Chapter 2 Culture Counts

Chapter Outline Feral Children Culture Is Made Up Of Learned Behaviors Culture Is The Way Humans Use Symbols To Organize And Give Meaning To The World Culture Is An Integrated System — Or Is It?

Chapter Outline Culture Is A Shared System Of Norms And Values — Or Is It? Culture Is The Way Human Beings Adapt To The World Culture Is Constantly Changing Culture Counts Bringing It Back Home: Is There an American Culture?

Feral Children The concept of “feral” children has long been popular as a topic. There is no reliable evidence that any human child has been raised by members of another species. Many of these cases in Europe would probably be diagnosed as autism.

Feral Children Two of the most famous cases: “Peter the Wild Boy” — Germany, 1725 “Victor the Wild Boy of Aveyron” — France, 1790s Remus and Romulus Made society question the importance of culture and its effect on socialization of humans.

Culture is a manual Culture is our manual for understanding the world Example: Kissing Whom can you kiss? How can you kiss? When can you kiss? What is normal?

Characteristics of Culture Cultures are made up of learned behaviors. Culture is not transmitted genetically Process of acquiring culture is enculturation We acquire culture by growing up in it Example: Boy in California->watches TV->plays video games/sports->goes to school with professionally trained teacher->marries one wife Boy among Jie of Uganda->might play with cows- >learns from peers and elders->undergoes initiation ceremony->three or four wives at a time

CHARACTERISTICS OF CULTURE Most of what we do is learned Some of it is genetic/instinctual (the art of sucking/brick at your head) Learning versus instinct 1st half of 20th century, social scientists explained behavior in terms of instinct and genetics Example: Gypsies travel because they have “wanderlust” in their blood; People are born criminals. Biological determinism Anthropology favors the learned

Characteristics of Culture Culture is learned to the extent that it is taken for granted Example: Edward Hall: Study of time across cultures Monochronic: United States, Germany, Switzerland- time viewed in linear fashion, do one thing at a time, high value on punctuality, precise schedules, eat at “lunch time” Polychronic: Many things at one time, no particular value in punctuality, eat when one is hungry or with other people, more emphasis on socializing

CHARACTERISTICS OF CULTURE All cultures involve the use of language and symbols to organize and give meaning to the world Language consists of symbols Symbol: something that stands for something else Symbols enable us to store information And pass on information easily Major symbols in mainstream North American culture

Characteristics of culture Cultures are patterned and integrated Organic analogy Society is integrated- parts must work together Cultures are shared by members of a group For a thing, idea, or behavior pattern to qualify as cultural, it must have meaning shared by most people in society Makes life less complicated Example: Greeting someone in a formal environment in the United States Shake hands->not a hostile or sexual gesture Not sharing would mean constant culture shock Degree of sharing is different: small-scale, homogenous versus more urban, heterogenous culture->subcultures- >pluralistic societies->can create misunderstanding->coin rubbing

Characteristics of culture Norm: An ideal cultural pattern that influences behavior in a particular society Richard Gere in India Value: A culturally defined idea of what is true, right, and beautiful Subculture: A group within a society that shares norms and values that are significantly different from those of a larger, dominant culture within the same society Dominant Culture: The culture with the greatest wealth and power in a society that contains many subcultures

Characteristics of Culture Cultures are in some way adaptive. Populations adapt to the environment so they can survive and reproduce. Plasticity is the ability of humans to change their behavior with relative ease in response to environmental demands. Cultures are subject to change. Innovation: A new variation on an existing cultural pattern that is subsequently accepted by others members of society. Diffusion: The spread of cultural elements from one culture to another through cultural contact.

Perspectives Theory>>Perspective Anthropological theory: A set of propositions about which aspects of culture are critical, how they should be studied, and what the goal of studying them should be.

Theories in Cultural Anthropology Concept of culture-> central to Anthropology Edward Burnett Tylor (1832-1917) Definition: “…is the complex whole which includes knowledge, belief, art, morals, law, custom and any other capabilities and habits acquired by man as a member of society.” Concept is the key theoretical framework in understanding humans and their interactions.

Theories in Cultural Anthropology Unilineal Cultural Evolution or Cultural Evolution Edward Tylor and James Frazer- England Lewis Henry Morgan- United States Sought to organize data being collected by colonial and missionary enterprises Influenced by Darwin’s Biological Evolution Diversity of species due to gradual change over time due to environmental pressures Diversity in cultures represented different stages in evolution of human culture

Unilineal cultural evolution continued All cultures will “naturally” evolve through the same sequence of stages Savage-Barbarian-Civilized Explained similarities between cultures on independent invention Western culture- most evolved and civilized Above arrangement would help trace cultural evolution Where some cultures come from and where some are going Theory rejected by succeeding generations of anthropologists- Too Eurocentric, hierarchical, lacking adequate and objective data, Armchair anthropology.

