Notes:
Analyzing Culture:
culture, the society’s socially learned and shared ideas, behaviors, and material components
Types of Culture:
Material culture, the physical artifacts representing components of society
-Material Culture includes electronic devices, houses, toys, cars, and food
nonmaterial culture, ideas and symbols representing components of society, are the two basic types of culture
Non Material Culture Includes: Languages, customs, philosophies, morals, and knowledge
CULTURE IN JAPAN
Material Culture: Chopsticks , Kimonos, Sushi, Buddhist Temples, Japanese Automobiles ( Honda < Nissan< Toyota< Subaru< and Mazda)
Non-Material Culture: Removing shoes before entering home or temples, Emphasis on groups rather than individuals, Shame as an agent for social control, Emphasis on harmony as central business philosophy, Politeness.
Ideal culture, the ideals and values that a society professes to believe, represents the majority of members of society. Often, the ideal culture is what the members consider to be ethically and morally desirable. Equality and justice for everyone, regardless of race, gender, or creed, characterize the American culture, but this ideal has not been achieved among all Americans.
real culture, the actual behavior of members of society, it is evident that inequalities and injustices exist within American society. The majority of Americans publicly denounce racist attitudes and behaviors. another example is unequal access to higher education ..
culture shock, surprise, disorientation, or fear when encountering a new culture. As a first-generation college student, the first person in the immediate family to attend college, he was not aware of the enrollment process or how he would pay for his classes.
CAMPUS CULTURE
While culture is all around us, we may not stop to analyze it. By using the sociological perspective to critically analyze culture, you can better understand aspects of society, such as where you study, work, and live. You can study culture by reading magazines, watching TV and movies, and going about your daily life.
Common items include a mini-fridge, posters, photos of family and friends, a TV, gaming devices, items with the university logo, Greek letters, a laptop, a printer, snacks, and an unmade bed. Dozens of examples can be analyzed to help understand campus culture, such as intramural and sports teams, clubs and organizations, academics, parties, and campus activities.
STRUCTURAL ELEMENTS OF CULTURE:
The structural elements of culture include five basics: symbols, language, beliefs, values, and norms. These structural building blocks influence everything from speech accents to behavior in a society
New York is a good example , it has its own culture, a nice hi will meet you with a blank stare, 800 languages spoken in NYC and is very diverse Many symbols rep NYC yellow cabs , NY Yankees, Broadway,Chinatown, and Times Square the big Apple. Statue of Liberty
Symbols : symbol, an idea or object that has a shared meaning to groups of people (HP). Most symbols represent a shared meaning among many members of society.
Language: language, words and symbols used to communicate (HP), characteristics that produce distinctive and stable arrangements of social patterns that form the society. Verbal language, a system of spoken and written words, is the beginning point and foundation by which culture is understood.
Besides its role as a means of communication, verbal language:
- shapes how people view their social world
- emphasizes diversity in society
- is the basis of social identity and group membership
Verbal language is how individuals learn a group’s culture through instruction, observation, and experience. It is a doorway to understanding your social world. The Sapir-Whorf theory, a theoretical perspective that suggests people view society through the framework of language, states that it is difficult to understand a culture without understanding the influence of language (Pinker 1994; Sapir 1958; Whorf 1940).
The theory suggests language influences and potentially determines how you interpret your world. Since our culture determines our language, language becomes how we categorize our thoughts and experiences. It can also be argued that language defines culture. Take, for example, how Americans associate time with money:
– Wasting my time. Invested in project, budget your time..
GLOBAL INFRACTIONS
Public displays of affection in Dubai
Naming a teddy bear Mohammed in Sudan
Defacing money or licking a stamp in Thailand as both have the image of the King on them
Throwing a shoe at another person in Iraq
SANCTIONS:
2017 resulted in a month in prison for Egyptian man and moroccan woman
Meant 40 lashes for British woman but after international intervention , she was released from jail after 8 days on the condition she leaves the country
can land you 6 months in jail
Iraq man was given 3 years and later reduced to one year and only served 9 months because of good behavior
Verbal language influences your view of the social world, provides a means for social identity and group membership, and promotes cultural diversity. But verbal language is only half of the picture regarding language as a key structural element of culture.
