Characteristics of Culture

The Concept of Culture

Culture is Learned Culture is Shared

Culture is Based on Symbols

Culture Gives Meaning to Reality Functions of Culture

Culture and Change

Ethnocentrism and Cultural Relativism

What is Culture?
Superstructure: A cultures worldview, including morals and values, oftentimes grounded in religion Social structure: The rule-governed relationshipswith all their rights and obligationsthat hold members of a society together. This includes households, families, associations, and power relations, including politics. Infrastructure: The economic foundation of a society, including its subsistence practices and the tools and other material equipment used to make a living.

The Barrel Model of Culture

What is Culture?
The beliefs and behaviors of a society
Culture consists of abstract ideas, values, and

perceptions of the world that inform and are reflected in peoples behavior Culture is the lens through which we view our world, it invents our reality

Iceberg example

Culture is like an Iceberg

Culture is Learned
Rather than inherited biologically Enculturation: The transmission of culture from one generation to the

next Mammals in general display cultural behavior (I.e. we all have the urge to eat/sleep, but when we do/with whom/in what order is determined by our social relationships). With humans, our social rules are more varied and complex.
Ex: Social animalsLions, dogs, chimpanzees

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-VCJ1ybkjnA (Chimp Culture) If animals display cultural behavior as do we, should we also view animals through an Anthropological perspective? Sub disciplines of
Primate Behavior and Animal Communication deal with this question.

Culture is Shared
By members of a society and produces behavior that is

intelligible (able to be understood) to other members of that society Society vs. Culture
Society: An organized group or groups of interdependent people

who generally share a common territory, language, and culture and who act together for collective survival and well-being.

There can be no culture without a society, there are no known human societies that do not exhibit culture. Cultural Anthropologists focus on the Cultural aspect of society. The study of society itself is Sociology (very closely related discipline to Cultural Anthro).

Subcultures

Cultural variation between subgroups in societies that share an overarching

culture. Ex: Ethnic group (A type of subculture). People who collectively and publicly identify themselves as a distinct group based on various cultural features such as shared ancestry and common origin, language customs and traditional beliefs. Ethnicity: The expression of the set of cultural ideas held by an ethnic group Pluralistic Society: A society in which two or more ethnic groups or nationalities are politically organized into one territorial state but maintain their cultural differences Sometimes can lead to some pretty nasty misunderstandings Ex: Yearning for Zion Ranch Texas, Warren Jeffs, Polygamy Ex: Branch Davidians, Waco Texas Ex (book pg 33): Shetland pony seller Salt Lake City/Tongan B-day party