Culture
CULTURE—FROM ANTHROPOLOGY
CULTURE CONSISTS OF THE VALUES THE
MEMBERS OF A GIVEN GROUP HOLD, THE
LANGUAGES THEY SPEAK, THE SYMBOLS
THEY RESPOND TO, THE NORMS THEY
FOLLOW, AND THE GOODS THEY PRODUCE
MATERIAL CULTURE—THE OBJECTS OF
DAILY LIFE AND THE OBJECTS TO WHICH
ARE GIVEN SYMBOLIC MEANING
NON-MATERIAL CULTURE—NORMS,
VALUES, BELIEFS
U.S. Culture
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What are some characteristics of culture in the
US?
Values—individualism, achievement, liberty,
others?
Language—American English? Spanglish?
Others?
Symbols—Am. flag, cars, military, sports teams,
others?
Norms—friendliness, work ethic, self-interest.
adaptation, other?
Goods—anything for a profit, inventions, junk,
waste, other?
Material and Nonmaterial Culture
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Artifacts—if you were an archeologist in the future,
what would you “dig up” from this time period?
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Lots of trash, cars, appliances, furniture, clothes,
art, written materials, computers
Symbols—what would this same archeologist say
these things meant or symbolized in our era?
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Trash = ?
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Cars and appliances = ?
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Furniture and clothes = ?
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Art and books = ?
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Would there be evidence of virtual objects?
Consumer Culture
•
It is easier to see others' cultures than our own—
skin stories on pbs.org—our culture is the air we
breathe
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After WWII an economy based on manufacture
wouldn't create enough jobs, so consumerism
began
– Wind down war production, but have to put returning
soldiers to work
•
From needs-based production to wants-based
– Increase house sizes, multiple vehicles, appliances
Consumerism
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The structure of consumer capitalism
generates a culture that places the sale and
accumulation of goods over the collective
experience of community
Public domain/public goods as shared life
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Roads, schools, clinics, police and fire
Social compact/contract—you work, society cares
for your old age or disability/illness
Private domain for profit that benefits private
individuals
Group Exercise on Culture
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In groups of 2-4, take notes, each sign page
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Think of an artifact of our culture and describe it
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What about it represents US culture? Does it
reflect consumer culture, and if so, how?
Discuss the values and symbolic meanings
associated with your artifact
Does this artifact/phenomenon enhance or
degrade social life—how?
How would you transform this artifact or social
reality for future generations?
Norms
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Norms are the behavior rules for any group
–
Folkways are casual norms and less intense—
etiquette, customs, when and how
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Mores are rules about right/wrong behavior—
adultery, abuse, doing harm
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Taboos are absolutely forbidden behaviors—
incest, cannibalism, pedophilia
–
Norms that are codified are laws—we
disapprove of murder, rape, and theft, but they
are also against the law and considered crimes
Sanctions or Social Control
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Sanctions are responses to the violation of
norms
–
Formal sanctions include official punishments—
losing rights, fines, incarceration
–
Informal sanctions include social disapproval—
shunning, gossip, ridicule, shaming
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Positive sanctions are rewards granted to
those who exceed normative expectations—
special recognition, hero badges, special
privileges, honorary degrees
•
Institutions as established ways of
responding to social needs
Values and Beliefs
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Values are those things that we think are good
and right, that we value or hold in high regard
•
We are aware of some of our values because
we state them—love, honesty, success,
freedom—abstractions which can come in
conflict with one another—success and
honesty, freedom and love?
•
Some of our values are evidenced by how we
behave—greed is good, winning is good,
toughness is good, what else?
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Beliefs refer to what we think is so, or real
Ideology
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Ideologies arise in social domains where there is a
group interest—financial, political, or social and
relating to power—with a will to impose a particular
definition of the situation on those it desires to
influence—facts aren't relevant
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Religious ideologies seek to define cosmologies for
followers and sometimes justify oppression of nonbelievers and superiority of believers
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Political ideologies seek to convince citizenry that the
power structures they favor are right and proper
– Politicos want to cut social programs, but polls
indicate citizens want to cut military, intelligence,
and increase taxation on the wealthy
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Gender ideologies, race ideologies, sexual ideologies
Cultural Relativity
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All humans share the human genome—one
species—but the body can be variously
interpreted
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Gender, age, size, decoration, exposure—“doing”
Different human groups generate different
cultural meanings for common experiences
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In Western culture, one should not marry a
relative
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In Arab culture, one should choose from among
one's cousins for a proper marriage partner
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Fasting or feasting for a holiday
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Affection displayed publicly or privately
Subcultures and Countercultures
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Dominant culture is associated with dominant
ideology, formal economy, and governing powers
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Subcultures can be any subset of values and
practices that arise within the dominant culture, but
apart from it—religions, music, life-style
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Countercultures are subcultures whose values
and beliefs, and often practices, are both
distinguished from the dominant culture and
considered a threat to the dominant culture—militias,
drug gangs
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Idioculture—belonging to any group that interacts
for specific reasons—friends, co-workers, sports
teams
Cultural Diffusion Exercise
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In groups of 2-4, take notes, sign names
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Think of the example we saw of cultural
diffusion between the Western world and the
Islamic world
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Where else can you see cultural diffusion?
