Sociology, 12 th Edition by John Macionis Copyright  2008 Prentice Hall, a division of Pearson Education. All rights reserved. Culture The values, beliefs, behavior, and material objects that together form a people’s way of life

Sociology, 12 th Edition by John Macionis Copyright  2008 Prentice Hall, a division of Pearson Education. All rights reserved. CULTURE ai9pRv_t3y8http:// ai9pRv_t3y8

Sociology, 12 th Edition by John Macionis Copyright  2008 Prentice Hall, a division of Pearson Education. All rights reserved. Terminology Nonmaterial culture –The intangible world of ideas created by members of a society (Music, art, religion) Material culture –The tangible things created by members of a society (clothing, furniture, etc.)

Sociology, 12 th Edition by John Macionis Copyright  2008 Prentice Hall, a division of Pearson Education. All rights reserved. Figure 3.1 Human Languages: A Variety of Symbols Here the English word “read” is written in twelve of the hundreds of languages humans use to communicate with each other.

Sociology, 12 th Edition by John Macionis Copyright  2008 Prentice Hall, a division of Pearson Education. All rights reserved. Same Word--Different Expression Each method of displaying the word “read” is based on the language and ideas of a particular culture.

Sociology, 12 th Edition by John Macionis Copyright  2008 Prentice Hall, a division of Pearson Education. All rights reserved. Terminology Culture shock –Disorientation due to the inability to make sense out of one’s surroundings Domestic and foreign travel Ethnocentrism –A biased “cultural yardstick” Judging another culture based on your own culture. Cultural relativism –More accurate understanding because you judge a culture on it’s own standards.

Sociology, 12 th Edition by John Macionis Copyright  2008 Prentice Hall, a division of Pearson Education. All rights reserved. Culture and Human Intelligence Animals behavior is guided by instinct. Humans behavior / survival is guided mostly by culture. Man (Homo Sapien) developed mentally as they developed physically. The “birth of civilization” and the reliance on culture as a guiding force occurred 12,000 years ago.

Sociology, 12 th Edition by John Macionis Copyright  2008 Prentice Hall, a division of Pearson Education. All rights reserved. Culture and Globalization Past identification of culture was based on languages. Globally there are almost 7000 languages. –Languages or Dialects? The United States reports over 200 languages? –Do we see the U.S. as over 200 cultures?

Sociology, 12 th Edition by John Macionis Copyright  2008 Prentice Hall, a division of Pearson Education. All rights reserved. The Elements of Culture There are 4 elements which identify culture: Symbols Language Values and Beliefs Norms Gi_Oohttp:// Gi_Oo

Sociology, 12 th Edition by John Macionis Copyright  2008 Prentice Hall, a division of Pearson Education. All rights reserved. Symbols Anything that carries a particular meaning recognized by people who share a culture Societies create new symbols all the time. Reality for humans is found in the meaning things(symbols) carry with them. –The basis of culture; makes social life possible

Sociology, 12 th Edition by John Macionis Copyright  2008 Prentice Hall, a division of Pearson Education. All rights reserved. Symbols People must be mindful that meanings vary from culture to culture. W-7hMorvAhttp:// W-7hMorvA Meanings can even vary greatly within the same groups of people. –Fur coats, Confederate flags, etc.

Sociology, 12 th Edition by John Macionis Copyright  2008 Prentice Hall, a division of Pearson Education. All rights reserved. LANGUAGE A system of symbols and spoken word that allows people to communicate with one another. Establishes “Cultural Transmission”--how parents pass their culture on to their children. People see and understand the world through the “lens” of their language.

Sociology, 12 th Edition by John Macionis Copyright  2008 Prentice Hall, a division of Pearson Education. All rights reserved. Global Map 3.1 Language in Global Perspective Detail on next three slides

Sociology, 12 th Edition by John Macionis Copyright  2008 Prentice Hall, a division of Pearson Education. All rights reserved. Global Map 3.1a Language in Global Perspective–Chinese Chinese (including Mandarin, Cantonese, and dozens of other dialects) is the native tongue of one-fifth of the world’s people, almost all of whom live in Asia. Although all Chinese people read and write with the same characters, they use several dozen dialects. The “official” dialect, taught in schools throughout the People’s Republic of China and the Republic of Taiwan, is Mandarin (the dialect of Beijing, China’s historical capital city). Cantonese, the language of Canton, is the second most common Chinese dialect.

Sociology, 12 th Edition by John Macionis Copyright  2008 Prentice Hall, a division of Pearson Education. All rights reserved. Global Map 3.1b Language in Global Perspective–English English is the native tongue or official language in several world regions (spoken by one-tenth of humanity) and has become the preferred second language in most of the world.

Sociology, 12 th Edition by John Macionis Copyright  2008 Prentice Hall, a division of Pearson Education. All rights reserved. Global Map 3.1c Language in Global Perspective–Spanish The largest concentration of Spanish speakers is in Latin America and, or course, Spain. Spanish is also the second most widely spoken language in the United States.

