What is Culture?

• Material Culture is tangible artifacts that can be physically left behind, such as clothing or architecture

• Non-material Culture is thoughts and ideas of a people, such as religion and laws

• Habit- A repetitive act that a particular individual performs

• Custom-A repetitive act of a group, performed to the extent that it becomes characteristic of the group.

• Relocation Diffusion- The spread of a characteristic through migration.

• Taboo-A restriction on behavior imposed by social custom.

Carl Sauer

• Wherever a human culture exists, a cultural landscape exists as that culture’s unique “fingerprint: on their space on Earth

Sequent Occupancy

• The theory that a place can be occupied by different groups of people, and each group leaves its imprint on the place from which the next group leaves

Romans 43

Saxons 453

Vikings 793

Normans 1066

Tudors 1484

How did these invaders change Great Britain?

“Does the Earth make humans take the actions they do?

Environmental Determinism vs. Possibilism

• Theory that argues that human behavior is controlled (determined) by the physical environment

• Theory that argues that the natural environment places limits on the set of choices (possibilities) available to people.

Vegas Baby!

Cultural Determinism• The theory that the

environment places no limits or restrictions on humans whatsoever

• The only restriction is self created

• Golf course in the desert? – Pipe in the water– Use grass seeds which require

less watering

The Pearl, Qatar

Political Ecology

• Government of a region affects the environment in that region, which in turn affects the choices available to people– Ex) Zoning Laws

Cultural Diffusion vs. Spatial Diffusion

• The spread of people’s culture across space

• The spread of any phenomenon across space– Disease– Drugs

Types of Expansion Diffusion• The cultural component spreads outward to

new places while remaining strong in the hearth, or place of origin

• Stimulus Expansion- occurs when the original idea diffuses from its hearth outward, but the original idea is changed by new adapters– Iced Tea diffused south, but southerners made it

“sweet tea”

Expansion Diffusion continued• Hierarchical Expansion-

occurs when the concept spreads from one place/person of power to another leveled pattern– Hip Hop diffused from a

few large inner cities to other large inner cities to smaller inner cities to suburbia to rural areas

• Contagious Expansion- occurs when numerous people or places near the point of origin become adopters– Spread of disease

• Relocation Diffusion- involves the movement of original adopters from their hearth (point of origin)– Spread of disease

Soccer• An example of hierarchical diffusion of Pop

Culture.• In the late 20th Century, the world’s most

popular sport.• Began in 1800s as a folk culture• The Dutch were the first continental

Europeans to play soccer in 1870s.• The British diffused the game throughout their

empire.• Soccer was further diffused by radio and

television.

Torsten Hagerstrand’s Diffusion S- Curve

Early adopters (innovators)

Majority adopters

Late adopters (laggards)

Ex) Cell Phones

Only those who could afford them

People learned, prices fell, those susceptible became adopters

Rate of adoption slows and those who haven’t bought finally buy a cell phone

Cultural Convergence, Acculturation and Cultural Divergence

• Cultural Convergence- occurs when two cultures adopt each other’s traits and become more alike

• Acculturation- occurs when two cultures come into contact with one another and the less dominant culture adopts the traits of the more dominant culture (assimilation)

• Cultural Divergence- occurs when two cultures become increasingly different, often when one group moves away from the territory of one culture group

Ethnicity

• Core component in cultural identity• Shared culture traits

– Language, religion, nationality

• Territory is often an underlying trait• Not biological but rather chosen • Ethnocentrism- is one group’s use of its cultural

identity as a superior standard by which to judge others (often causes discrimination)

Ethnic Groups• Usually spatially divided• Ghetto- a region in which

an ethnic minority is forced to live by economic, legal or governmental pressures

• Ethnic Enclave- is a place in which an ethnic minority is concentrated, sometimes in a ghetto, barrio, homeland, favelas

Ethnic Cleansing• Process in which a racial or ethnic group

attempts to expel from a territory another racial or ethnic group

• Genocide- the killing of racial or ethnic group by another racial or ethnic group– Slobodan Milosevic, the Serb leader led a

genocide campaign against Albanians living in Kosovo, a region in Serbia

Race• Refers to a classification system of

humans based on skin color and other physical characteristics

• Race is biological and not chosen

Folk Culture

• Material culture traditionally practiced primarily by small, homogeneous (same) groups living in isolated rural areas

The Amish

• Example of Relocation Diffusion.• Distinctive clothing, farming, and religious

practices.• Shun mechanical and electrical power.• Travel by horse and buggy and continue to

use hand tools for farming.• Number only about 70,000 in US.• Visible on the landscape in at least 17

states.

Popular Culture

• Is practiced by large, heterogeneous (different) societies that share habits despite differences in personal characteristics, and most frequently originate in MDCs

• Physical objects, resources, and spaces that people use to define their culture.

• Pop culture is becoming more dominant, threatening the survival of folk cultures

Origin of Folk and Popular Cultures

• Folk culture originates from anonymous sources, at unknown dates, through unidentified originators.

• Popular culture is most often a product of the economies of MDCs• popular music• fast food

Folk vs. Pop

• Isolated groups• Spreads through

relocation diffusion, original group moves and brings traits with them

• Not been exposed to pop culture or they chose not to adopt traits

• Mass culture that diffuses rapidly

• Spreads through expansion diffusion across space and varied cultures– Starbucks- reducing

the diversity of local coffee shops throughout the country

Folk Music vs. Country Music• Composed anonymously

and transmitted orally• Is transmitted from one

location to another.• More slowly• At a smaller scale• Through relocation

diffusion• Tell story or convey

information about• daily activities• life-cycle events• mysterious events

• Folk customs may have multiple origins.

• Follows the process of hierarchical diffusion from hearths or nodes of innovation.• Hollywood (movies)• Madison Avenue (advertising)

• Geographer George Carney identified 4 major hearths of country music• southern Appalachia• Central Tennessee and Kentucky• the Ozark and Ouachita uplands• north-central Texas

“Pop”ular Music vs. Hip Hop

• Written by specific individuals for the purpose of being sold to a large number of people.

• Originated around 1900

• Diffusion of American popular music worldwide began during World War II

• Originated in New York in late 1970s.

• A return to a very local form of music expression.

• Diffused rapidly around the world through globalization

Isolation Promotes Cultural Diversity

Food Diversity• Although food customs are inevitably

affected by the availability of products, food consumed in neighboring cultural groups often reflect distinctive traditions

Example of food adaptation is Soybeans

• Excellent source of protein.• Widely grown in Asia.• Fuel for cooking is scarce• Bean Sprouts (germinated seeds).

• Soy Sauce (fermented soybeans)

• Bean Curd (steamed soybeans).

Example of Food Taboos• Abipone Indians of Paraguay eat

jaguars and bulls to make themselves strong.

• The mandrake was thought to enhance lovemaking in Mediterranean climates.

• The Ainus in Japan thought that otters would make one forgetful.

• Europeans first thought potatoes caused typhoid and tuberculosis

Insects as Food• Americans avoid eating

insects, despite their nutritional value.

• In Thailand, giant water bugs are deep fried as snack foods.

• Americans consume insects in most foods including canned mushrooms and tomato paste.