Nonverbal language, a system of communication using symbols such as facial expressions, gestures, and proximity of the body, can be just as powerful as spoken words, if not more so. Consider the example of personal space, the physical region surrounding an individual that is considered private. Maintaining personal space is a form of language that speaks volumes, often without the use of words.
Emoticons, symbols that are a type of shorthand and means of expressing emotions and attitudes within text-based communications, developed partly to communicate quickly in the fast pace of modern society
Beliefs and Values
Beliefs
The third element of culture is beliefs, ideas generally held to be true in society (HP). Beliefs include ideas, viewpoints, and attitudes held by groups of people in a society. Traditions, science, religion, superstitions, and ideologies mold and shape our beliefs.
among Americans is technological determinism, the idea that society’s technology drives the development of its social structures. This concept states that technology follows a predictable path and impacts society much more than society impacts technology. The central belief is that technology is a key governing force in society. Technology drives innovation and enables social progress, and the solution to social problems is technology.
Values
These beliefs spawned values, collective ideas about what is desirable and undesirable in society (HP), such as efficiency and practicality, that are still present in the U.S. today. Like beliefs, values are based on ideas that have grown from a consensus of opinions within a society. They tend to develop from the fundamental beliefs shared in society. In other words, we value what we believe.
value contradictions, conflicting issues between values.
sustainable development, development that meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs.
Norms and Cultural Transmission:
Norms:
norms, established guidelines, behaviors, and expectations that are accepted in a given range of social situations
These informal and formal rules we experience in our everyday lives dictate how members of a society interact. Norms (C-19) impact all aspects of society and vary by degree and culture. A norm can refer to anything from how you hold your fork when eating to whether child prostitution is legal.
Folkways, informal and common norms that guide everyday behavior, are norms encountered throughout your day. These norms are not strictly enforced and usually do not incur penalties for violations.
mores, (more-ayz), informal norms based on moral and ethical factors, typically results in minimal to severe disapproval. In the Jewish and Islamic faith, eating pork is prohibited, and members of each religious faith will likely express disapproval of individuals who do not keep the religious laws.
laws, formal and legal rules enforced by the state. Laws are designed to maintain order in society, and violations can result in fines and imprisonment.
Taboos, formal norms that, if violated, cause revulsion and the most severe social sanctions, are considered abhorrent to most members of society. Cannibalism is considered taboo in all but a few remote societies. Severe negative social sanctions, punishments or rewards that support socially approved norms (HP), such as lengthy prison sentences, reinforce and maintain the socially approved norms among members of society.
Cultural transmission, the means by which culture is passed from generation to generation, is an essential tool for the health and perpetuation of communities. Cultural elements are passed from one generation to the next via social institutions such as family, religion, and education.
The Development of Social Problems within Cultures
Culture is not a static phenomenon, nor is it problem-free. Social problems in cultures may occur for a variety of reasons. Situations that often lead to social problems include when one group imposes its will on another group or tries to adapt to another group’s culture.
Cultural Beliefs in Practice
dominant ideology, the beliefs and interests of the majority, typically takes precedence over all others. This can lead to problems for those with different beliefs, interests, perspectives, or resources.
cultural imperialism, the influence and power of one country’s culture on a country due to importing goods and services.
Subcultures: Amish Kids Gone Wild
subcultures, groups with a distinct set of cultural characteristics shared by a minority of people in society. There are many subcultures in the U.S. They include gamers, horseback riders, surfers, bodybuilders, and rap music lovers, to name a few. Subcultures can exist within subcultures
“Rumspringa,” which translates to English as “running around,” is the time when… Amish teenagers are given increased levels of freedom and access to the non-Amish world
Countercultures: Working towards Social Transformation
countercultures are subculture groups that are in opposition or contrast with the majority of the members of society.
Today, like in the 1960s, counterculture groups are dissatisfied with the direction of society and feel that their interests are being ignored, while the overall population often sees their actions as a social problem.
However, there are countercultures unaffiliated with hate groups working to change the culture, such as movements to legalize medical and recreational marijuana.
