Chap 3

ALL THE ARTIFACTS
OF PEOPLE, BOTH
MATERIAL AND
NONMATERIAL
DO NOT CONFUSE
CULTURE WITH
SOCIETY.
SOCIETY REFERS TO
PEOPLE INTERACTING
WITHIN A LIMITED
TERRITORY GUIDED
BY THEIR CULTURE.
GETTING RID OF SOME
MATERIAL CULTURE
NONMATERIAL CULTURE PRESENTS ITSELF
AS A VALUE IN THIS CARTOON.
IT IS GOOD TO CARE FOR OUR ENVIRONMENT.
UNDERSTANDING THE
IMPORTANCE OF CULTURE
NORMALLY, WE TAKE CULTURE FOR GRANTED UNTIL
THERE COMES A DAY WHEN WE EXPERIENCE...
• CULTURE SHOCK
– DISORIENTATION DUE TO
THE INABILITY TO MAKE
SENSE OUT OF ONE’S
SURROUNDINGS
• FOREIGN & REGIONAL
TRAVELS
• ETHNOCENTRISM
– THE CULTURAL YARDSTICK
• CULTURAL RELATIVISM
– OBJECTIVE UNDERSTANDING
CULTURE SURE HAS A
WAY OF CHANGING
WHAT IS MEANT BY
“GOING TO THE
BEACH!”
MOST CULTURES SHARE COMMON

COMPONENTS. WE WILL NOW EXAMINE EACH
IN TURN.
ANYTHING THAT CARRIES A PARTICULAR MEANING
RECOGNIZED BY PEOPLE WHO SHARE CULTURE
• REALITY FOR HUMANS IS FOUND IN THE

MEANING THINGS CARRY WITH THEM
– THE BASIS OF CULTURE
• PEOPLE MUST BE MINDFUL THAT MEANINGS
VARY FROM CULTURE TO CULTURE
• MEANINGS CAN EVEN VARY GREATLY
WITHIN THE SAME GROUPS OF PEOPLE
– FUR COATS, CONFEDERATE FLAGS, ETC.
A SYSTEM OF SYMBOLS THAT ALLOWS PEOPLE
TO COMMUNICATE WITH ONE ANOTHER
• CULTURAL TRANSMISSION
– PASSING ON CULTURE
• SAPIR-WHORF HYPOTHESIS
– WE KNOW THE WORLD ONLY
IN TERMS OF OUR LANGUAGE
• NON-VERBAL LANGUAGE
– BEWARE OF USING GESTURES
.CULTURALLY DEFINED STANDARDS OF DESIRABILITY,
GOODNESS, AND BEAUTY, WHICH SERVE AS BROAD
GUIDELINES FOR SOCIAL LIVING
• VALUES SUPPORT BELIEFS

