CHAPTER 4

SOCIETY  People who interact in a defined territory  And share a culture Society & Culture-> Interdependent

Society

What is Culture?  Ways of thinking and acting  Material objects  That form a way of life

Culture

Culture: Two Categories 1. Material Culture  Physical things created by members of society 2. Non-Material (Symbolic)Culture  Ideas created by members of society

Material Culture  Physical objects people create and give meaning  Examples:  Homes  School buildings  Churches, synagogues, temples, mosques  Cell phones  Clothes  Cars  Computers  Books

Material Culture:

Material Culture

Non-Material Culture  Common elements:  Symbols  Language  Values  Norms

Non-material Culture  Rules of Etiquette for Eating: Japan

Non-material Culture Rules of etiquette for eating U.S.

Non-material Culture: Music

Symbols  Meaning recognized by people who share a culture  Humans create meaning

Symbols

Non-material / Symbolic Culture We communicate through:  Signs  Gestures  Language

Signs

Gestures

Language  System of symbols:  People communicate  Language:  Key to accumulating knowledge  Cultural Transmission  Passing culture one generation to the next

Human Languages: A Variety of Symbols Here the single English word “Read” is written in twelve of the hundreds of languages.

Sapir-Whorf Hypothesis  The way people think is strongly affected by their native languages.  Controversial theory by linguist Edward Sapir and his student Benjamin Whorf

Does language shape reality?  See and understand world through language  Cannot think without language  Language connects symbols with emotions

Does language determine thought?  In Chinese, only a single term luotuo ( 骆驼 )  In English the word is camel.  In Arabic, there are more than 400 words for the animal.  Eskimo language has many words involving snow. For example:  apun= “snow on the ground”,  qanikca= “hard snow on the ground”,  utak= “block of snow”

Language & Reality  In English, time & objects counted & talked about in same way  Time is objectified  In Hopi, concept of time as “becoming later”,  Not a physical quantity that you can “have”

Language and Reality

Language & Reality  English—a world of things  Time as commodity  Hopi—a world of events

Language & Reality   *** 

How Many Cultures?  One indication is language  7,000 languages

Words Past and Present 40s Slang  Take a powder  Fuddy-duddy  Gobbledygook  Eager beaver  Flip your wig  Lettuce  Pass the buck 60s & 70s Slang  Skinny  Can you dig it?  Spaz  Far out  Chill  Bread  A gas  Bug out

Language and Emotions  Language influences human emotional experiences  Words such as anger or sadness  Cultural artifacts of English language

Connecting symbols with Emotions

Values and Beliefs VValues CCulturally defined standards WWhat is desirable, good, and beautiful BBroad guidelines for social living BBeliefs SStatements accepted as true

American Values

Key Values of U.S. Culture RRobin Williams Jr. (1970) TTen values central to our way of life 1.Equal Opportunity NNot equality of condition but equality of opportunity 2.Individual Achievement & Personal Success 3.Material Comfort

4. Activity and Work OOur heroes are “doers” 5. Practicality and Efficiency  Practical over the theoretical 6. Progress 7. Science EExpect scientists to solve problems and improve our lives

8. Democracy and Free Enterprise Individual rights 9. Freedom Individual initiative over collective conformity 10. Racism and Group Superiority SSome people in the U.S. still judge others according to gender, race, ethnicity, and social class

Emerging Values Values change over time:  Material comfort  Personal growth U.S. always valued hard work Recently, increasing importance of leisure Time off from work for: Travel Family Community service

Norms RRules that guide behavior PPeople respond with Sanctions: RRewards PPunishments EEncourages conformity to cultural norms……Norbert Elias

Laws Norms established by an “authority”  Examples:  Speed limits  Income Tax  Crime

Mores (“more rays”) or Taboos  Norms widely observed  Great moral significance  Religious dietary restrictions  Polygamy  Pedophilia  Incest  Cannibalism

FFolkways NNorms for routine or casual interaction CCorrect manners AAppropriate dress PProper eating behavior

Sanctions  Shame  Painful sense that others disapprove  Guilt  Negative judgment we make about ourselves

Ethnocentrism People use their culture as standard to evaluate another group or individual Viewing other cultures as abnormal

Cultural Relativism  Understanding other cultures on their terms  Researchers: Use cultural relativism  Objectivity

High Culture & Popular Culture  High Culture  Cultural patterns of society’s elite  Popular Culture  Cultural patterns widespread among a society’s population

High Culture

Popular Culture

Applying Theory: Culture Society: The Basics, 9 th Edition by John Macionis Copyright © 2007 Prentice Hall, a division of Pearson Education. All rights reserved.