Chapter 3 - Culture Flashcards
High Culture
enjoyed mainly by upper classes
Popular Culture
(mass culture) enjoyed by all classes
Culture
all the ideas, practices, and material objects that people create to deal with real-life problems
Symbols
concrete objects or abstracters that represent something else
Abstraction
nonmaterial culture (ideas and symbols)
Beliefs
cultural statements that define what community members consider real
Cooperation
- values and norms
Norms
generally accepted ways of doing things
Values
ideas that identify desirable states (conditions that are true, good, or beautiful)
Production
material culture (tools and techniques)
Material Culture
comprises the tools and techniques that enable people to accomplish tasks
Non-Material Culture
composed symbols, norms, and other intangible elements
Social Organization
the orderly arrangement of social interaction
4 Types of Norms (terms) and definitions
- folkways = norms that specify social preferences. they are the least important norms so violation of them evokes the least severe punishment
- mores = core norms that most people believe are essential for the survival of their group or their society
- taboos = the strongest norms. whens someone violates a taboo, it causes revulsion in the community and punishment is severe
- laws = norms that have been codified and enforced by the state
Saphir-Whorf Thesis
holds that we experience certain things in our environment and form concepts about those things. we then develop languages to express our concepts. finally, language itself influences how we see the world
Ethnocentrism
the tendency for people to judge other cultures exclusively by the standards of their own culture
Cultural Relativism
the belief that all cultures have equal value
The Rights Revolution
the process by which socially excluded groups struggled to win equal rights under the law and in practice beginning in the second half of the twentieth century
Rites of Passage
cultural ceremonies that mark the transition from one state of life to another
Globalization
the process by which formerly separate economies, states, and cultures are tied together and people become aware of their growing independence
Postmodernism
characterized by an eclectic mix of cultural elements, the erosion of authority, and the decline of consensus around core values
Rationalization (definition and who)
- the application of the most efficient means to achieve given goals and the unintended, negative consequences of doing so
- Max Weber
Consumerism
- the tendency to define ourselves in terms of the goods we purchase
- macrolevel
Subculture
a set of distinctive values, norms, and practices within a larger culture
Counterculture
subcultures that oppose society’s prevailing values and try to replace them
Cultural Capital (definition and who)
- refers to the beliefs, tastes, norms, and values that people draw on in their everyday life
- Pierre Bourdieu
Cultural Jamming
the creative methods used by individuals and groups to challenge dominant cultural beliefs, tastes, norms, and values
Concepts
allow humans to organize, classify, interpret, and generalize their experiences
3 tools of human survival
abstraction, cooperation, and production
2 forms of cultural production
- involves making and using tools and technology (which improve our ability to take what we want from nature
- social organization (the orderly arrangement of social interaction
Global Village (definition and who)
- the bringing together of people through globalization
- Marshall Mcluhan
3 features of the modernism era in western culture
- belief in inevitability of progress
- respect for authority
- consensus around core values
Materialism (definition and who)
- an individual value or predilection towards consumption
- microlevel
- Garfinkle