– SPECIFIC STATEMENTS THAT PEOPLE HOLD
TO BE TRUE
• CAPITALISM AND ACHIEVEMENT AND SUCCESS
• CORE AMERICAN VALUES
– VALUE INCONSISTENCY AND SOCIAL
CHANGE
• EQUAL OPPORTUNITY AND COMPETITION
• HUMANITARIANISM AND “ME FIRST”
A FEW CORE AMERICAN VALUES AND
INCONSISTENCIES THAT GO WITH THEM
• EQUALITY
– NOT AS A CONDITION, BUT AS AN OPPORTUNITY
• ACHIEVEMENT AND SUCCESS
– BUT HOW ARE WE TO FEEL ABOUT MARGINAL
GROUPS IN AMERICA?
• RACISM AND SUPERIORITY
– DESPITE MANY WORDS TO THE CONTRARY, IN
AMERICA RACE, LIKE GENDER, DIFFERENTIATES
• INDIVIDUAL FREEDOM
– BUT WHAT ABOUT THE RESPONSIBLITIES TO
COMMUNITIES THAT GO ALONG WITH IT?
RULES BY WHICH SOCIETY GUIDES THE
BEHAVIOR OF ITS MEMBERS
• TYPES
– PROSCRIPTIVE (THINGS
NOT TO DO)
– PRESCRIPTIVE (THINGS
TO DO)
• FURTHER
BREAKDOWN
– MORES: MORALLY
LAWS ARE NORMS
SIGNIFICANT; TABOOS WHICH CAN BE
– FOLKWAYS: LESS ENFORCED BY
AGENTS OF THE
SERIOUS OFFENSES STATE.
QUIET PLEASE…I
DON’T • SOCIAL CONTROL
WANT ANY KIND OF – MEANS BY WHICH MEMBERS OF
SOCIAL CONTROL TO SOCIETY ENCOURAGE
REACH OUT AND GRAB CONFORMITY TO NORMS
ME!
• REINFORCING EVERYDAY
BASIC RULES (NORMS)
GOVERN BEHAVIORS
– POSITIVE AND
NEGATIVE SANCTIONS
• CONFORMING BRINGS PRAISE
• NONCONFORMITY BRINGS
PAIN
– GUILT: JUDGING OURSELVES
– SHAME: PUBLIC DISAPPROVAL
IDEAL VS. REAL CULTURE
• IDEAL CULTURE
– SOCIAL PATTERNS MANDATED BY VALUES
AND NORMS
• REAL CULTURE
– ACTUAL SOCIAL PATTERNS THAT ONLY
APPROXIMATE CUTLURAL EXPECTATIONS
• MARRIAGE AS AN EXAMPLE:
– HOW “REAL” ARE THE FOLLOWING IDEAL
SOCIAL PATTERNS?
• OPEN LINES OF COMMUNICATION - OR CLOSED?
• LOVING RELATIONSHIP - OR ABUSE?
• “IN GOOD TIMES AND IN BAD” - OR DIVORCE?
• EQUITY IN GENDER ROLES - OR LITTLE SHARING?
DIVERSITY IN CULTURE
• IMPACT OF IMMIGRATION
– OVER 1 MILLION PERSONS HAVE COME TO
THE UNITED STATES
• ONE OF THE MOST MULTICULTURAL COUNTRIES
IN THE WORLD
– MONOCULTURAL IS THE OPPOSITE
• EXAMPLE: JAPAN
– PATCHWORK QUILT
• TERMS USED TO DESCRIBE OUR LAND OF
DIFFERENCES
• DIFFERENT PATTERNS OF CULTURE
– HIGH CULTURE
• CULTURAL PATTERNS FOUND WITHIN A SOCIETY’S
ELITE GROUPS
– POPULAR CULTURE
• PATTERNS THAT ARE WIDESPREAD
THERE ARE TIMES WHEN CULTURAL DIVERSITY IS
GOOD FOR A SOCIETY, AS WELL AS TIMES WHEN
IT SEEMS TO WORK AGAINST “THE GRAIN”
• SUBCULTURES
– GROUPS WHOSE CULTURAL PATTERNS SET THEM
APART FROM WIDER SOCIETY
• RELIGIOUS CULTS, INNER-CITY TEENS, COWBOYS
• COUNTERCULTURES
– GROUPS WHOSE CULTURAL PATTERNS ARE AT
GREAT ODDS WITH WIDER SOCIETY
• RADICAL MILITIA GROUPS, THE KLAN, THE SKINS
CULTURE CHANGES IN ONE OF THREE WAYS:
• DISCOVERY - UNDERSTANDING HAS INCREASED
• INVENTION - CREATING NEW CULTURE
• DIFFUSION - ELEMENTS CROSSING BORDERS
• CULTURE INTEGRATION
– CHANGE IN ONE PART OF CULTURE (COMPUTERS)
MAY LEAD TO CHANGES IN OTHER PARTS OF
CULTURE (LANGUAGE)
• CULTURE LAG
– NONMATERIAL NORMALLY “LAGS” BEHIND, WHILE
MATERIAL (TECHNOLOGY) SPEEDS AHEAD AT
ALARMING RATES
IS THERE A “GLOBAL CULTURE?”
SOME BELIEVE THAT A GLOBAL CULTURE EXIST IN THREE AREAS:
• THE BASIC THESIS:

– THE FLOW OF GOODS
• MATERIAL PRODUCT TRADING HAS NEVER BEEN AS IMPORTANT
• SOME HATE WHAT CAN BE CALLED THE “AMERICANIZATION OF THE
WORLD”
– THE FLOW OF INFORMATION
• THERE ARE FEW, IF ANY, PLACES LEFT ON EARTH WHERE
WORLDWIDE COMMUNICATION IS NOT POSSIBLE
– THE FLOW OF PEOPLE
• KNOWLEDGE MEANS PEOPLE LEARN ABOUT PLACES ON EARTH
WHERE THEY FEEL LIFE MAY BE BETTER
• PROBLEMS WITH THIS THESIS?
– ALL THE FLOWS HAVE BEEN UNEVEN
– ASSUMES AFFORDABILITY OF GOODS
– PEOPLE DON’T ATTACH THE SAME MEANING TO MATERIAL
GOODS
TRAITS COMMON TO EVERY KNOWN CULTURE
• THE FAMILY
– THE CONTROL OF SEXUAL
REPRODUCTION
• FUNERAL RITES
– COMFORT AND CONTINUITY FOR
THE LIVING
• HUMOR
– SAFETY VALVE FOR SOCIAL
TENSIONS
• DEVIANCE
– REMEMBER, EVEN IN A GROUP OF
SAINTS DEVIANCE WOULD EXIST
FREEDOM OR CONSTRAINT?
• CULTURE AS CONSTRAINT
– WE ONLY KNOW OUR WORLD IN TERMS OF OUR
CULTURE
– WE INTERPRET AND GIVE MEANING TO ALL
THINGS IN SOCIETY BY WAY OF SYMBOLIC
MEANING (SYMBOLS, LANGUAGE, VALUES)
– NORMS IMPACT EVERY ASPECT OF LIVING
• CULTURE AS FREEDOM
– CULTURE IS EVER-CHANGING AND OFFERS AMPLE
OPPORTUNITIES
– LOTS OF HOPE AND CREATIVE CHOICE DUE TO
CULTURE AND DIVERSITY

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Chap 3

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ALL THE ARTIFACTS

MOST CULTURES SHARE COMMON

• REALITY FOR HUMANS IS FOUND IN THE

• VALUES SUPPORT BELIEFS

• THE BASIC THESIS:

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