Chapter 3 Flashcards
A perspective in which male concerns, male attitudes, and male practices are presented as “normal” or define what is significant and valued in a culture
androcentrism
Tenets or convictions that people hold to be true
beliefs
A set of paired terms, considered as mutually exclusive and logical opposites, which structure a whole set or system of associated meanings
binary opposition
An experiment in which researchers purposely break a commonly accepted social norm or behave in a socially awkward manner to examine people’s reactions
breaching experiment
A set of cultural conventions, instructions, or rules used to combine symbols to communicate or interpret meaning
code
An object, service, or good that has been produced for sale on the market
commodity
The process through which objects, services, or goods are turned into commodities
commodification
The tendency for people to define themselves in terms of the commodities they purchase
consumerism
A group that rejects and opposes society’s widely accepted cultural patterns
counterculture
The deliberate imposition of one’s own cultural values on another culture
cultural imperialism
The practice of assessing beliefs or practices within a culture by its own standards
cultural relativism
Patterns or traits that are common to all societies
cultural universals
Shared beliefs, values, and practices in a whole way of life
culture
An experience of personal disorientation when confronted with an unfamiliar way of life
culture shock
A way of doing things that expresses the customs and know-how of a particular culture
cultural practice
The conscious subversion of messages, signs, and symbols by altering them slightly
detournement
The dispersion of a people from their original homeland
diaspora
The spread of material and nonmaterial culture from one culture to another
diffusion
Evaluating another culture according to the standards of one’s own culture
ethnocentrism
Norms without any particular moral underpinnings
folkways
Established, written rules
formal norms
A form of biological determinism that suggests the qualities of human life are caused by genes
geneticism
The process by which a global dimension of social relations emerges and spreads
globalization
Forms of cultural experience characterized by formal complexity, eternal values, or creative authenticity
high culture
New forms of culture that arise from cross-cultural exchange and cultural blending
hybridity
Rules of behaviour that are generally and widely followed but not codified in law or institutional policy
informal norms
Max Weber’s metaphor for the modern condition of life circumscribed by the demand for maximum efficiency
iron cage
A symbolic system of communication
language
The culture of constant change and transformation associated with the rise of capitalism
modernity
Norms based on social requirements which are based on the moral views and principles of a group
mores
Promotion of making new reproductive technologies and human genetic engineering available to consumers to enhance human characteristics and capacities
new eugenics movement
Rules of behaviour or conduct
norms
Cultural experiences, practices and products that are widely circulated, produced by or well-liked by “the people.”
popular culture
Forms of contemporary culture characterized by a playful mixture of forms, pluralism, and the breakdown of centralized, modern culture
postmodern culture
The idea that people understand the world based on their form of language
Sapir-Whorf hypothesis
A way to authorize or formally disapprove of certain behaviours
sanctions
A way to encourage conformity to cultural norms
social control
The external laws, morals, values, religious beliefs, customs, fashions, rituals, and cultural rules that govern social life
social facts
The structures of a social group of people who interact within a definable territory and who share a culture
society
The study of deep unconscious rules or codes that govern cultural activities and constrain possibilities in different domains of social life
structuralism
A group that shares a specific identity apart from a parent culture, even as the members hold features in common with the parent culture
subculture
Gesture, object, or component of language that represents a meaning recognized by people who share a culture
symbol
Strong prohibitions based on deeply held sacred or moral beliefs
taboos
A culture’s standard for discerning desirable states in society
values
