Understanding Culture Part One: Intro to Sociology and Development of the Sociological Imagination Agenda Objective: 1.To understand culture and its effect on individual and social behavior. 2.To define and understand habitus 3.To see how our habitus shapes our lives Schedule: 1.What is culture? 2.Understanding culture through an examination of baby names Homework: None

Two Perspectives in Modern Sociology Modern day sociologists tend to be divided over what they see as the primary “shaper” of human behavior: –Culture –Structure –(The interaction between the two)? Within each of the subfields we study we will see different sociologists adopting either a cultural or structural perspective to study issues like race, class, gender, etc.

Culture Generally speaking we might define culture as: –A set of shared attitudes, values, goals, and practices that characterize a group. Culture is reflected in: –Ways of Thinking –Ways of Acting –Material Objects

“American Culture” Is there an American Culture? What are its characteristics? –Ways of Thinking –Ways of Acting –Material Objects

How does American Idol reflect American Culture?

Culture as Habitus In contemporary sociology, culture takes on a slightly more nuanced definition. Sociologists speak of culture as habitus –Term coined by French sociologist Pierre Bourdieu in the 1970s. Habitus refers to the idea of culture as it exists in us and as shaped by our membership in certain groups (for example race and class). Habitus refers to a set of tastes, dispositions, and attitudes that we each hold as a result of our status positions. –For example, members of the intellectual elite often prefer the ballet while members of the middle class prefer to attend sporting events. –These taste differences that vary by class are examples of habitus.

Culture as Determinant of Human Behavior Sociologists who see culture as the primary determinant of human behavior thus argue that our tastes, attitudes, preferences derived from our membership in certain groups are what motivate our behavior.

Habitus and Lunch Sociologists argue that virtually all of our preferences, attitudes, and values are shaped by our membership in cultural groups. Even our literal tastes…like lunch! You might think of food preferences as being a matter of taste buds, but sociologists argue that the things that we eat and the tastes we like, are shaped more by our habitus than our taste buds! Think about what you had for lunch, how did your membership in certain groups (race, class, gender) influence what you ate?

Understanding The Effect of Culture on Behavior Through an Examination of Baby Names

Culture Activity Part One: –Share with the person sitting next to you the story of how you got your first name. Why did your parents name you what they did?

Culture Activity Part Two –Go to the website: Under the “Popularity of a Name” Section enter your name, sex, and “25” in the “number of years box” Make a rough graph of the results (perhaps graph the 5 years before you were born through the 5 years after you were born).

Understanding Culture with Baby Names What do your findings about your name reveal about the effects of culture of behavior? What might your name suggest about the power of habitus? –How might status positions (race, class) influence name preferences.

Understanding Culture with Baby Names Stanley Lieberson in A Matter of Taste (2000) suggests that parents balance the desire to have a unique name for their child with the desire to not have a name that is wildly divergent from the rest of children in their culture (American culture, racial cultures, class cultures). However, parents want their child to be recognized as special or as a unique human being, so they also don’t want to name their child something too generic or too common. What emerges from this naming process is a trend: Many names go in and out of fashion; trending up in popularity and then back down depending on shifts in culture: –Ex: Edward, Jacob, and Bella from Twighlight

The “Special Case” of African American Names Salon article How might the the uniqueness of African American naming, ironically not be unique at all, but rather represent an action done to signal membership in (and conformity to) a culture? Again, culture may shape behaviors even in situations where names are 100% unique…