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Chapter 3: Culture Culture the totality of shared language, ideas knowledge, material objects, practices and beliefs which

ch humans create and which shape our lived environment It is our total way of life, not just our language, The lens through which we perceive the world around us Our senses experience our external world in a physical way, but our culture allows us to interpret the meaning and significance of those sensations It is through culture that we establish a relationship to the external world Learned and shared We learn elements of our culture, it is not something we are born with Sharing cultures allows us to interact with one another Often taken for granted Society a number of people, usually geographically defined, who share a culture Society provides the context in which the relationship b/w our culture and external world develops Culture is created by the society in which exists, we create culture to define who we are One may experience high culture such as in Canadian society (ex. fine arts, ballet preferences associated w/ the upper class) or mass culture/popular culture (consumption of which crosses all classes) Innovation the process of introducing a new idea/object to a culture 2 main forms of innovation: Discovery the process of making known/sharing the existence of an aspect of reality (ex. DNA molecule) Invention results when existing cultural items are combined into a form that did not exist before (ex. abstract concepts such as democracy, TV) Diffusion process by which a cultural item spreads from group to group or society to society Cross-cultural exchange is occurring more quickly due to the permeable societal boundaries that were once closed due to the constraints of transportation/communication Ex. Starbucks in China, even though they drink mainly tea there Problems: globalization has led to the cultural domination of developing nations, people in developing nations often lose their traditional values and begin to identity with the culture of the dominant nations They may discard/neglect their native language/dress to imitate the icons of mass market entertainment/fashion Elements of Culture Material Culture The physical or technological aspects of our daily lives Tangible/physical things that we use in our culture Includes: food, houses, factories, raw materials, technology Serves to connect individuals with one another and to the external environment Allows us to establish a shared connection w/ one another and help us live our lives in the natural world Ex. Advances in technology especially in communication and transportation have linked individuals into a global network Technology Cultural information about how to use the material resources of the environment to satisfy human needs and desires We tend to think of technology as the physical object itself, but sociologist Lenski suggests it represents a way of knowing Problems: Material objects constrain us b/c even though it directs us toward certain ends it limits our awareness of possible alternatives

Technological change limits our capacity to interpret and understand the impact of such change Culture Lag a period of adjustment when the non-material culture is struggling to adapt to new material conditions Non material culture is often more resistant to change than material culture Ex. ethics of the internet concerning privacy and cencorship have not yet caught up with the explosion of the internet use

Non-material Culture Ways of using material objects, as well as customs, ideas, expressions, beliefs, knowledge, philosophies, governments, and patterns of communication Intangible, how we USE various things we developed (ex. how we use our money) Includes: Language, Values, Norms, and Sanctions Language A system of shared symbols (includes speech, written characters, numerals, symbols, and non-verbal gestures and expressions) The primary facilitator of culture b/c it provides day-to-day exchanges with others makes collective action possible Primary means in which we learn about our culture, how we get socialized into our culture Analysis of language gives us insight into cultures Ex. English language uses words related to war/military extensively conquering space, fighting the battle of the budget, bombing an exam, something great is the bomb An observer from another culture could predict the importance of warfare and military in Western cultures Ex. First Nations have multiple words for ice Sapir-Whorf Hypothesis the idea that the language a person uses shapes their perception of reality and therefore their thoughts/actions Language describes reality and shapes the reality of a culture It determines how we see and make sense of the world Ex. most people do not have verbal distinctions concerning ice = less likely to notice differences in types of ice It argues that since we conceptualize the world only through language, language precedes thought We perceive and think about the world through language, language expresses our thoughts Word symbols/grammar of our language organizes the world for us While words do construct reality they also reflect that reality Language is culturally determined and encourages a distinctive interpretation of reality Language shapes our reality Ex. Feminist words, different languages have varying ways of describing things, language can also transmit stereotypes (ex. adjectives for white vs. Black) Ex. One culture might not have a word for war b/c they dont need it, its not in their thoughts Non-verbal communication use of gestures, facial expressions, or visuals to communicate We learn these expressions from people who share our culture

Values a collective conceptions of what is good, desirable, and proper or bad, undesirable, and improper in a culture The general set of objectives that we share as members of society Tend to be abstract ideas, not concrete but they bring stability to a culture Ex. Honoring ones parent, owning a home, health, equality, benevolence, individualism, There is great variation in cultural values among society, however people within a society do not uniformly share its values Often contradicted by our behaviour (i.e., ideal vs. Real culture) what we claim to value and what we actually do Ideal what we say we value/do (ex. being environmentalist) Real culture what we actually do (ex. we drive cars daily) Ex. Even though Canadians support fairness and democracy, there are many students that cheat Ex. Canadians have always valued their privacy and resented govt intrusions into personal lives, but after 9-11this was ignored in order to provide protection against terrorism Norms an established standards of behaviour maintained by a society Values express our core beliefs, norms provide guidance for how to act They are concrete ways in which our values are put into practice (norms are developed from our values) Societies have ways of encouraging and enforcing what they view as appropriate behaviour while discouraging and sanctioning what they consider to be improper behaviour For a norm to be significant, it must be widely shared and understood Norms provide order but can change and change represents potential chaos However, not all norms are followed because people know that it is weakly enforced Sometimes behaviour that appears to violate societys norms may actually represent adherence to the norms of a particular group Ex. Teenage drinking Types of Norms: Prescriptive (what we should do) Ex. Wash our hands after using the washroom Proscriptive (what we shouldnt do) Ex. Dont cheat on exams Formal Norms (codified) a norm that generally has been written down and that specifies strict punishments for violators Specifies what the penalty would be if we dont live up to these expectations Laws formal norms enforced by the state (only one example of formal norms) Ex. requirement for a college/university major, rules of a card game Informal a norm that is generally understood but not precisely recorded Arent written down, subject to change Ex. standards of proper dress Types of Norms Classified by Importance to Society: Mores norms deemed highly necessary to the welfare of a society Embodies the most cherished principles of a people (our values) Important to social order, key to functioning society Violation can result in severe penalties May be institutionalized into laws (important)