Functionalist Theory: Functionalist theory is concerned with how cultures operate interdependently as societies evolve. Functionalists focus on how society adapts to a changing culture through shifts in norms, values, and ideologies. To maintain stability, large social structures, like the government, function to protect the interests of the society and its subculture groups while also responding to the concerns of counterculture groups, like the LGBTQ+ movement.
Conflict Theory: Conflict theory focuses on the tension and struggles for social change between various groups in society. Counterculture groups in Myanmar have established the Spring Revolution movement to oppose those now in authority. This theory focuses on the strain between groups, concerns over scarce resources, and inequalities in society.
Symbolic Interactionism: Symbolic interactionist theory focuses on the role symbols play in everyday life and our experience of the world around us. Subculture groups like the Amish have ways of thinking, acting, and behaving that distinguish them from the dominant group, while counterculture movements such as hate groups often use signs, symbols, and patterns to demonstrate their opposition to the larger society.
Applying the Sociological Imagination
Unemployment can be viewed as both a personal trouble and a public issue. If one of the people in the photo below is out of work, society is not negatively impacted. On the other hand, when thousands or millions of people are unemployed, a society’s ability to function is questioned.
experience with culture exists on two levels: as public members of a group and as private individuals. The cultural situations we encounter also occur on two fronts — public issues and personal troubles
Cultural Universals
cultural universals, aspects of culture found in all societies. Examples of cultural universals include beliefs, family structures, shelter, clothing, and language, to name a few. Every society has examples of these categories because they are considered fundamental to human existence. How these universals manifest in different cultures is another matter altogether
Durkheim called social facts, social patterns that are external to individuals and greatly influence our way of thinking and behaving in society. These social patterns exert control over the individual via cultural norms and values in social structures and institutions.Material and nonmaterial aspects of society that are outside us but greatly influence our way of thinking and behaving in the society
Ethnocentrism
Example if you were a fish swimming clockwise how would you react if you woke up one morning and found yourself in a different pond swimming counterclockwise.
ethnocentrism, judging another culture by one’s own standards.
Ethnocentrism is a common aspect of culture because people tend to view their way of doing something as the right (and only) way it should be done. On a certain level, it has to do with being set in our ways. We are comfortable with our culture and feel challenged when our cultural boundaries are tested. It’s easy to identify ethnocentrism when people visit a new culture, but it exists even within our society, most notably when entering a new and different cultural situation.
Food is an example where we find ethnocentrism. In various parts of the world the food that\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\’s eaten is different than our own.
Some people’s aversion to something like Scotland’s national dish, haggis (made of sheep innards mixed with onion, oatmeal, and fat, all minced and stuffed into a sheep’s stomach), is not because the food is inedible. People’s aversion comes from the fact that the food is outside the norm of their experience.
Cultural Relativism
respond to situations outside our cultural norm is cultural relativism, understanding another culture from its standards
looking at the situation from the standpoint of a person from Anywhere, USA, consider it from the perspective of a member of that culture. You can do this by keeping two important questions at the forefront of your mind:
- Is the person doing what they are supposed to be doing for someone from their culture?
- Does the person want to be doing what they are doing?
Are there situations where cultural relativism is not an appropriate response? Surprisingly, the answer is “yes.” Viewing society from a culturally relative perspective is not foolproof. This is particularly true for situations in which the culture may approve of specific behavior. Still, the individuals involved are being harmed, and if given a choice, they would choose not to participate.
Culture and Change
you can view culture from an ethnocentric or culturally relative perspective. Food and the need to eat are cultural universals, while your reaction to the food people consume can be ethnocentric or culturally relative. Regardless of the perspective you take, culture is endlessly changing. In the next section, we will examine what motivates cultural changes.
Cultural changes occur for various reasons, the most notable being cultural diffusion, cultural lag, and cultural leveling. Each of these concepts can be a catalyst for social change. This section will explore how technology and globalization impact culture.
Cultural Diffusion and Cultural Lag
Culture spreads. As people from different groups interact with one another, they spread their culture through the process of cultural diffusion, the spread of norms, values, knowledge, symbols, and material components from one society to another.
Culture spread isn\\\\\\\’t intentional it\\\\\\\’s arising from a persons desire to be surrounded by familiarity. In the process the person introduces a different set of material and non material cultures to those all around. As phone usage and ownership increases it impacts each country\\\\\\\’s culture. Exposure to new ideas from smartphones have a potential to impact and change culture norms, values and beliefs.
