Culture

1. Culture

2. Culture? • Culture is defined as the values, beliefs, behavior, and material objects that form a people’s way of life. • Various cultures have different ideas about what is ugly, what is beautiful, what is right, what is wrong.. • Society a group of people that live in a defined territory that participate in a common culture • What is the difference between culture and society: society has boundaries, cultures do not • Around the globe, people differ on issues such as religion; whether to live peacefully or remain constantly at war; whether to have many children, or only a few. • These differences give our world an amazing diversity. • Culture Standard Element (a): Describe how culture is a social construction: • Social behavior can be explained by culture- what people do and don’t do is largely a product of their culture • Culture is passed down from generation to generation – so it is entirely a human construction (meaning we created, it, and we keep it alive) • What are some examples of behaviors that we do in American that can be linked to our culture?

3. The Beginnings • The universe is 15 billion years old. • Earth, a baby by those standards, is 4.5 billion years old. • 3.5 billion years ago, life appeared on earth. • 65 million years ago, primates began to appear. • Primates had larger brains, could walk upright, and could manipulate their hands in order to perform various tasks. • 12 million years ago, the primates evolved into two different lines. • One of the primate lines were social, were affectionate with their mates and their children, and developed long-lasting social relationships. • 3 million years ago, our distant human relatives descended from trees in central Africa and began to hunt, gather, and live in socialized groups. • About 250,000 years ago, our species, the homo sapiens (thinking person), emerged and began developing tools and cave art. • Finally – 12,000 years ago – specialized occupations and the founding of permanent settlements in the Middle East and northeastern Africa (Iraq and Egypt) led to civilizations.

4. Element B: Identify the basic characteristics of culture • Nonmaterial culture is the intangible world of ideas created by members of a society. • Material culture is the tangible things created by members of a society. • Nonmaterial culture includes ideas such as aggression or peaceful living. One culture could believe in altruism while others cultures remain selfish. • Material culture could include everything from automobiles to zippers.

5. Element c: Explain the importance of culture as an organizing tool in society. • Culture brings people together • In a culture people share values, beliefs, religious views (sometimes), language, and symbols • These components of culture (the next part of your standard) is what shapes people’s behavior in a culture and it is what brings them together.

6. Each culture assumes that their way is the “natural” way. • Therefore, when people enter societies with cultures that differ from their own, people may feel uneasy or out-of-place. • Culture Shock is personal disorientation when experiencing an unfamiliar way of life. • No way of life is “natural”; the only “natural” part of every culture is the actual creation of culture. • Animals form cultures, but it is the creativity of humans that make our cultures so much more interesting and diverse.

7. Let’s be clear. • A culture is a shared way of life. • A nation is a political entity. • A society is the organized interaction of people in a nation or some other boundary. • The U.S., being a nation and a society, is multicultural because people follow various ways of life that blend together. • Multicultural = a society that follows the ways of a variety of cultures • Sociologists and anthropologists estimate that over 5,000 languages exist in the world. • There are 192 independent countries. • Overall, there are 5 Components of culture: • Symbols, language, values & beliefs, norms, and material culture (like technology)

8. Components of Culture • Standard element d: Describe the components of culture to include language, symbols, norms, and values. • Even though there is a variety of cultures in our world, all cultures include the following 5 components--these are what we will use to describe culture • Symbols • Language • Values and beliefs • Norms

9. Symbols!

10. A symbol is anything that carries a particular meaning recognized by people who share culture. • Symbols become so intergraded in culture that we do not realize how powerful symbols really are. • For example, in America going to watch a football is different than going to watch a football game in Great Britain, Spain, Argentina, etc. • A “thumbs-up” in the U.S. means “good job”, but in Australia, means “up yours!”… • A Hindu visiting North America would be offended by the all-American classic hamburger because in Hindu cultures, cows are sacred creatures – not food. • Even in the U.S., the Confederate flag divides people – 140 years later.

11. Language

12. Language • Language is a system of symbols that allows people to communicate with one another. • The words we speak are often different, and the way we write can differ as well. • In the west, most cultures write left to right. • Some Asian cultures write top to bottom, and northern African and Middle Eastern cultures write right to left. • Language is a cultural transmission, or the process by which one generation passes culture to the next. • Our language transmits our culture through an oral cultural tradition. • Language sets humans apart because it demonstrates our self-awareness of our self-conscious. . • Animals, such as dolphins and chimps, use language to communicate, but the language is limited.

13. The Sapir- Whorf Thesis • According to the Sapir-Whorf thesis, people perceive the world through the cultural lens of language. They believed that each symbolic system (or language) had at least a few unique words or expressions and emotions. • So, this theory states that our reality (what we know) is largely based on our language • One culture may have 5 words to express something that is important in that culture (i.e. think of all of the words that describe time in America). But other cultures may not have as many ways to express time. Or, they may not have a word for it at all

14. Values and Beliefs

15. Values are culturally defined standards by which people assess desirability, goodness, and beauty and that serve as broad guidelines for social living. These are broad ideas that describe what a culture likes. • Values=what ought to be • Beliefs are specific statements people hold to be true. • Values are abstract, beliefs are particular. • In the U.S., we value individualism, therefore our values and beliefs are hardly universal. • In nations such as China and Japan, the values and beliefs are much more homogeneous. • Sociologist Robin Williams identified ten values held near and dear to most Americans. • Equal Opportunity, Achievement and success, material comfort, activity and work, practicality and efficiency, progress, science, democracy and free enterprise, freedom, racism and group superiority.

16. Conflicting Values • Conflict between values reflect the cultural diversity of U.S. society. • Culture changes over time. • For example, many Americans believe in equal opportunity for all but many also oppose homosexuals participating in the military. • We have also become a culture of victims and are able to blame anyone and everyone else for our problems.