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Find an example and discuss the different
material and non-material aspects of the
cultural exchange taking place
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Does this create a “shared culture” for the
groups involved? Why or why not?
Social Structure
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Status – a position that a person occupies in
the social structure
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Family—mother, father, daughter, uncle—
nuclear or extended
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Occupation—server, teacher, auto
mechanic, chief
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Age—elder statesman, child, adult
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Sex—man, woman, transgendered person
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Social class—elite, middle, working
The Social Structure of the Smith Family
Grandmother
Grandparent-grandchild
relationship
Parent-adult child relationship
Mother
Parent-dependent child relationships
Children
Figure 1
Sibling relationships
Statuses
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Achieved statuses are acquired over time and
one must do something to gain them—
occupation, marriage partner, convicted robber
—one isn't born these things—what statuses
have you achieved?
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Ascribed statuses are given to us by our social
order, we don't have much choice in them
•
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What's the first thing we ask about a new-born?
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Did you choose your ethnicity or your looks?
The people around you respond to your
statuses as categorical information
Social Roles
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Roles are the behavior expectations attached
to statuses—we “play” our statuses out as
roles
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Moms are supposed to do what? Students?
Police?
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We learn how to behave in a status according to
others' expectations of us—“act your age” “what
kind of parent would do that?” “good worker”
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There are boundaries to our social statuses and
roles—don't overstep these bounds
Context of Roles
Roles are created in the social domain,
independent of the person acting them out
Victorian era parents were expected to keep a
distance from their infants so as not to spoil
them
Nowadays parents, both mothers and fathers are
supposed to be affectionate
Have the new communications technologies
influenced role boundaries?
Professor’s R ole Set
students
teachi ng
assi stants
Textbook
Sellers
department
secretaries
Professor
department
chai r
Dean
regi strar
Figure 4
colleagues
Role and Status Challenges
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Role strain—the demands of a role may
overwhelm—how do we get a break from the
hard roles?
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Status inconsistency—when our ascribed
status seems in conflict with an achieved
status
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Old people on skateboards, non-trad student
Role conflict—when a person has two or more
roles that require opposing behaviors
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Fathers (protectors) killing teenage soldiers
Role Strain (example)
Professors are expected to teach
well, serve on committees, do
research and publish
BUT
Never enough time to do
everything well.
BUT
Professors are expected
to be “in charge” and
strict!
Role Conflict (example)
Women are expected to
be “nice” and not too
assertive.
Status Inconsistency (example)
Middle-aged
Figure 6
&
Guitar player in
Rock band!
Master Status
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One's dominant status(es), whether ascribed
or achieved
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When “woman” is perceived, the tendency is
to associate her with relationships—mother,
daughter, grandmother, wife—even if she
holds a high-ranking position
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When “man” is perceived, the tendency is to
associate with occupation
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Race or ethnicity as master status?
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Age as master status?
Social Groups
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Other individuals with whom we share
common identity or goals, & with whom we
interact within a specific social structure (not
happenstance)
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Primary group—kin and friendship groups—
high socialization factor—intimate face-to-face
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Gemeinschaft—community
Secondary group—something you are seen as
a “member” of—means to an end or utility
where your status matters more than personal
factors
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Gesellschaft—society
Exercise on Social Groups
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In groups of 2-4 take notes, sign names
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Come up with a list of primary groups in your
life
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Choose one and discuss the various ways this
group socializes you—what kind of human
does it demand you become?
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Come up with a list of secondary groups in
your life
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Choose one and discuss what the reasons are
for the existence of this group, what position a
person may have in this group, and how that
status defines your interactions in the group
Formal Organizations
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About achieving a specific goal within a
formalized structure—contractual
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Marriage, schooling, work, teams, religion
Bureaucratic organizations
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Ideal type—hierarchical (top-down),
jurisdictional areas, documentation, managers,
full-time, operational rules
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rationalization—logical ordering—position, not
person, process-oriented
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How is the university “rational”?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mnUEDA6drB8