Cultural diffusion can occur through introducing a product to another part of the world or, as is common in the 21st century, through technology. Consider the following to learn more about the rise of technology around the globe.
This is how long it took each example of technology to reach 50 million users:
- Radio: 38 years
- Television: 13 years
- Internet: 4 years
- Facebook: 3.5 years
- Angry Birds App: 35 days
- Pokémon GO: 19 days
cultural lag, the process by which technological development and progress outpace current norms, values, knowledge, symbols, and material components of society
Generally involves changes in society’s material aspects happening faster than in its nonmaterial aspects. Businesses and corporations worldwide manufacture powerful mobile devices (material culture) that allow us to share images with thousands of other people. But our nonmaterial culture — in this case, our laws — has not caught up to material culture. Our laws are not prepared to address citizens’ concerns regarding the illegal use of images. This is the case with copyright infringement on Pinterest, a website that allows users to “pin” or post articles and images of things they find interesting to share with other Pinterest users.
Cultural Leveling
Whereas cultural diffusion involves the spread of culture from one society to another, cultural leveling, the process of cultures becoming similar due to factors such as media and globalization, is what happens when societies adopt a new culture they have been exposed to, resulting in similarity from one society to the next.
pros of cultural leveling is businesses can expand quicker for example Coke
MYTH BUSTER
Globalization as a result of cultural leveling is often opposed by societies and individuals.
This is a reality. Not all societies approve of cultural leveling, and sometimes individuals take action to prevent its progress
Popular and High Culture
Monster High dolls can be found around the world on merchandise ranging from clothes to balloons. This exemplifies globalization, cultural leveling, and material components within societies. Made by Mattel, the Monster High dolls are a line of monster-themed fashion dolls introduced in 2010 that presented an image considerably different from that of Barbie
popular culture, cultural characteristics adopted, imitated, and idolized by the masses (HP). Of course, popular culture isn’t limited to toys. Other examples of popular culture can be found in books, pop songs, dances, TV shows, and viral videos, to name a few. Popular culture generally includes items that are mass-produced and widely accepted by the general population. An interesting aspect of popular culture is that while it is idolized by the masses one week, it may be utterly belittled or ignored the next.
Popular culture in society typically consists of products, goods, and services the middle and working classes can afford.
This includes movies therefore movies are pop culture..
high culture consists of cultural characteristics associated with the dominant and elite members of society. While popular culture changes frequently based on the interests and whims of the masses, high culture experiences relatively little change.
Instead of going to the movies they may go to operas and instead of collecting Monster High dolls they collect porcelain dolls etc.
In SUMMARY
Culture is defined as the socially learned and shared ideas, behaviors, and material components of a society. The sociological perspective considers time, location, and tradition when explaining culture. There are four types of culture and five basic elements of culture. Types of culture include material and nonmaterial culture and ideal and real culture. A purse can represent material culture, while the concepts of luxury and status represent nonmaterial culture. Ideal culture suggests that everyone can be successful, but real culture indicates that poverty exists and not everyone can purchase luxury items. Symbols, language, beliefs, values, and norms are the five structural elements of culture and are important components in understanding the broad concept of culture. The types and elements of culture combine to form and provide meaning to social institutions and structures.Norms are one particular element of culture, and when norms are violated, this leads to social problems. Often, social problems occur due to issues in subcultures and countercultures. We used the illustration of one fish swimming in a different direction, thinking that all the other fish were going the wrong way. This is an example of an ethnocentric view that considers other cultures inferior or weird.
Social problems are complex and involve numerous aspects of culture. Therefore, social problems and culture, in general, are slow to change. Most social change occurs as a result of cultural diffusion and cultural leveling. Compared to Scandinavian countries, American culture has been slow to adopt sustainability policies due to issues such as value contradictions and cultural lag.
It will require the gradual introduction of new language, beliefs, values, and norms before sustainable development will be embedded within more elements of the United States culture. As sociologists study cultural issues surrounding sustainability, this will hopefully lead to public policies that improve the well-being of current and future generations in the United States.