17. NORMS!

18. A norm is a rule or expectation that defines appropriate or inappropriate behavior. • Norms usually state what we “should not do”. These norms are proscriptive. • Norms that tell us what we “should do” are prescriptive. • The proscriptive norm would be to avoid having casual sex. • The prescriptive norm would be to practice safe sex regardless of the situation. • An example of a cultural norm would be the expectation that young children behave well in public situations. • We applaud after a music performance, but not usually after a eulogy at a funeral.

19. U.S. sociologist William Graham Sumner noticed that some norms are more important that others. • He came up with the term mores (more-ays). • A mores is a norm that is WIDELY observed and has a great moral significance. • We also call them taboos when adding a negative connotation. • Taboo = a norm that when violated calls for punishment • It is taboo for adults to engage in sexual activity with children.

20. A folkway is a norm for casual routine and is not as noticed as mores. • A mores establishes what is right or wrong. • A folkway establishes what is “right and rude”. • If a man violates a folkway and does not wear a tuxedo to a black tie affair, people may stare – but will go on with their lives. • If a man shows up to a black tie affair wearing ONLY A TIE – he would be violating a mores… • A LAW is a norm that is formally defined and enforced by officials in a society • So, there are 3 types of norms: mores, folkways, and laws • How do we control behavior in our culture?? It depends on the type of norm…

21. Controlling behavior • We use sanctions (people’s responses) as a form of social control. • A sanction could be an eyebrow raise at a certain comment, or the stern look a parent will offer a misbehaving child. • A sanction could also be a smile or a reassuring look. • There are formal sanctions (enforced by designated officials) and informal sanctions (enforced by most members of a culture)

22. Material Culture

23. Material culture • Nonmaterial culture: symbols, language, values and beliefs, and norms • Material culture includes the tangible elements of a culture • Sociologists refer to these human creations as artifacts • Example: forks and knives in the U.S.; chopsticks in China; clothing is another example • In the U.S., a cultural value is independence and individualism, and material culture that reflects that would be the automobile • Material culture represents the technology in a society

24. Cultural Diversity

25. Multiculturalism • United States is the most multicultural of all of the high income countries • Why? • between 1820-2000, over 65 million immigrants have come to the U.S. • Japan is the most monocultural of the high income countries • Do you think the United States is a melting pot? Or are we a salad bowl?

26. Back in the day, people studied a now defunct science called phrenology. • Phrenologists believed that personality was shaped.. By the shape of the human skull. • People with “high brows” were considered more intelligent – more “cultured”. • People with “lowbrows” were ordinary, common, ignorant. • Out of this bogus idea, we kept the term high culture referring to cultural patterns that distinguish a society’s elite. • On the other hand, popular culture refers to cultural patterns that are widespread among a society's population. • Polo is high culture, football is popular culture. • Classical music is high culture, top forty is popular culture. • There is no difference between a violin and a fiddle, but we call them by their respective names in an effort to classify the types of people who listen to classical and folk music.

27. The term, subculture, refers to cultural patterns that distinguish a segment of a society’s population • It is easy, but sometimes not accurate to place people in subculture categories • Examples of subcultures: young people who enjoy rap music, Yankees fans, computer “nerds,” etc. • Counterculture refers to cultural patterns that oppose those patterns that are widely accepted within a society • Often associated with the youth • Example: youth in the 1950s-60s opposed the mainstream ideas because they considered the mainstream society to be one that conforms and is materialistic

28. Ethnocentrism • People become committed and accustomed to the ways of their culture. Ethnocentrism identifies the tendency that people have to judge others in terms of their own culture. • Examples? • On the other hand, there are many cultural universals- which are traits that are the same in different cultures- examples?

29. Multiculturalism and Eurocentrism • Historically, the American society has defined itself as being primarily European, meaning we acknowledged our European roots (from immigration) • But, what about the other cultures that have contributed to America’s history? • People who want all cultures to be recognized as significant in America claim that many historians report information from a Eurocentric perspective • That is, the dominant cultural patterns that are recognized in America are European (and English) patterns

30. Theoretical Analysis of Culture AHHH! The Paradigms!

31. Structural-Functional Analysis • Culture is a way for humans to meet their needs • Cultural values brings people together • Values are the most important aspect of culture • Culture functions in a way that supports the human way of life • So, basically, the culture operates to help humans meet their basic needs • An example: • In Jewish culture, dietary laws exist. These laws lay restrictions against certain foods; these foods were often dangerous to eat (historically), and these laws helped promote the health of the Jewish people • Structural Functionalists also acknowledge cultural universals that exist- these are traits that are apart of every culture (family for example)

32. Social Conflict Analysis • Connection between culture and inequality • Cultural traits benefit some, and hurt others • Of course, this perspective will also look at wealth, and many social conflict sociologists will argue that material production (materialism) has an effect on culture • The rich and elite’s culture is the one that has more privileges • This culture dominates the other cultures in the society • This inequality will eventually motivate the society to change

33. Symbolic Interaction • Of course, this sociological perspective is interested in how symbols or symbolic thinking shapes the behavior of individual people • Sociologists would be the most interested in cultural symbols (of all of the components of culture) and how these symbols shape people’s behaviors • The same symbol can have a different meaning in different cultures • Culture is one factor that shapes human behavior

34. Sociobiology • Sociobiology: explores how human biology affects how we create culture • Based on Darwin’s theory of evolution • There is a large number of cultural universals, and that is because humans are all apart of the same species • i.e. the double standard of men and women • There is underlying “bio-logic” to cultural traits