chapter 3 culture charles schwab & co. in 1990, charles schwab & co. began looking for ways...

Chapter 3

Culture

Charles Schwab & Co.

In 1990, Charles Schwab & Co. began looking for ways to expand. They decided one way to increase profits would be to take greater account of the increasing ethnic and racial diversity in America…

….why?

The United States is the most multicultural of all the world’s nations.

What is Culture

“The values, beliefs, behaviors, and material objects that together form a people’s way of life…”

Culture

When looking at a culture, Sociologists find it useful to distinguish between Material and Non-material aspects of culture…

…Between things and thoughts

Non-material Culture

The intangible world of ideas created by members of a society.

Examples?

Material Culture

The tangible things created by members of a society.

Examples?

Culture

Culture shapes how we think, the ways we act, what we do, and helps form our personalities.

Effects all aspects of a person’s life, even if they are unaware of it.

Culture

Only humans rely on culture rather than instinct to ensure the survival of their kind.

Every other form of life behaves in uniform, species-specific ways.

Instincts tell a creature how to successfully navigate its environment, but through culture we create an artificial environment of our own to meet our needs.

Culture Shock

Personal disorientation one feels when experiencing an unfamiliar way of life that is different from their own.

Common for travelers though you may experience culture shock within your own culture.

Examples?

No one way of life is ‘natural’…

…what does come naturally to humans is creating culture.

Yąnomamö Case Study

Culture & YOU

What is culture and why is it important to you?

Components of Culture Although Cultures vary greatly as we

have seen, they all have 5 common components….

Symbols Language Values and Beliefs Norms Material Culture

Symbols

Anything that carries a particular meaning recognized by people who share a culture.

Examples?

Culture and Symbols

Symbols can vary greatly between cultures.

Culture shock is really the inability to read or interpret the meaning in their surroundings.

Symbols can vary within a single society.

Symbols

Language

A system of symbols that allows people to communicate with one another.

“… the key to the world of culture.”

Language and Cultural Transmission

Language not only allows communication but also ensures the continuity of culture.

Cultural Transmission- The process by which one generation passes

culture to the next.

Sapir-Whorf Thesis

People perceive the world through the cultural lens of language. Each language has its own distinct symbols

that serve as building blocks of reality Each language has expressions not found in

other symbolic systems. All languages fuse symbols with distinctive

emotions so that a single idea may feel different in different languages.

Values and Beliefs

Values: Culturally defined standards by which people

assess desirability, goodness, and beauty that serve as broad guidelines for social living.

Beliefs Specific statements that people hold to be

true.

Values and Beliefs Simplified More simply put:

Values are abstract standards of what ought to be

Beliefs are particulars matters that people consider true or false

Examples?

Norms

Rules and expectations by which a society guides the behavior of its members. Proscriptive: what members of a society

should NOT do Prescriptive: what we should do

Mores and folkways

Mores- norms that are widely observed and have great moral significance.

Folkways- norms for routine or casual interaction.

Social Control

Attempts by society to regulate people’s thoughts and behaviors.

Values and norms do not describe actual behavior so much as they suggest how we should behave.

Ideal vs. Real

Material Culture and Technology

Culture also includes a wide range of things/ artifacts that are created by a society.

This also includes technology- knowledge that people use to make a way of life in their surroundings.

CULTURAL DIVERSITY

What does it mean to you?

Explain…

In 1970, sociologist Robin Williams identified ten values that he considered central to our way of life. Equal Opportunity- Everybody should have the chance to get ahead Achievement and Success- Competition, rewards, worthiness Material Comfort- Pursuit of wealth and material goods Activity and work- Culture of ‘doers,’ value action over reflection Practicality and efficiency- Activity has value when it earns money Progress- Optimistic, “very latest”= “very best” Science- expect science to solve problems and improve lives, rational Democracy and free enterprise-Elected leaders, capitalism, rights Freedom- free to pursue personal goals, individual trumps group Racism and group superiority- History of treating some ‘more equal’

than others* Note: some values are inconsistent and even in conflict

Taking a step back……Key Values of U.S. Culture

What causes values within a single society to be at times in conflict with one another?

Conflict between values reflects the cultural diversity of U.S. society.

It also reflects cultural change.

Values in Conflict:

We can observe cultural diversity when we compare two societies as we did with the Yąnomamö

We can also see cultural diversity within a single society as in the United States: U.S. is the most multicultural of the world’s high-income

countries In what ways?

Japan is the most monocultural of all high-income countries

What accounts for this difference?

Cultural Diversity

High culture: cultural patterns that distinguish society’s elite Opera, theatre, Beethoven

Popular Culture: cultural patterns that are widespread among a society’s population Blues, football,

High Culture and Popular Culture

A subculture is any cultural pattern that sets apart some segment of society’s population. Examples?

Almost everybody participates in multiple subcultures, often without ever even knowing it

Examples?

Subculture

An educational program recognizing the cultural diversity of the United States and promoting the equality of all cultural traditions.

E pluribus unum

How do you think we should handle cultural diversity?

Multiculturalism

Eurocentrism- the dominance of European cultural patterns

Afrocentrism- the dominance of African cultural patterns Offered as a corrective for centuries of minimizing

or altogether ignoring the cultural achievements of African societies and African Americans

How do you feel about this?

Other views

Cultural patterns that strongly oppose or outright reject those widely accepted within a society.