Sociology, 12 th Edition by John Macionis Copyright  2008 Prentice Hall, a division of Pearson Education. All rights reserved. Language A system of symbols that allows people to communicate with one another Cultural transmission –The process by which one generation passes culture to the next Sapir-Whorf thesis –People perceive the world through the cultural lens of language.

Sociology, 12 th Edition by John Macionis Copyright  2008 Prentice Hall, a division of Pearson Education. All rights reserved. MUSIC AS A LANGUAGE IDENTIFIES A CULTURE mRuRp4cM&feature=relatedhttp:// mRuRp4cM&feature=related SxHdQZKIhttp:// SxHdQZKI

Sociology, 12 th Edition by John Macionis Copyright  2008 Prentice Hall, a division of Pearson Education. All rights reserved. Values and Beliefs Values –Culturally defined standards of desirability, goodness, and beauty, which serve as broad guidelines for social living. Values support beliefs. They define right and wrong. Beliefs –Specific statements that people hold to be true. –Particular matters that individuals consider to be true or false. –They define what people expect or allow.

Sociology, 12 th Edition by John Macionis Copyright  2008 Prentice Hall, a division of Pearson Education. All rights reserved. Sociologist Robin Williams’ Ten Values That Are Central to American Life 1.Equal opportunity 2.Achievement and success--Winner Mentality 3.Material comfort-Money Can buy happiness 4.Activity and work-The “doers succeed!” 5.Practicality and efficiency--Do don’t dream! 6.Progress 7.Science--Solve problems 8.Democracy and free enterprise 9.Freedom 10.Racism and group superiority Are some of these values inconsistent with one another?

Sociology, 12 th Edition by John Macionis Copyright  2008 Prentice Hall, a division of Pearson Education. All rights reserved. Values Sometimes Conflict Williams's list includes examples of value clusters.(values that support one another) Sometimes one key cultural value contradicts another. (#1 and #10) Value conflict causes strain. Values change over time. A Global Perspective Cultures have their own values. Lower-income nations have cultures that value survival and family. Higher-income countries have cultures that value individualism and self-expression.

Sociology, 12 th Edition by John Macionis Copyright  2008 Prentice Hall, a division of Pearson Education. All rights reserved. Norms Types –Proscriptive Should-nots, prohibited--(Casual sex) –Prescriptive Shoulds, prescribed like medicine-(Safe Sex) Mores and Folkways(as defined by William Graham Sumner) –Mores (pronounced "more-rays") Widely observed and have great moral significance Usually strict observance. Ex.--Improper relationships. –Folkways--Not as strict. Norms for routine and casual interaction Ex. --Proper greetings and dress. Rules and expectations by which society guides its members’ behavior

Sociology, 12 th Edition by John Macionis Copyright  2008 Prentice Hall, a division of Pearson Education. All rights reserved. Defined gender as a Norm. M-Q8Uhttp:// M-Q8U

Sociology, 12 th Edition by John Macionis Copyright  2008 Prentice Hall, a division of Pearson Education. All rights reserved. Figure 3.2 Cultural Values of Selected Countries Higher-income countries are secular-rational and favor self-expression. The cultures of lower-income countries are more traditional and concerned with economic survival. Source: Modernization, Cultural Change and Democracy by Ronald Inglehart and Christian Weizel, New York: Cambridge University Press, 2005.

Sociology, 12 th Edition by John Macionis Copyright  2008 Prentice Hall, a division of Pearson Education. All rights reserved. Social Control Guilt –A negative judgment we make about ourselves Shame –The painful sense that others disapprove of our actions Various means by which members of society encourage conformity to norms

Sociology, 12 th Edition by John Macionis Copyright  2008 Prentice Hall, a division of Pearson Education. All rights reserved. Ideal Versus Real Culture Ideal culture –The way things should be –Social patterns mandated by values and norms –Example--Faithfulness in marriage Real culture –They way things actually occur in everyday life –Social patterns that only approximate cultural expectations –Example--reality states that 25% of men and % of women are not faithful. –“do as I say not as I do”

Sociology, 12 th Edition by John Macionis Copyright  2008 Prentice Hall, a division of Pearson Education. All rights reserved. Material Culture and Technology Culture includes a wide range of physical human creations or artifacts. A society's artifacts partly reflect underlying cultural values. –Example--Americans regard for automobiles,clothing, food. In addition to reflecting values, material culture also reflects a society's technology or knowledge that people use to make a way of life in their surroundings. Technology is not equally distributed in our society. Americans tend to view cultures with little technology as inferior.

Sociology, 12 th Edition by John Macionis Copyright  2008 Prentice Hall, a division of Pearson Education. All rights reserved. Cultural Diversity High culture–Cultural patterns that distinguish a society’s elite. Popular culture–Cultural patterns that are widespread among society’s population. –Example--The difference between the violin and the fiddle! Subculture–Cultural patterns that set apart some segment of society’s population. Counterculture–Cultural patterns that strongly oppose those widely accepted within a society.

