Ch3: cultures Flashcards
culture
the beliefs and behaviours that a social group shares, lays down set of rules to constrain but also produce innovative solutions that go beyond constraints
society
a group that interacts within a common bounded territory or region
differences between culture and society
culture represents the beliefs, practices, and material artifacts
society represents the social structures, processes, and organization of the people who share those beliefs, practices, and material artifacts (they co-exist)
ethnosphere
the entirety of all cultures’ way of thinking, being, and orienting oneself on the Earth, it is our collective cultural heritage as a species
in what way is culture innovative
- different solutions to real life problems
- existence of different cultures refers to the means by which humans use innovation to free themselves from biological and environmental constraints
in what way is culture restraining
- local cultural forms restrain the changes produced by globalization
- globalization increasingly restrains cultural forms, practices, and possibilities
biological determinism
the forms of human society and behaviour are determined by biological mechanisms like genetics, instinctual behaviours, or evolutionary advantages
sociobiology
provides biological explanations for the evolution of human behaviour and social organization
three sociobiology steps
- identify an universal aspect of human behaviour
- assume that this universal trait must be coded in the DNA of the species
- argue why this behaviour or characteristic increases the chances of survival
cons of sociobiology
it is limited with respect to what it can explain about complex cultural behaviours and practices
eugenics
meaning “well born” in ancient Greek, a social movement that sought to improve the human “stock” through selective breeding and sterilization
Francis Galton’s definition of eugenics
1883, as the study of agencies under social control that may improve or impair the racial qualities of future generations, either physically or mentally
geneticism
suggests that the qualities of human life are cause by genes
cultural universals
patterns or traits that are globally common to all societies
George Murdock’s discovery of cultural universals
first recognized the existence of cultural universals while studying systems of kinship around the world
ethnocentrism
evaluating and judging another culture based on how it compares to one’s own cultural norms (bias)
cultural imperialism
the deliberate imposition of one’s own cultural values on another culture
culture shock
an experience of personal disorientation when confronted with an unfamiliar way of life
culture lag
the gap of time between the introduction of material culture and nonmaterial culture’s acceptance of it
cultural relativism
the practice of assessing a culture by its own standards rather than viewing it through the lens of one’s own culture (need to be open-minded)
androcentricism
a perspective in which male concerns, attitudes, and practices are presented as normal or define what is significant and valued in a culture while women’s experiences are ignored or marginalized
multiculturalism
refers to both the fact of existence of a diversity of cultures within one territory and a way of conceptualizing and managing cultural diversity
- promote and recognize cultural differences while addressing the inevitability of cultural tensions
interculturalism
Quebec-based concept of multiculturalism, to recognize and respect the diversity of immigrants who seek to integrate into Quebec society
critics of multiculturalism
- only superficially accepts equality of all cultures while limiting actual equality, participant, and cultural expression
- obliges minority individuals to assume the limited cultural identities of their ethnic group, leads to stereotyping minority groups
- causes fragmentation and disunity
- based on recognizing group rights which undermines constitutional protections of individual rights
