culture - sociology pd

8/10/2019 Culture - Sociology pd

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Jon Witt

Alana Hermiston

2 nd Canadian Edition

SOC

2013 McGraw-Hill Ryerson Ltd. All rights reserved. 1


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CULTURE 3



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Culture and Society


Culture totality of our shared language,knowledge, material objects,practices and beliefs.

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The Development of Culture Around the World

Innovationprocess of introducing newideas or objects to a culture

Discoverymaking known or sharing theexistence of an aspect ofreality

Invention results when existingcultural items are combinedin a form that did not exist before


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Globalization and Diffusion


Cultural innovation can be highlyglobalized

Diffusion

process by which some aspect of culturespreads from group to group or society tosocietymass media, the Internet, immigration, and

tourism accelerate diffusion and transmission ofculturehas led to the cultural domination of developingnations by more affluent nations

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CHARACTERISTICS OF CULTURE

Learned Shared Transmitted Cumulative Human Dynamic Culture is socially constructed



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CHARACTERISTICS OF CULTURE Culture defines us and our way of life

providing us with an understanding of oursociety and our place in it. It provides us withcodes of behavior.

As a process it delivers the values of a societythrough products and other meaning makingforms (Campbell et. Al. 2012).

This can be both freeing and constricting.



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Material culturephysical or technological aspects ofour daily lives

Elements of Culture


Nonmaterial culture ways of using material objects as well

as customs, ideas, expressions, beliefs, knowledge, philosophies,governments, and patterns ofcommunication.

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Elements of Culture


Technologycultural information about how to usethe material resources of theenvironment to satisfy human needsand desires

Culture lagperiod of adjustment when nonmaterialculture is struggling to adapt to newconditions of the material culture.

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MATERIAL CULTURE Material culture includes items that you

can touch or feel. It is the STUFF ofeveryday life.

Examples are: buildings cars Electronics (computers, IPods, cells, tablets) clothing crafts and artifacts



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NON-MATERIAL CULTURE

Symbols Language

Gestures Values Beliefs Behavior Norms, Folkways, Mores, Laws



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SYMBOLS Make culture possible Symbols are those things that are

used to give meaning to somethingthat goes beyond what it actually is(Johnson, 2008, 39)

Symbols are one of the building

blocks of culture and the ideas thatserve to give things meaning and build the reality we live in (Johnson, 2008, 40)



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EXAMPLES OF SYMBOLS



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Elements of Culture


Language : system of shared symbols

Sapir-Whorf Hypothesis Language is not a givenLanguage precedes thoughtLanguage is culturally determined

Language may color how we see worldLanguage can transmit gender and racialstereotypes

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Elements of Culture


Nonverbal communication

use of gestures, facial expressions, andother visual images to communicatenonverbal communication is learned

nonverbal communication is differentin different cultures

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Defining CanadianPeople

Canadians believe in:

Equality

Fairness

Diversity

ToleranceHumanRights

Generosity

Freedom

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Formal norms

generally written; specify strictpunishments

Informal normsgenerally understood but not preciselyrecorded

Mores (Formal)norms deemed highly necessary to the welfare of a society

Folkways (Informal)norms governing everyday behaviour

Elements of Culture


Norms : established standards of behaviourmaintained by a society

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Elements of CultureNorms

not followed in all situations

weak norms may be ignoredmay be violated due to norm conflictadherence contingent on changes in

political, economic, and socialconditions


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Elements of Culture


Sanctions penalties and rewards for conduct

concerning a social normpositive sanctions include pay raises,medals, and words of gratitude

negative sanctions include fines, threats,imprisonment, and stares of contempt

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Culture and theDominant Ideology

2013 McGraw-Hill Ryerson Ltd. All rights reserved.22

Dominant ideologythe set of cultural beliefs and practices thatlegitimate existing powerful social, economic,and political interests

helps explain and justify who gets what and why in a way that supports and maintainsthe status quoMarx argued that a capitalist society has adominant ideology that serves the interestsof the ruling class

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Aspects of Cultural

Variation


Subculturesegment of society that shares distinctivepattern of mores, folkways, and values thatdiffers from the pattern of the larger society

Argot : specialized language that

distinguishes a subculture fromthe wider society

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Subculture Slang

2013 McGraw-Hill Ryerson Ltd. All rights reserved.24

Source: Luc Reid. 2006. Talk the Talk: The Slang of 65 AmericanSubcultures. Cincinnati, OH: Writers Digest Books.

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Aspects of Cultural Variation


Counterculture subculture that conspicuously anddeliberately opposes certain aspects of the

larger cultureHippiesTerrorist cells

Culture shockthe feelings of disorientation, uncertainty,and even fear that people experience whenthey encounter unfamiliar cultural practices

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Aspects of Cultural

Variation


Ethnocentrism

tendency to assume that ones ownculture and way of life representthe norm or are superior to all

others

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Aspects of Cultural Variation


Cultural relativism viewing peoples behaviour fromthe perspective of their own culture

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