Chapter 4 Culture Copyright 2014, SAGE Publications, Inc.

A Definition of Culture Humans are continually immersed in culture. Culture acquisition is an ever-evolving, lifelong process of learning. Culture encompasses the ideas, values, and material objects that allow a group, even an entire society, to carry out their collective lives in relative order and harmony. Copyright 2014, SAGE Publications, Inc.

Culture Culture (and culture change) reaffirms rules governing behavior and establishes the boundaries of a group who shares that culture. All groups have culture, although what culture consists of is highly variable. Culture is relative to time, place, actor, audience, and historical moment. Copyright 2014, SAGE Publications, Inc.

The Basic Elements of Culture: Values Values are the general and abstract standards defining what a group or society considers good, right, just, and proper – and, by definition, what is considered bad, wrong, unjust, and improper. Values are the broadest elements of culture. Values express a society’s ideals. Copyright 2014, SAGE Publications, Inc.

The Basic Elements of Culture: Norms Norms are rules that guide what people do and how they live; they are the blueprint for behavior that is culturally shared. Norms tell people what to do and not do in specific situations People do not follow all norms in all situations – weak norms tend to be ignored or only loosely followed. Copyright 2014, SAGE Publications, Inc.

The Basic Elements of Culture: Norms Norms are reinforced through sanctions, which can be positive (rewards) or negative (punishments). Folkways: norms that are relatively unimportant and carry few sanctions. Mores: important norms whose violation is met with a severe negative sanction. Copyright 2014, SAGE Publications, Inc.

The Basic Elements of Culture: Material Culture Encompasses the artifacts that are reflections or physical manifestations of culture Includes clothes, homes, technology, toys, and even weapons Culture shapes these objects. Copyright 2014, SAGE Publications, Inc.

The Basic Elements of Culture: Symbolic Culture and Language Symbolic culture refers to the non-material aspects of culture. Two key forms are values and norms. Language – a set of meaningful symbols that facilitates communication - is an important aspect of symbolic culture that allows for the storage, sharing, and development of culture. Copyright 2014, SAGE Publications, Inc.

Cultural Differences: Ideal and Real Culture Ideal culture: what the norms and values of society lead us to think people should believe and do. Real culture: what people actually think and do in their everyday lives. Copyright 2014, SAGE Publications, Inc.

Cultural Differences: Ideology Ideology: set of shared beliefs that explains the social world and guides people’s actions. A dominant ideology is one upon which many people act. Copyright 2014, SAGE Publications, Inc.

Cultural Differences: Subcultures Subculture: a group of people who accept much of the dominant culture, but are set apart from it by one or more culturally significant characteristic. Subcultures can be grouped by interest, entertainment, fashion, vocabulary, or lifestyle. Copyright 2014, SAGE Publications, Inc.

Cultural Differences: Countercultures Counterculture: a group of people who are set apart from the dominant culture and their norms and values are incompatible with it. Their actions may be in direct opposition to those of the dominant culture. Examples include the KKK, hippies, antiwar activists, and computer hackers Copyright 2014, SAGE Publications, Inc.

Cultural Differences: Culture Wars A conflict between a subculture or counterculture and the dominant culture Can also refer to conflicts between dominant groups who differ on ideology Contemporary conflicts in Congress between conservatives and liberals Culture wars sometimes lead to the disruption of the social, economic, and political status quo. Copyright 2014, SAGE Publications, Inc.

Cultural Differences: Multiculturalism and Assimilation Multiculturalism: an environment in which cultural differences are accepted and appreciated by the majority dominant group. Assimilation: a form of adaptation to dominant culture by minority and subordinate groups. Can be forced (the Indian Education Act) or semi-voluntary (an immigrant family changing their last name upon entering a new country). Copyright 2014, SAGE Publications, Inc.

Cultural Differences: Identity Politics Identity politics: refers to any group’s use of power to strengthen their social position. Often involves tactics used by the minority group when the dominant group is unwilling to accept them Examples include the contemporary conflict over same-sex marriage Copyright 2014, SAGE Publications, Inc.

Cultural Differences: Cultural Relativism and Ethnocentrism Cultural relativism refers to the idea that aspects of culture need to be understood within the context of the culture within which they occur. It begins the process of recognizing differences in cultural values Ethnocentrism refers to the belief that the cultural practices and ideas of one’s own culture are superior to those of other cultures. Practicing ethnocentrism acts as a barrier to cultural understanding Copyright 2014, SAGE Publications, Inc.

Cultural Differences: High and Low Culture High culture has tended to be those practices and activities associated with societal elites, seen as the product of artists or skilled professionals, and thought of as aesthetically rich. Going to the opera or driving a Rolls Royce Low culture (sometimes called popular culture) has been associated with the practices and activities of the masses and is viewed as lacking in redeeming aesthetic qualities. Shopping at Walmart or listening to country music Copyright 2014, SAGE Publications, Inc.

Emerging Issues in Culture: Global Culture Globalization has led to a greater acceptance of shared values around the world. As ideas, information, products, and people flow across the globe, what people value has become increasingly similar. Cultural Imperialism: the idea that what affects global culture the most is the imposition of one dominant culture on other cultures. Cultural imperialism can devastate local cultures, particularly indigenous cultures. Copyright 2014, SAGE Publications, Inc.

Emerging Issues in Culture: Global Culture Americanization: the importation of a variety of cultural elements that are closely associated with American culture Cultural hybrids: the integration of different cultural elements into a single local culture Example: sitting in Albuquerque, New Mexico, eating green chili sushi, while listening to reggae music with your student colleague from Mali. Copyright 2014, SAGE Publications, Inc.

Emerging Issues in Culture: Consumer Culture Consumer culture: a culture in which the core ideas and material objects relate to consumption and in which consumption is a primary source of meaning in life. The meaning of “things” - and the people who consume those things - is found in which goods and services are purchased and in the social aspects of consumption. While it can be said that consumer culture is the culture of the West and modernity, it has been globalized to a great degree. Copyright 2014, SAGE Publications, Inc.

Emerging Issues in Culture: Consumer Culture Children in a consumer culture is perhaps the most controversial aspect of consumer culture. It is the idea that children are highly valued consumers, and are socialized into and actively involved in consuming Nontraditional settings for consumption include areas like health care (doctors, pharmaceuticals), higher education, and the Internet. Copyright 2014, SAGE Publications, Inc.

Emerging Issues in Culture: Consumer Culture Post-consumer culture: refers to losing the ability and/or the desire to consume. Can be instigated by economic insecurity or even the desire to consume less as a political orientation. Culture jamming: the radical transformation of an intended message directed at consumers. Typically instigated by the mass media, but much culture jamming occurs when independent social activists publicly take up and transform messages related to social issues. Copyright 2014, SAGE Publications, Inc.

Emerging Issues in Culture: Cyberculture The Internet is a site of an entirely new culture---a cyberculture. The Internet has the characteristics of a culture, including distinctive values (openness and sharing) and norms (don’t hack into websites). Copyright 2014, SAGE Publications, Inc.