Culture

Chapter OutlineCulture as Problem SolvingThe Origins and Components of CultureCulture as Freedom and ConstraintCulture as FreedomCulture as Constraint

Defining CultureCulture is a set of widely shared, socially

transmitted ideas, practices, and material objects.

Culture is created to deal with real-life problems and enable people to adapt to their environments.

Sociologically speaking, culture should not be confused with high culture or popular culture.

SocietySociety is a number of people who interact,

usually in a defined territory, and share a culture.

Culture requires a society to persist.

The Origins of Culture100,000 years ago, humans lived in harsh

natural environments, were slower runners and weaker fighters than many other animals.

They survived, prospered and came to dominate nature by creating cultural survival kits.

Cultural Survival kitsAbstraction - creating symbols or ways of

thinking that are not linked to particular instances.

Cooperation - establishing norms, generally accepted ways of doing things, and values, ideas about what is right and wrong.

Production -making and using tools and techniques that improve our ability to take what we want from nature.

Material and Nonmaterial CultureMaterial culture is composed of the tools

and techniques that enable people to get tasks accomplished.

Nonmaterial culture is composed of symbols, norms, and other nontangible elements of culture.

LanguageA system of symbols strung together to

communicate thought. Allow us to share understandings, pass

experience and knowledge and make plans for the future.

In these ways, language allows culture to develop.

The Sapir-Whorf Thesis

The Sapir-Whorf ThesisWe experience certain things in our

environment and form concepts about those things.

We develop language to express our concepts.

Language itself influences how we see the world.

EthnocentrismEthnocentrism is the tendency to judge other

cultures exclusively by the standards of one’ own.

To develop a sociological understanding of culture, it is necessary to refrain from judging other societies by the standards of your own.

Two Faces of Culture: Freedom and Constraint1. Culture provides us with an opportunity to

exercise our freedom.2. Existing culture puts limits on what we can

think and do. In that sense, culture constrains us.

Culture as FreedomFreedoms that culture encourages include:DiversityGlobalizationRights RevolutionPostmodernism

Cultural ProductionUntil the 1960s, most sociologists argued

that cultural beliefs developed out of social necessity.

More recently, sociologists who ascribe to symbolic interactionism are inclined to view culture as an independent variable, something that we actively create and interpret.

Cultural DiversityAmerican society is undergoing rapid cultural

diversification.

Greater diversity has led to an increasing ability to choose how culture influences us.

MulticulturalismHighlights the achievements of nonwhites

and non-Europeans in American society. Supporters argue that the curricula of

America’s public schools and colleges should reflect the country’s diversity and recognize the equality of all cultures.

Critics fear that multiculturalism is being taken too far and encourages conflict and cultural relativism.

Critics of MulticulturalismNegative consequences of multiculturalism:

Teaching of multiculturalism distracts from core subjects.Fosters conflict.Encourages cultural relativism.

Cultural RelativismThe belief that all cultures have equal value.

Critics believe that by encouraging cultural relativism, multiculturalism encourages respect for practices and cultures that oppose traditional American values

Consider this…Cultural Relativism or Ethnocentrism?Female genital mutilation (FGM) includes “procedures that intentionally alter or injure female genital organs for nonmedical reasons.”FGM has no medical benefits and often results in pain and traumaSome cultures believe that FGM enhances fertility and that women are “masculine” if they have not experienced genital mutilation.

The Rights RevolutionThe process of socially excluded groups

struggling to win equal rights under the law.Examples: women’s rights, minority rights, gay

and lesbian rights, the rights of people with special needs

Because of the rights revolution, democracy has widened and deepened.

The rights revolution has also fragmented American culture

GlobalizationThe process by which formerly separate

economies, states, and cultures are being tied together and people are becoming increasingly aware of their growing interdependence.

People are less obliged to accept the culture into which they are born and are freer to explore and combine other cultures into their own.

Postmodernism Culture

Postmodernism CultureAnother aspect of postmodern culture is the erosion of authority.

1950—Three-quarters of Americans expressed confidence in the government2010—One-third of Americans expressed confidence in the government

Postmodernism CultureThe third aspect of postmodern culture is the decline of consensus around core values.

Culture as ConstraintConstraining forces include:

Cultural LagRationalizationConsumerism

Cultural LagOccurs when changes in material culture

outpace changes in valuesTechnological advances sometimes conflict

with and weaken religious values.Traditional values and cultural lag caused the

United States to become one of the last countries in the world to allow homosexuals to openly serve in the military

RationalizationRationalization is the application of the

most efficient means to achieve given goals and the unintended, negative consequences of doing so.

Mechanical clocks have led to the maximization of time, but also what is often described as a too-hectic life.

Consider this…How does this image illustrate the concept of rationalization?

ConsumerismThe tendency to describe ourselves in terms

of the goods one purchases.The desire to be “good consumers” acts as a

constraint on our lives.Consumerism subverts countercultural

movements by transforming them into opportunities for profit

1. Which of the following is not an important human cultural capability?

a. abstractionb. cooperationc. productiond. ethnocentrism

Answer: dEthnocentrism is not an important human

cultural capability.

2. Which of the following is a fear that critics of multiculturalism have?

a) Multiculturalism leads to cultural relativism and respect for abhorrent practices.

b) Teaching multiculturalism in schools is taking time away from essential subjects such as English and math.

c) Multiculturalism encourages conflict by causing political disunity.

d) All of the above

Answer: d Critics believe that the three negative

consequences of multiculturalism are cultural relativism, cultural conflict, and distraction from core school subjects.

3. The Sapir-Whorf thesis holds that:a. genes account for specific behaviors and

social practicesb. high culture is consumed mainly by upper

classes and popular culture by all classesc. people are usually rewarded when they

follow cultural guidelines and punished when they do not

d. the language we speak influences how we see the world

Answer: d The Sapir-Whorf thesis holds that the

language we speak influences how we see the world.

4. In Weber’s sense of the term, rationalization is:

a. a justification for a deviant actb. the loss of faith in “Big Historical Projects”c. the application of the most efficient means to

achieve goals and the negative consequences of doing so

d. identification with core values such as individualism and success

Answer: c In Weber’s sense of the term,

rationalization is the application of the most efficient means to achieve goals and the negative consequences of doing so.

5. According to sociologists, a society is composed of people who

a. interactb. share the same territoryc. share a cultured. all of these choices

Answer: d According to sociologists, a society is

composed of people who interact, share the same territory and share a culture.

6. Which of the following are components of culture as sociologists define the term?

a. languagesb. symbolsc. valuesd. all of the choices

Answer: dLanguages, symbols and values are a

components of culture as sociologists define the term.