Elements of Culture

ELEMENTS OF CULTURE Culture All things that make up a person’s way of life. 7 Elements Social Organization Customs & Traditions Language Arts & Literature Religion Forms of Government Economic System

1. Social Organization Definition: smaller units of a culture to create social structure and help people work together to meet basic needs

1. Social Organization Family-basic way to pass on culture – social controls: regulates individual or group behaviors Nuclear: immediate family typical for industrialized societies Vary in size based on culture and traditions Extended: several generations living in one household Common agricultural/traditional societies Economic unit

1. Social Organization Social Class – Social Groups Rank people by status Ways: money, education, job, heritage relative to culture and economy Social Mobility: ability to move social class Social Groups Members have similar interests

2. Customs and Traditions Def: rules for behavior/how a society expects people to behave = social controls Ways to express ideas, emotions, and pass on information Examples: ways you eat, sleep, greet, wear, obtain food, prepare food Vary in importance from daily behavior to right and wrong (written law)

3. Language Def: ways to communicate/express thoughts, feelings, emotions, and knowledge Basic way to pass on culture Helps unify and strengthen culture Issues of dialects All culture have language but not all develop forms of writing Verbal/Non-Verbal Digital Language

4. Arts and Literature Def: ways to express ideas information and emotions, teaches cultural values; performing arts Strengthens a cultures identity Express cultural pride Examples: music, visual arts (pictures), dance, stories

5. Religion Def: a person’s belief system that helps guide behavior and teaches basic values = social controls Where do we come from? How to act? Where are we going?

Cosmology: The study and explanation of the universe

1 3 Cyclical 2 2 1 3 Linear

Theology: A system of religious beliefs

5. Religion Monotheism Polytheism Worship one God Christianity, Islam, Judaism Polytheism Worship of many Gods Hinduism, Buddhism Sect: religious group, division, “branch” or faction

6. Forms of Government Def: a system for making decision for a society: order, protection, education people who hold power and make the laws

6. Forms of Government Types of Government: Democracy Republic People have supreme power Republic Representative democracy Dictatorship Ruler or group holds power by force A government that officially calls itself a "democratic republic" is usually a dictatorship Fascism

6. Forms of Government Types of Government: Autocratic/Authoritarian ruling with absolute authority Monarchy power or sovereignty held by a single person for life – inherited position - Ruling family Constitutional Monarchy has a written Constitution and has a monarch as Head of State

7. Economic Systems Def: how a society obtains food, clothing, and shelter - Distribute goods and services How people use limited resources to satisfy their wants and needs Answers: What goods and services should we produce? How should we produce them? For whom should we produce them?

Economic system Traditional Economy Market Economy Command Economy Produce what they need to survive Hunting and Gathering, Farming, and Herding Surplus is traded Market Economy Buying and Selling Command Economy Government controlled Individuals have little economic power Mixed Economy Individuals and Government make decisions Cars are a great example: People pick & Government sets standards

7. Economic Systems Examples of Economic Systems: Traditional economy People produce what they need to survive Hunting and gathering, farming, herding Market economy Free Market economy: people decided the basic economic questions based on supply and demand

7. Economic Systems Examples of Economic Systems: Command economy Government controls the economy and answers basic economic questions Individual has little input Mixed economy Bits of all economies Individual makes some economic decisions and the government makes others Most countries mixed economies

What determines cultural similarities and differences? Technology Availability of money History Relationship with nature Geography and climate