Example: 1960’s youth movement which rejected the mainstream culture as overly competitive, self-centered, and materialistic

Counterculture

Ethnocentrism: The practice of judging another culture by the standards of one’s own culture.

Cultural Relativism: The practice of evaluating culture by its own standards.

Ethnocentrism vs. Cultural Relativism

Material Culture and Technology

Culture also includes a wide range of things/ artifacts that are created by a society.

This also includes technology- knowledge that people use to make a way of life in their surroundings.

Cultural Change

“All things shall pass…” Culture is constantly in a state of change

What elements may cause cultural change

Change in one dimension of a culture usually sparks a change in others

Cultural Integration The close relationship among various elements of a

cultural system

Cultural Lag

Some elements of culture change faster than others.

William Ogburn Observed that technology moves quickly,

generating new elements of material culture (like test-tube babies) faster than nonmaterial culture (such as ideas about parenthood) can keep up with them.

Ogburn called this delay ‘Cultural Lag’ The fact that some cultural elements change more

quickly than others, disrupting a cultural systemExamples?

Causes of Cultural Change

Cultural Changes are set in motion in three ways…

Invention

Discovery

Diffusion

Invention

Invention- the process of creating new cultural elements

Telephone (1876)

Airplane (1903)

Computer (1947)

The process of invention goes on constantly

Examples? HINT: Think of Commercials.

Discovery

Discovery- recognizing and better understanding something already in existence

Food of another culture, distant star, new species

Many discoveries result from painstaking scientific research

Examples?

Diffusion

Diffusion- the spread of cultural traits from one society to another

Because of new means of communication, information can be sent around the globe in seconds and cultural diffusion has never been greater

America has contributed many cultural elements to the world (ex. Computers, jazz, etc.)

Diffusion works the other way too- much of what we consider to be “American” actually comes from elsewhere (ex. Clothing, furniture, clocks)

Global Culture

Today more than ever we find many of the same cultural practices the world over Jeans, pop music, familiar products can be found in

many of the major cities of the world English is emerging as the preferred second language

worldwide Societies now have more contact with one another

than ever before Are we witnessing the birth of a single global

culture?

Global Contact

The Global economy- the flow of goods: There has never been more international trade. The global economy

has spread many of the same consumer goods throughout the world.

Global communication- the flow of information: Satellite-based communications allow people to experience the

sights and sounds of events taking place thousands of miles away, often as they happen.

Global migration- the flow of people Today’s transportation technology, especially air travel, makes

relocating easier than ever In the United States 33 million people (12 % of the population) were

born elsewhere

Limitations to Global Culture

The global links previously discussed may make the world more similar but there are three major limitations to the global culture thesis Global flow of goods, information and people is uneven (cities

vs. rural areas) Desperate poverty in much of the world deprives people of

even the most basic necessities Although many cultural practices are now found throughout the

world, people everywhere do not attach the same meanings to them

Global Culture

Would the development of a single global culture be a positive thing or a negative thing?

• May decrease the number of cultural misunderstandings between people of different cultures

• May lead to the loss of many existing cultures• Greater economic and military powers in North

American and Europe would have a greater influence than the rest of the world

Theoretical Analysis of Culture

Structural-Functional Analysis

Social-Conflict Analysis

Sociobiology

Structural-Functional Analysis

The structural-functional paradigm depicts culture as a complex strategy for meeting human needs.

Considers values the core of culture Thinking functionally helps us understand

an unfamiliar way of life

Example from the case-study

Social Conflict Analysis

The social-conflict paradigm stresses the link between culture and inequality.

Asks why certain values dominate society in the first place. Example: Social-conflict analysis ties our

competitive values to our society’s capitalist economy, which serves the interests of the nation’s wealthy elite

Sociobiology

Sociobiology is a theoretical paradigm that explores ways in which biology affects how we create culture.

Rests on Darwin’s theory of Evolution All living things live to reproduce themselves The blueprint for reproduction is in the genes Random variations in the genes allow a species to try out

new life patterns Over thousands of generations, the genetic patterns that

promote the continuation of a species survive and become dominant

Cultural Universal

Cultural Universals refer to traits that are part of every know culture. George Murdock compared hundreds of cultures and found

dozens of cultural universals Family Funeral rites Child care Jokes

Sociobiology claims that the large number of cultural universals reflect the fact that all humans are members of a single biological species

Standards PDE 430 Category III- Instructional Delivery: Student teacher/candidate,

through knowledge of content, pedagogy and skill in delivering instruction, engages students in learning by using a variety of instructional strategies.

PDE Chapter 354.33 G- Instructional Planning Skills: The teacher plans instruction based upon knowledge of subject matter, students, the community and curriculum goals.

PSSA Title 7.3- The Human Characteristics of Places and Regions PA Academic Standard 7.3.9.B- Explain the human characteristics of places

and regions by their cultural characteristics. ESL/ELL English Language Proficiency Standard 5: Social Studies. Grade

Level Cluster 9-12; Writing Level 5 Bridging: Explain and evaluate contributions of significant individuals or historical times in politics, economics, or society.

PA Alternative Academic 1.2.11.D- Reading Critically in All Content Areas: Demonstrate after reading understanding and interpretation of both fiction and nonfiction text.

Assessment Anchor R11.A.2- Demonstrate the ability to understand and interpret nonfiction text.