The Meaning of Culture

Chapter 2 – Section 1

What Is Culture?

• Culture

– Shared products of human groups

• Physical objects

• Beliefs, values, and behavior

– Material Culture?

– Nonmaterial Culture?

– Society• Organization of a independent group of

people• What do they organize?

Components of Culture

– Technology

• Combination of objects and rules

– Symbols

– Language

• Organization of written and spoken symbols into a standardized system

– Values

• Shared beliefs

– Norms• Shared rules of conduct

– Folkways• Socially acceptable behavior

– Mores• Great moral

significance for society

– Laws• The written

rules of conduct in society

• Cultural Traits– Simple levels of culture

• Culture Complexes– Cluster of interrelated traits

• Culture Patterns– Combination of culture complexes

Cultural Variation

Chapter 2 – Section 2

What Do We Have in Common

• Cultural Universal

– All cultures have the same needs – Why are they different?

– Family as cultural universal

Variations Among Societies

• Cultural differences

– Inherited characteristics

– Cultural influences

• The Arapesh

– Society based on complete cooperation

• Shared work responsibilities between women and men

• Marriage arrangements for girls

• The Mundugumor

– Headhunter• Men and women

extremely aggressive

– Hostility between family members• Fathers linked to

daughter • Mothers linked to

sons

• Comparing the Two Societies

– Arapesh – living in the mountains• Farmers

– Mundugumor – living in a river valley• Gatherer

Studying Variation

• Ethnocentrism– Tendency to see one’s own culture

and group as superior

• Cultural Relativism

– Different cultures should be judged by their own standards

– Example – India

Variation Within Society

• Subculture

– Values, norms and behaviors not shared with the entire population

– Groups add diversity

• Counterculture

– Groups reject major values, norms and practices of the larger society

– Replaced by new set of cultural pattern

– Do they become a threat to society?