Chapter 3 - Culture

Question 1

High Culture

Answer 1

enjoyed mainly by upper classes

Question 2

Popular Culture

Answer 2

(mass culture) enjoyed by all classes

Question 3

Culture

Answer 3

all the ideas, practices, and material objects that people create to deal with real-life problems

Question 4

Symbols

Answer 4

concrete objects or abstracters that represent something else

Question 5

Abstraction

Answer 5

nonmaterial culture (ideas and symbols)

Question 6

Beliefs

Answer 6

cultural statements that define what community members consider real

Question 7

Cooperation

Answer 7

• values and norms

Question 8

Norms

Answer 8

generally accepted ways of doing things

Question 9

Values

Answer 9

ideas that identify desirable states (conditions that are true, good, or beautiful)

Question 10

Production

Answer 10

material culture (tools and techniques)

Question 11

Material Culture

Answer 11

comprises the tools and techniques that enable people to accomplish tasks

Question 12

Non-Material Culture

Answer 12

composed symbols, norms, and other intangible elements

Question 13

Social Organization

Answer 13

the orderly arrangement of social interaction

Question 14

4 Types of Norms (terms) and definitions

Answer 14

1. folkways = norms that specify social preferences. they are the least important norms so violation of them evokes the least severe punishment
2. mores = core norms that most people believe are essential for the survival of their group or their society
3. taboos = the strongest norms. whens someone violates a taboo, it causes revulsion in the community and punishment is severe
4. laws = norms that have been codified and enforced by the state

Question 15

Saphir-Whorf Thesis

Answer 15

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

Question 16

Ethnocentrism

Answer 16

the tendency for people to judge other cultures exclusively by the standards of their own culture

Question 17

Cultural Relativism

Answer 17

the belief that all cultures have equal value

Question 18

The Rights Revolution

Answer 18

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

Question 19

Rites of Passage

Answer 19

cultural ceremonies that mark the transition from one state of life to another

Question 20

Globalization

Answer 20

the process by which formerly separate economies, states, and cultures are tied together and people become aware of their growing independence

Question 21

Postmodernism

Answer 21

characterized by an eclectic mix of cultural elements, the erosion of authority, and the decline of consensus around core values

Question 22

Rationalization (definition and who)

Answer 22

• the application of the most efficient means to achieve given goals and the unintended, negative consequences of doing so
• Max Weber

Question 23

Consumerism

Answer 23

• the tendency to define ourselves in terms of the goods we purchase
• macrolevel

Question 24

Subculture

Answer 24

a set of distinctive values, norms, and practices within a larger culture

Question 25

Counterculture

Answer 25

subcultures that oppose society’s prevailing values and try to replace them

Question 26

Cultural Capital (definition and who)

Answer 26

• refers to the beliefs, tastes, norms, and values that people draw on in their everyday life
• Pierre Bourdieu

Question 27

Cultural Jamming

Answer 27

the creative methods used by individuals and groups to challenge dominant cultural beliefs, tastes, norms, and values

Question 28

Concepts

Answer 28

allow humans to organize, classify, interpret, and generalize their experiences

Question 29

3 tools of human survival

Answer 29

abstraction, cooperation, and production

Question 30

2 forms of cultural production

Answer 30

1. involves making and using tools and technology (which improve our ability to take what we want from nature
2. social organization (the orderly arrangement of social interaction

Question 31

Global Village (definition and who)

Answer 31

• the bringing together of people through globalization

- Marshall Mcluhan

Question 32

3 features of the modernism era in western culture

Answer 32

1. belief in inevitability of progress
2. respect for authority
3. consensus around core values

Question 33

Materialism (definition and who)

Answer 33

• an individual value or predilection towards consumption
• microlevel
• Garfinkle