1. BA116IU Introduction to Social Sciences Semester Autumn/1, 2009-2010 School of Business Administration IU – VNU HCMC 1 Instructor: Dr. Truong Thi Kim Chuyen USSH – VNU HCMC 10 - 12 Dinh Tien Hoang Str., Dist. 1, HCMC Phone: (08) 8298686 Email: kchuyen@yahoo.com

2. 2 Chapter 3 CULTURE Chapter Outline McGraw-Hill 2006 © Culture and Society Development of Culture around the World Elements of Culture Culture and the Dominant Ideology Cultural Variation Social Policy and Culture: Bilingualism

3. Culture and Society – Culture includes all objects and ideas within a society, values, customs, and artifacts of groups of people Does not refer to fine arts or intellectual taste █ Culture: totality of learned, socially transmitted customs, knowledge, material objects, and behavior McGraw-Hill 2006 ©

4. Development of Culture Around the World – All societies have developed certain common practices and beliefs. – Most human cultures change and expand through innovation and diffusion █ Cultural Universals McGraw-Hill 2006 ©

5. Development of Culture Around the World – Process of introducing a new idea or object to a culture – Innovation may take the form of either discovery or invention Discovery: making known or sharing existence of an aspect of reality Invention: when existing cultural items are combined into a form that did not exist before █ Innovation McGraw-Hill 2006 ©

6. Development of Culture Around the World – Globalization: worldwide integration of government policies, cultures, social movements, and financial markets through trades and the exchange of ideas █ Globalization, Diffusion, and Technology

7. Development of Culture Around the World – Diffusion: process by which a cultural item spreads from group to group or society to society █ Globalization, Diffusion, and Technology

8. Development of Culture Around the World – Technology: “cultural information about how to use the material resources of the environment to satisfy human needs and desires” (Nolan and Lenski 1999). Accelerates the diffusion of scientific innovations Transmits culture █ Globalization, Diffusion, and Technology

9. Development of Culture Around the World – Material culture: physical or technological aspects of our daily lives █ Globalization, Diffusion, and Technology Food Houses Factories Raw materials

10. Development of Culture Around the World – Nonmaterial Culture: ways of using material objects as well as: Customs Beliefs Government Patterns of communication Philosophies █ Globalization, Diffusion, and Technology

11. Development of Culture Around the World – Culture Lag: period of maladjustment when nonmaterial culture is still struggling to adapt to new material conditions. █ Globalization, Diffusion, and Technology

12. Development of Culture Around the World – Founded on Charles Darwin’s theory of evolution – Sociobiologists assert that many cultural traits are rooted in genetic makeup █ Sociobiology: systematic study of how biology affects human social behavior

13. Elements of Culture – Abstract system of word meanings and symbols for all aspects of culture. Includes speech, written characters, numerals, symbols, and gestures and expressions of nonverbal communication █ Language

14. Elements of Culture Language – Sapir-Whorf Hypothesis Language precedes thought. Language is not a given. Language is culturally determined.

15. Elements of Culture █ Figure 3.1: Mapping Life WORLDWIDE Source: Student Atlas of World Politics, 5 th Ed., John L. Allen, ©2002, McGraw-Hill/Dushkin

16. Elements of Culture Use of gestures, facial expressions, and other visual images to communicate Not the same in all cultures Learned just as we learn other forms of language █ Language –Nonverbal Communication

17. Elements of Culture Norms – Established standards of behavior maintained by a society To be significant, must be widely shared and understood

18. Elements of Culture Formal norms – Generally written down; specify strict punishments for violations Informal norms – Generally understood but not precisely recorded █ Norms –Types of Norms

19. Elements of Culture Mores – Norms deemed highly necessary to the welfare of a society, often because they embody the most cherished principles of a people Folkways – Norms governing everyday behavior █ Norms –Types of Norms

20. Elements of Culture Subject to change as political, economic, and social conditions of a culture are transformed █ Norms –Acceptance of Norms –Penalties and rewards for conduct concerning a social norm May be either positive or negative █ Sanctions

21. Elements of Culture

22. Values – Collective conceptions of what is good, desirable, and proper—or bad, undesirable, and improper— in a culture Influence people’s behavior Criteria for evaluating actions of others

23. Culture and the Dominant Ideology – Describes the set of cultural beliefs and practices that help to maintain powerful social, economic, and political interests Control wealth and property Control the means of producing beliefs about reality through: – religion – education – the media █ Dominant Ideology

24. Culture and the Dominant Ideology █ Figure 3.2: Life Goals of First-Year College Students in the United States, 1966-2003

25. Cultural Variation – Subculture: Segment of society that shares distinctive pattern of mores, folkways, and values that differs from the larger society A subculture is a culture existing within a larger, dominant culture Argot: Specialized language that distinguishes a subculture from the wider society █ Aspects of Cultural Variation

26. Cultural Variation Hippies Militia groups █ Aspects of Cultural Variation –Counterculture: subculture that conspicuously and deliberately opposes certain aspects of the larger culture

27. Cultural Variation – Culture shock: Feeling disoriented, uncertain, out of place, or fearful when immersed in an unfamiliar culture

28. Cultural Variation – Ethnocentrism: Tendency to assume that one’s own culture and way of life represents the norm or is superior to all others. – Cultural relativism: views people’s behaviors from the perspective of their own culture – Xenocentrism: Belief that products, styles, or ideas of one’s society are inferior to those that originate elsewhere █ Attitudes Toward Cultural Variation

29. Social Policy and Culture A program of bilingual education may instruct children in their native language while gradually introducing them to language of host society █ Bilingualism –Use of two or more languages in a particular setting, such as the workplace or schoolroom

30. Social Policy and Culture – Minority languages are common in many nations – Schools throughout the world must deal with incoming students speaking many languages █ Bilingualism –Languages know no political boundaries

31. Social Policy and Culture – It is difficult to reach firm conclusions because bilingual programs in general vary so widely in their approaches. █ Bilingualism –Do bilingual programs in the United States help these children to learn English?

32. Social Policy and Culture Demand coincides with the functionalist view that language serves to unify members of a society Recent decades have seen challenges to forced obedience to our dominant ideology – Conflict theory helps us understand some attacks on bilingual programs █ Bilingualism –Sociological Insights: For a long time, people in the United States demanded conformity to a single language McGraw-Hill 2006 ©

33. Social Policy and Culture Efforts to maintain language purity Programs to enhance bilingual education – Nations vary dramatically in their tolerance for a variety of languages █ Bilingualism –Policy Initiatives: bilingualism has policy implications largely in two areas McGraw-Hill 2006 ©

34. Social Policy and Culture – Policymakers in the United States have been somewhat ambivalent in dealing with the issue of bilingualism █ Bilingualism –In many nations, language dominance is a regional issue McGraw-Hill 2006 ©