1 Cultural Change What causes cultural change? Why has the rate of change increased? The culture of always being in contact; except with the people you’re physically next to.

2 Overview of Cultural Change All Cultures Change Change generally occurs slowly All cultures both embrace and resist change

3 Cultural Change Most cultures are conservative and resist change Some cultures seem to embrace change – China is becoming more western Others, such as France actively work to resist change The fact is, all cultures are both embracing and resisting change at the same time KFC in Beijing, China

4 Resisting Change France has laws that try to preserve the French language from foreign words France makes it difficult for companies like Starbucks to open in France Older members of a society tend to resist change – they are often overwhelmed by the pace of change – this is called information overload

5 Information Overload Some people are overwhelmed by the rapid change of technology and culture. This is especially true of older members of a modern culture. This feel as if they are in an alien world – in many ways, they are. Many traditional cultures held elders and deep thinkers in high regard.

6 What causes Cultures to Change? Three Things: 1.Changes in the Natural Environment 2.Forces within a Society 3.Contact between Societies Forces within society led to a re-thinking of the role of women in American culture

7 Changes to the Natural Environment The natural environment affects people and people affect the natural environment – (human environment interaction). The environment and the culture are always related – they are interdependent on each other Clearing of forests in areas leads to new cultural patterns

8 Examples of changes to the Environment Climate change (end of the Ice Ages) Using up of forests Using up of arable land Using up of nonrenewable resources The end of the last Ice Age led to the invention of Agriculture (see map)

9 Environmental change Leads to… new inventions new ideas and ways of doing things migrations wars over resources Decrease in available fossil fuels will lead to alternative energy sources

10 Forces within a Society The second way cultural change can come about is changes within society Representative democracy replaced monarchy

11 Change can come from … New Ideas – like democracy, or equality for women New inventions – telephone replaces telegraph, replaced by cell phones, , and texting A portable radio.

12 Inventions & Society The culture and the inventions work together The cotton gin changed the course of American history in the early 19 th century

13 Remember, change is almost always resisted…. and embraced…

14 Striking at heart of Cultures… the family The automobile The television Career women Birth Control The Internet It seemed like such a great idea… All of these have had a profound affect on the American family.

15 Cultural Loss Old cultural patterns are replaced by new ones Hardly anyone today knows how to take care of a horse Many people fear that reliance on electronic devices diminishes actual human contact This is what worries some people…

16 The third cause of change is: contact with other societies Cultural diffusion – the movement of customs and ideas from one culture to another Acculturation – when traits from a culture diffuse and largely replace traditional cultural patterns

17 Diffusion Customs and ideas move from one culture to another American baseball has diffused all over the world Traditions and foods move into the United States

18 Acculturation & Transculturation Acculturation happens to an entire society – traits from another culture replace traditional culture Transculturation – when an individual moves to another society and adopts its culture. Modern American Indians have largely lost their own culture – it has been acculturated

19 Contact with other Societies Stimulus diffusion –an idea or invention that is sparked from from another culture… Writing systems are generally the result of stimulus diffusion – in otherwords, they are not invented independently Olmec writing System – developed independently

20 Why has the rate of change increased? Culture today are changing more rapidly than ever before. Technology lies at the heart of this. Especially transportation and communication technology. This graphic is actually a few years out of date

21 The Global Village The idea that modern communications and transportation technology move ideas around the world rapidly. When everyone around the world has quick and easy access to information its like we all live in a small village