American Historical particularism -Early 1800’s- Immigration to America- English, Scottish, German, Scandinavian -1880-1920- Eastern and Southern European immigrants- “not English speaking, not Protestant, not skilled” and not liked -“Beaten men from beaten races” -Opposing this nativist view- Franz Boas -1883- Arctic circle- study of Eskimo “I often ask myself what advantages our good society possesses over the savages, the more I see their customs, the more I realize that we have no right to look down on them. The idea of a cultured individual is merely relative.”

American historical particularism Franz Boas- “Father” of American Anthropology Rejected Unilineal Cultural Evolution Claimed culture arises from different causes, not uniform processes Each culture’s particular history must be studied to determine how it developed Explained similarities between cultures on diffusion- borrowing of cultural traits and patterns from other cultures Believed in powerful role of culture in shaping human life->study of 20th century study of immigrants- >research with children of immigrants from Europe Jewish immigrant himself

Culture and Personality Theorist Margaret Mead- student of Boas A theoretical approach that holds that cultures could best be understood by examining the patterns of child rearing and considering their effect on adult lives and social institutions Famous->promoted her findings and unique tools of Anthropology to American public

Culture and personality theorist Enculturation and powerful effects on cultural patterns and personality type Coming of Age in Samoa Sexual freedom and experimentation of young Samoan women Compared with repressed sexuality of young women in the United States Concept of teenage rebellion- cultural Suggested enculturation shaped difference in behavior- even behavior with powerful biological origins

Culture and Personality Theorist Ruth Benedict Culture affects personality Culture is personality “writ large” “The Chrysanthemum and the Sword” Book commissioned by U.S Government- WWII Criticisms- Did not go to Japan Did not speak to “actual” Japanese Generalized an entire culture

Ethnoscience A theoretical approach that focuses on the ways in which members of a culture use language to classify their world and that holds that anthropology should be the study of cultural systems of classification. For e.g.: some cultures have more than one word for ice/snow.

Ethnoscience Culture is a mental template that determines how members of a society understand their world Adolf Bastian- similarities in customs through the world->similarities in mental maps-> this similarity produces cultural similarities Ethnoscience is a technique within cognitive anthropology that focuses on the relationship between the mind and society.

Symbolic Anthropology Symbolic anthropologists try to understand a culture by discovering and analyzing the symbols that are most important to its members. These often reflect the deep concerns of the culture’s members in ways that may be difficult to articulate. Example: Sports Celebrities

Interpretive Anthropology Analyze culture like you would analyze a book Culture is an “ensemble of texts ... which the anthropologist strains to read over the shoulders of those to whom they properly belong.” (Clifford Geertz) Explore culture as a symbolic system in which even simple, seemingly straightforward actions can convey deep meanings. Example: difference between a wink and twitch of an eye Both involve same movement of eye muscle Meanings are different

Interpretive Anthropology Cockfighting in Bali, Indonesia. Every cultural action is more than the action itself; it is also a symbol of deeper meaning.

Functionalism Specific cultural institutions function to support the structure of society or serve the needs of individuals in society. Bronislaw Malinowski and A.R. Radcliffe Brown

Ecological Functionalism Theoretical approach that holds that the ways in which cultural institutions work can best be understood by examining their effects on the environment i.e. look at effect of the cow on the environment rather than on Hinduism itself. Marvin Harris- the sacred cow in Hinduism

Postmodernism Focuses on issues of power and violence Culture is a context in which norms and values are contested and negotiated. Sees culture and society as battlegrounds of fights for power and the right to determine what is accepted as true

Cultural Ecology Focused on the adaptive aspect of culture They investigate the ways cultures adapt to specific environments and the ways in which cultures have changed in response to new physical and social conditions.

Quick Quiz

1. Cultural characteristics include all of the following except: learned behaviors. smooth integration between parts. symbols and classification systems. maladaptive information.

Answer: b A culture may contain maladaptive behaviors, but not all parts of a culture must work together smoothly.

2. Anthropologists with training in cultural ecology might carry out which of the following research projects? Investigating social networks of single mothers and child rearing practices Eliciting the categories of foods that make up a ceremonial meal Measuring rice yield in rural Japanese villages Surveying cross-culturally the relationship between marriage and religion

Answer: c Anthropologists with training in cultural ecology might carry out a research project measuring rice yield in rural Japanese villages.

3. Which of the following anthropological research projects would be considered a good example of an interpretive/symbolic approach? An exploration of cricket as a commentary on British culture The ecological function of Hindu beliefs regarding not eating beef The social structure of middle-class Brazilian households Classification of medicinal plants by Samoan elders

Answer: a An exploration of cricket as a commentary on British culture would be considered a good example of an interpretive/symbolic approach.

4. When cultural innovations move from one society to another, it is called: juxtaposition. enculturation. acculturation. diffusion.

Answer: d When cultural innovations move from one society to another, it is called diffusion.