system, roads, etc.)

VernacularArea that ordinary people (non-geographers) recognize as a region (e.g. New England)

What links a culture trait to a particular formal culture

region?

people in the region possess, believe, or do something particular

all of them, most, some, any?

is Austin part of Texas’ Hispanic culture region?is New Braunfels part of Texas’ German culture region?

From the New Braunfels c.o.c. website …

Culture complexesa culture complex is a closely related set of culture traitsSome links are historical

Germanic language Protestant religionRomance language Catholic religion

Some links are causalurban culture tolerance of lifestyle diversity

Multiple traits define overlapping culture regions (formal)

Edges of culture regionsexceptions to general pattern of culture complexestransition zonesareas of conflictareas of diffusion

CULTURAL DIFFUSION

Some Gallic Inspiration…

“An invasion of armies can be resisted, but not an idea whose time has come.”

Victor Hugo, 'Histoire d'un crime,' 1852

Cultural Diffusion DefinedAn increase in the spatial extent of a particular culture trait or culture complex either through movement of people through space (migration) or through the adoption of a culture trait by other groups.

PIZZAWhat was required before frozen pizza could become popular in the US?

saturation of market with electrical refrigerationdependence on the car for shopping tripsdemand for fast food

women in the workforce

changing attitudes about gender rolessmall familiesetc.

Map example: diffusion of religion

Types of Diffusion

Factors affecting diffusionbarriers to diffusion

different culture different languagedifferent religionetc.

lack of necessary infrastructurewhere are computers least likely to diffuse?where are large grocery stores least likely to diffuse?

Factors affecting diffusioncultural receptivity to diffusion

same culture same languagesame religionetc.

necessary infrastructureaffluencewhat else?

What is flowing today thanks to the Internet and other

technologies?

Ideas & informationValues & beliefsMoneyPeopleGoods People

Diffusion and cultureWhat kinds of innovations are Americans most receptive to?What elements of our culture accelerate diffusion?

What kinds of innovations are Americans least receptive to?What elements of our culture constitute barriers to diffusion?

Editorial: No need for cell phone law Amarillo Globe-NewsWeb posted Sunday, February 20, 20004:37 a.m. CT

Cellular telephones admittedly can be a nuisance - and even a potential threat to motorists and pedestrians. But is the potential threat deserving of another law on the books? Hardly. We prefer a stepped-up public education initiative to advise people of the hazards of operating a cell phone while at the same time operating a two-ton motor vehicle. To date, only three states - California, Florida and Massachusetts - have laws limiting cell phone use in cars. No state prohibits cell phone use. Several other states, including Texas, have considered such legislation. Our own view is that such a law starts the state down the proverbial slippery slope. What activity does the state prohibit next? Lighting a cigarette off the car lighter? Reloading a cassette tape or compact disc player? Switching channels on the car radio? Make no mistake about the dangers inherent in using cell phones while driving a car. Traffic records are replete with incidents involving people losing control of their car while operating a phone. Motorists should use discretion in dialing up a cell phone. Common sense would seem to dictate that using a phone in heavy traffic is a risky endeavor. A new law, however, isn't the answer to forcing people to behave responsibly while driving a car.

Opponents of laws regulating the use of cell-phones in moving vehicles argue that cell-phones are only associated with about 6% of vehicular accidents so they should not be regulatedIf that ratio applies to fatal accidents that means over 2,500 people die every year as a result of cell phone useCompare this to 978 deaths so far in Iraq, or the 3000 killed on September 11Conclusion: Americans are highly receptive to technological diffusion and concerned about corporate profits that Americans are much more accepting toward technological hazards than towards military or economic threats

QuestionAside from receptivity to technological innovations, what do you think are some other factors affecting the diffusion of cell phones worldwide?Per capita cell phones in US was around 50% in 2002Per-capita use is highest in Finland (84.5), Iceland (90%), Italy (92%), Israel (95%), Luxembourg (101%!), Taiwan (106%!)Why? Economic and industrial location factors: Nokia in Finland, prepaid phone cards in ItalyYouth culture and text messaging in TaiwanLuxembourg ease of national service coverage (???)