Chapter 3 - Culture Flashcards
What are the three broad streams of sociology?
- Scientific/patterns/structural functionalism
- Interpretive/processes/symbolic interactionalism
- Critical/divisions/conflict
Define culture
- The ways of thinking, the ways of acting in the material objects that together form peoples way of life.
Culture can be studied:
- By examining nonmaterial things (Ideas, thoughts, conceptions)
- By examining material things (Physical objects created by people)
What is sociobiology?
- Examined how our biological nature influences or determines our society
- Humans have evolved over hundreds of generations
- Individual survival and adaptation
- Social survival and adaptation
Sociobiology in terms of human nature and abilities:
Elements shared with many other animals:
- Social - live in groups
- Aggression and cooperation
- Species association
- Utilization of tools
- Different biological role and reproduction
Elements unique (or almost unique) to humans:
- Ability to learn/use oral language
- Ability to make tools
- Ability to harness other energy sources
- Ability to separate conception from execution
- Ability to throw overhand
studying culture in relation to language
- Human universal: the ability to communicate in a verbal language containing:
- Vocabulary
- Syntactic structure
- Grammar
- Cultural differentiation: many languages arising from any cultural milieus:
- Concepts
- Meanings
- Understandings
What are some things to consider between the cultural diversity and age?
- The passage of time changes things
- Younger people have had different experiences than older people
- Different experiences create different cultures (Ways of thinking, ways of acting, material objects)
Canada: two nations versus multiculturalism
Two nations
- French and English
- Legislative enshrined: official languages act etc.
- Melting pot
- Assimilation
Multiculturalism
- Many ethnic groups
- Legislatively enshrined: Multicultural legislation
- Cultural mosaic
- Preservation of identity
The bottom line: culture
- Culture is the wake or two people interpret the world behave
- It can be expressed or studied with material or nonmaterial things
- Cultures are always reconstituting themselves
- Cultures are always changing
- A society or country like Canada has many cultures and points of cultural division
- Each person can be part of several cultures during a single day of their life
what are subcultures?
Cultural patterns that distinguish some segments of society’s population
what is ethnocentrism?
Tendency to assume that one’s own culture and way of life represents the normal or superior to others
what is cultural transmission?
Passing a cultural traits from one generation to the next
what is cultural diffusion?
Spreading of cultural traits
What is the sapir-whorf hypothesis?
People perceive the world through the cultural lines of language. His language proceeds thought
what are 5 characteristics of a culture?
- Becomes internalized
- Shares
- Learned
- Based on symbols
- Culture is integrated
what are the types of culture?
Material and non material