Sociology, 12 th Edition by John Macionis Copyright  2008 Prentice Hall, a division of Pearson Education. All rights reserved. jU6KOOvPdghttp:// jU6KOOvPdg KXGQw&feature=relatedhttp:// KXGQw&feature=related Not all people believe in diversity! HcTiU&feature=relatedhttp:// HcTiU&feature=related

Sociology, 12 th Edition by John Macionis Copyright  2008 Prentice Hall, a division of Pearson Education. All rights reserved. National Map 3.1 Language Diversity across the United States

Sociology, 12 th Edition by John Macionis Copyright  2008 Prentice Hall, a division of Pearson Education. All rights reserved. Multiculturalism Eurocentrism–The dominance of European (especially English) cultural patterns. ( Molefi Asante) Some people in this culture also embrace “Social Darwinism”. Afrocentrism–The dominance of African cultural patterns An educational program recognizing the cultural diversity of the United States and promoting the equality of all cultural traditions.

Sociology, 12 th Edition by John Macionis Copyright  2008 Prentice Hall, a division of Pearson Education. All rights reserved. Interdependence---The Cultural Change Culture integration –The close relationships among various elements of a cultural system--as one changes it affects other parts of the culture Example: Computers and changes in our language or More women in the workforce. Culture lag –The fact that some cultural elements change more quickly than others, which might disrupt a cultural system Example: Medical procedures and ethic. How does In vitro fertilization affect the cultural standards of “fatherhood”.

Sociology, 12 th Edition by John Macionis Copyright  2008 Prentice Hall, a division of Pearson Education. All rights reserved. Figure 3.3 Life Objectives of First-Year College Students,

Sociology, 12 th Edition by John Macionis Copyright  2008 Prentice Hall, a division of Pearson Education. All rights reserved. Culture Changes in Three Ways Invention–Creating new cultural elements –Telephone or airplane Discovery–Recognizing and better understanding of something already in existence –X-rays or DNA Diffusion–The spread of cultural traits from one society to another –Jazz music or much of the English language – h_shttp:// h_s

Sociology, 12 th Edition by John Macionis Copyright  2008 Prentice Hall, a division of Pearson Education. All rights reserved. Ethnocentrism –The practice of judging another culture by the standards of one’s own culture Cultural relativism –The practice of judging a culture by its own standards Ethnocentrism and Cultural Relativism

Sociology, 12 th Edition by John Macionis Copyright  2008 Prentice Hall, a division of Pearson Education. All rights reserved. Figure 3.4 The View from “Down Under” North America should be “up” and South America “down,” or so we think. But because we live on a globe, “up” and “down” have no meaning at all. The reason this map of the Western Hemisphere looks wrong to us is not that it is geographically inaccurate; it simply violates our ethnocentric assumption that the United States should be “above” the rest of the Americas.

Sociology, 12 th Edition by John Macionis Copyright  2008 Prentice Hall, a division of Pearson Education. All rights reserved. Is There a Global Culture? The Basic Thesis –The flow of goods–Material product trading has never been as important. –The flow of information–Few, if any, places are left where worldwide communication isn’t possible. –The flow of people–Knowledge means people learn about places where they feel life might be better. Limitations to the thesis –All the flows have been uneven. –Assumes affordability of goods –People don’t attach the same meaning to material goods.

Sociology, 12 th Edition by John Macionis Copyright  2008 Prentice Hall, a division of Pearson Education. All rights reserved. Theoretical Analysis of Culture Structural-functional –Culture is a complex strategy for meeting human needs. –Cultural universals–Traits that are part of every known culture; includes family, funeral rites, and jokes Critical evaluation –Ignores cultural diversity and downplays importance of change

Sociology, 12 th Edition by John Macionis Copyright  2008 Prentice Hall, a division of Pearson Education. All rights reserved. Inequality and Culture Social-conflict –Cultural traits benefit some members at the expense of others. –Approach rooted in Karl Marx and materialism; society’s system of material production has a powerful effect on the rest of a culture. Critical evaluation –Understates the ways cultural patterns integrate members into society

Sociology, 12 th Edition by John Macionis Copyright  2008 Prentice Hall, a division of Pearson Education. All rights reserved. Evolution and Culture Sociobiology –A theoretical paradigm that explores ways in which human biology affects how we create culture. –Approach rooted in Charles Darwin and evolution; living organisms change over long periods of time based on natural selection. Critical evaluation –Might be used to support racism or sexism –Little evidence to support theory; people learn behavior within a cultural system

Sociology, 12 th Edition by John Macionis Copyright  2008 Prentice Hall, a division of Pearson Education. All rights reserved. Culture and Human Freedom Culture as constraint –We only know our world in terms of our culture. Culture as freedom –Culture is changing and offers a variety of opportunities. –Sociologists share the goal of learning more about cultural diversity.

Sociology, 12 th Edition by John Macionis Copyright  2008 Prentice Hall, a division of Pearson Education. All rights reserved. Applying Theory: Culture

Sociology, 12 th Edition by John Macionis Copyright  2008 Prentice Hall, a division of Pearson Education. All rights reserved. Summing Up Sociocultural Evolution (continued on next slide)

Sociology, 12 th Edition by John Macionis Copyright  2008 Prentice Hall, a division of Pearson Education. All rights reserved. Summing Up (cont.)