CULTURE

The beliefs, way of life, art, and customs that are shared and accepted by people in a particular society. Culture is the characteristics and knowledge of a particular group of people, defined by everything from language, religion, food, social habits, music and arts. A particular society that has its own beliefs, ways of life, art, etc.

The 4 Elements of Culture: 1. VALUES: General and abstract standards defining what a group or society as a whole considers good, desirable, right, or important – in short, it is ideals. The broadest element of culture is values. Values express a society’s ideas.

2. NORMS An informal rule that guides what a member of a culture does in a given situation and how that person lives. Based on values, norms are the informal rules that guide what people do and how they live. Norms are reinforced through sanctions, which can take the form of punishments (negative sanctions) or rewards (positive sanctions).

3. MATERIAL CULTURE All of the material objects that are reflections or manifestations of a culture. Includes clothes, homes, technology, and even weapons.

4. SYMBOLIC CULTURE AND LANGUAGE Symbolic Culture: Aspects of culture that exist in nonmaterial forms. Language: Is an important source of continuity and identity in a culture.

CULTURURAL DIFFERENCES: Ideal and Real Culture Ideal culture: Norms and values indicating what members of a society should believe in and do. Real culture: What people actually think and do in their everyday lives.

CULTURAL DIFFERENCES: Ideology Explains the social world and guides people’s actions. A dominant ideology is one upon which many people act.

CULTURAL DIFFERENCES: Subcultures A group of people who accept much of the dominant culture but are set apart from it by one or more culturally significant characteristics. Subcultures can be grouped by entertainment, fashion, vocabulary, or lifestyle.

CULTURAL DIFFERENCES: Countercultures and Culture Wars Countercultures: A group whose culture not only differs in certain ways from the dominant culture, but whose norms and values may be incompatible with those of the dominant culture. Includes hippies, antiwar activists, and computer hackers. Culture wars: A conflict that pits subcultures and countercultures against the dominant culture or that pits dominant groups within society against each other. Disruption of the social, economic, and political status quo.

CULTURAL DIFFERENCES: Multiculturalism and Assimilation Multiculturalism: The encouragement of cultural differences within a given environment, both by the state and by the majority group. Assimilation: The integration of minorities into the dominant culture.

CULTURAL DIFFERENCES: Identity Politics The use of a minority group’s power to strengthen the position of the cultural group with which it identifies. Examples include the conflict over same sex marriage.

CULTURAL DIFFERENCES: Cultural Relativism and Ethnocentrism Cultural relativism: The idea that aspects of culture such as norms and values need to be understood within the context of a person’s own culture and that there are no universally accepted norms and values. Ethnocentrism: The belief that one’s own group or culture- including its norms, values customs, and so on is superior to, or better than, others.

CULTURAL DIFFERENCES: High and Low culture High culture: A collection of cultural products that have tended to be associated with societal elites, to be seen as the product of artists or skilled professionals, and to be thought of as aesthetically rich. Low culture: A collection of cultural products, also referred to as popular culture, that tended to be associated with masses, homogenized, standardized products of massive corporations, and aesthetic qualities.

Emerging Issues in Culture: Global Culture Globalization: The increasing fluidity of global flows and the structures that expedite and impede those flows. Cultural imperialism: The imposition of one culture, more or less consciously, on other cultures. Americanization: The importation by other countries of products, image, technologies, practices, norms, values, and behaviors that are closely associated with the United States.

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. Culture jamming: The radical transformation of an intended message in popular culture, especially one associated with the mass media, to protest underlying realities of which consumers may be unaware.

Emerging Issues in Culture: Cyber Culture An emerging online culture that has the characteristics of all culture, including distinctive values and norms.

CULTURE AROUND THE WORLD These Photos Transport You to a Muslim Wedding in Europe. In Ribnovo, Bulgaria, the traditional winter weddings of Slavic Muslims—aka Pomaks—span two days and involve the entire village. Ribnovo Pomak weddings last for two full days, spanning all of Saturday and Sunday. Every winter weekend in Ribnovo, you can see people dancing, eating, and building elaborate bedrooms to celebrate new brides and grooms… http://news.nationalgeographic.com/2016/04/160427-pictures-wedding-ceremony- islam-bulgaria-pomaks/ The party Wedding Dress and make up The wedding

Why I Chose This Topic. Preservation of traditions and cultures rise of individualism. Globalization has brought us a lot of not beneficial for everyone. Treat globalization with moderation. I feel comfortable talking or writing about this chapter. We all are the same even if we have different ideology in culture, religion, ethic, life style, and norms. Be more aware about others cultures and their belief.