Ex. criminal code, not only about laws (ex. includes adultery) Folkways norms governing everyday behaviour; violation results in less serious consequences Less likely to be formalized (but can still be written down) Related to issues of etiquette (ex. rules of personal space) Ex. fashion is a folkway - there is wide latitude in what we might wear, rules of Monopoly In many societies, folkways exist to reinforce patterns of male dominance females hang their clothes lower than men on clothesline Differences between these types of norms relate to the nature of the reaction their violation produces and not to the content of the norm Rudeness (folkways, certain expectations of how to behave) vs. Morality (mores, moral issues of what is right and wrong) Reaction when you break the norm tells you how important it is, need to take context (culture) into consideration Ethnomethodology study of ways in which people make sense of their everyday lives Developed by Harold Garfinkel who conducted breaching experiments to help reveal the taken-for-granted nature of our shared understandings and expectations that make social interaction possible He had people act in violation of everyday norms ex. responding in details to a simple question, or treating family members as strangers

Sanctions Penalties and rewards for conduct concerning a social norm (negative or positive) Used to enforce social order and to influence future behaviour Adhering to norms can lead to positive sanctions And violating norms lead to negative sanctions However, most people have internalized societys norms and regulate their own behaviour most of the time we dont need others to sanction our acts Dominant Ideology a set of cultural beliefs and practices that legitimates existing powerful social, economic, and political interests Helps to explain and justify who gets what and why in a way that supports and maintains the status quo The establishment of dominant ideology is one of the ways culture can function to maintain the privileges of certain groups While culture helps to unify and provide meaning, it also serves the interest of individuals/groups to the detriments of others Some benefit from existing norms/values, while others are denied opportunities/access to resources Conflict theorists (ex. Marx) argued that a societys most powerful groups/institutions control wealth and property With the dominant ideology, they also can control the means of producing beliefs about reality through religion, education, and media shape what we come to accept as true Feminist perspective points out how the dominant ideology has served to perpetuate hierarchical gender relations (women less than men restricted women from participating fully in society) Functionalists argue that culture is fundamental to the operation of a society, helping to fulfill our human needs They assume there is a consensus about what our culture is

Interactionist Perspective argues that shared culture facilitates communication and interaction within and between societies

Cultural variation Cultural universals common practices or beliefs shared by all societies Sociologists questioned whether there are any aspects of culture shared by all people wanted to discover whether there are fundamental laws of society These patterns = cultural universals Components of culture can be called universal if they are expressed in the most general terms Cultural universals are usually adaptations to meet essential human needs (ex. need for food, shelter, clothing) and also include sports, cooking, marriage Different groups address these human needs differently (ex. one may encourage arranged marriage the other may discourage) Sociobiology systematic study of how biology affects human social behaviour It looks at cultural universals from a biological perspective Sociobiologists argue that our thoughts/actions can be explained through our genes/biological makeup Subculture a segment of society that shares a distinctive pattern of mores, folkways, and values that differs from the pattern of the larger society Can be thought of as a culture existing within a larger, dominant culture (ex. Canada has the existence of many subcultures) Members of subculture participate in the dominant culture while engaging in unique and distinctive forms of bevhaiour Argot specialized language used by members of a group/subculture Ex. Medical jargon Allows members of subculture to understand words w/ special meanings and establish patterns of communication that outsiders cant understand Clarifies boundary b/w people and reinforces shared identity Counterculture a subculture that deliberately opposes certain aspects of the larger culture A subculture that seeks to set itself up as an alternative to the dominant culture Ex. 1960s hippies who dropped out of mainstream social institutions and rejected the pressure to buy expensive goods, they express desire to live a culture based on humanistic values (ex. Sharing, love) Ex. Hells Angels rejects values of society Culture shock the feelings of disorientation, uncertainty, and even fear that people experience when they encounter unfamiliar cultural practices Culture shock reveals both the power and the taken-for-granted nature of culture Ex. Students who study abroad face culture shock since they often have a difficult time adjusting b/c many little things that they took for granted, no longer apply those from Canada who go to China may face different culture customs Ex. Someone from strict Islamic culture may be shocked when seeing provocative open dress styles of Western culture Ethnocentrism the tendency to assume that ones own culture and way of life represent the norm or are superior to all others Ethnocentrism coined by William Graham Sumner The ethnocentric person sees their own group as the centre/defining point of culture and views all other cultures as deviations from what is normal

Ethnocentrism develops b/c it contributes to a sense of solidarity by promoting group pride, denigrating other cultures can enhance our own patriotic feelings but this social stability is established at the expense of others Cultural relativism the viewing of peoples behaviour from the perspective of their own culture In contrast, ethnocentrism evaluate foreign cultures using the familiar culture of the observer as a standard of correct bevhaiour Understand culture on its own terms (opposite of ethnocentrism) Cultural relativism places a priority on understanding other cultures It stresses that diff social contexts give rise to diff norms and values, we must examine cultural practices within the context of the cultures in which they are found

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