Ch 2 - Culture

Question 1

culture

Answer 1

practices, languages, symbols, beliefs, values, ideologies, and material objects that is socially constructed and transmitted by people to deal with real-life problems

Question 2

society

Answer 2

a group of people who interact (usually within a defined territory geographically) and share a culture

Question 3

abstraction

Answer 3

the human capacity to create general ideas or ways of thinking that are not linked to particular instances

Question 4

symbols

Answer 4

things that carry particular meanings ex. language, math signs. Symbols allow us to classify experiences and generalize from it.

Question 5

cooperation

Answer 5

the human capacity to createa complex social life by sharing resources and working together

Question 6

norms

Answer 6

generally accepted ways of doing things

Question 7

values

Answer 7

ideas about what is right and wrong, good and bad, beautiful and ugly

Question 8

folkway

Answer 8

the least important type of norm-a norm that evokes the least severe punishment when violated

Question 9

more

Answer 9

a core norm that most people believe is essential for the survivial of their group or their society (moderately severe punishment when violated; requires there to be both a social PREFERENCE and social REQUIREMENT)

Question 10

taboo

Answer 10

the strongest type of norm. when someone violates a taboo, it causes revulsion in the community, and pushment is severe

Question 11

production

Answer 11

the human capacity to make and use tools. It improves our ability to take what we want from nature.

Question 12

material culture

Answer 12

the tools and techniques that enable people to accomplish tasks

Question 13

high culture

Answer 13

culture consumed mainly by upper classes

Question 14

popular culture (or mass culture)

Answer 14

culture consumed by all classes

Question 15

dominant culture

Answer 15

helps rich and powerful categories of people exercise control over others

Question 16

subordinate culture

Answer 16

contests dominant culture to varying degrees

Question 17

language

Answer 17

a system of symbols strung together to communicate thought

Question 18

sapir-whorf thesis

Answer 18

we experience certain things and form concepts about said things then develop language to express as such. language influences how we see the world

Question 19

ethnocentrism

Answer 19

the tendency to judge other cultures exclusively by the standards of your own

Question 20

multiculturalism

Answer 20

policy that reflects canada’s ethnic and racial diversity in the past and enhances its ethnic and racial diversity today

Question 21

cultural relativism

Answer 21

the belief that all cultures have equal value

Question 22

rights revolution

Answer 22

the process by which socially excluded groups have struggled to win equal rights under the law and in practice

Question 23

rites of passage

Answer 23

cultural ceremonies that mark the transition from one stage of life to another (ex. baptisms, confirmations, weddings) or from life to death (ex. funerals)

Question 24

postmodernism

Answer 24

culture characterized by an eclectic mix of cultural elements from different times and places, the erosion of authority, and the decline of consensus around core values

Question 25

rationalization

Answer 25

the application of the most efficient means to achieve given goals and the unintended, negative consequences of doing so

Question 26

consumerisms

Answer 26

the tendency to define ourselves in terms of the goods and services we purchase

Question 27

subculture

Answer 27

a set of distinctive values, norms, and practices within a larger culture

Question 28

countercultures

Answer 28

subversive subcultures that oppose dominant values and seek to replace them