chapter 3 Flashcards
culture
George Murdock created an extensive list of what?
Universal cultural features
What do conflict theorists note about culture?
People in power will often try to manipulate culture to “manufacture consent.”
It is impossible to eliminate ideology, what is the best alternative according to conflict theorists?
Class consciousness
Define interpellation (Louis Althusser)
From infancy onward, we are forced, by the people around us, to accept the truth of the dominant ideology.
In terms of a dominant ideology, who creates it according to Marxists?
The dominant class
According to feminists, cultural values serve what purpose?
They perpetuate misogyny.
What is the central assertion of queer theory?
All sex and gender categories are social constructions with social causes and consequences.
How do functionalists view culture?
It’s viewed as an integral part of society, not just an ideology.
- cultural objects and practices function as social markers.
What social function did Thorstein Veblen’s first work explain? What does it mean?
- Conspicuous consumption
- Appears meaningless, however this cultural behavior distinguishes the upper and the lower classes in a stratified society.
What did Thorstein Veblen propose social prestige was symbolic of?
The symbolism of social prestige (consumerism) encourages a wasteful consumption of time and goods.
Pierre Bourdieu, in studying high culture, explained what about the upper class?
He argues that those in the upper class participate in high culture because they learn and acquire an “elite” taste, it it not inherent.
According to symbolic interactionists, where does culture grow from?
It grows from face-to-face interactions and from what’s communicated during these interactions.
What is the most general and flexible form of culture?
Language
The use of the term subculture when studying youth has been replaced with what? Why?
- Scene
- It suggests the intimacy of fluidity of the community.
What is a key note to understand when defining a counterculture?
MEMBERS OF COUNTERCULTURE DO NOT REJECT CONFORMITY, they only reject conformity to some of the values of the majority.
What about culture is quite revealing according to sociologists?
The unequal distribution of material culture is seen to be very revealing.
Cultural capital
The body of knowledge, ideas, tastes, preferences, and social skills that assist people in getting ahead.
Social capital; as a characteristic of a community
The networks of relations among people who live and work in that community.
Social capital; as a characteristic of an individual
The number, diversity, and “quality” of network ties a person can call on for information.
Describe Weber’s, “Protestant ethic.”
Attached to:
- hard work,
- thrift,
- and efficiency
in one’s worldly calling.
*Which, especially in the Calvinist view, were deemed signs of an individual’s election, or eternal salvation.
How did Robert Merton treat the rise of scientific thinking?
The start of a new social enterprise/institution that’s governed by social norms and cultural values.
Merton’s, C.U.D.O
C - communism
U - universalism
D - disinterestedness
O - organized skepticism
How did Herbert Spencer interpret Darwin’s “evolution of the fittest” concept?
It was applied to economic competition and inequality.
- He viewed free-market competition as means to achieve social progress; believed that survival of the “unfit” was unnatural, therefore harmful to society.
Eugenics
When apply to humans, it is aimed to alter genetic features to “improve” humanity.
