Chapter 3 Key Term Flashcards
culture
The values, norms, and material goods characteristic of a given group. Like the concept of society, the notion of culture is widely used in sociology and the other social sciences (particularly anthropology). Culture is one of the most distinctive properties of human social association.
society
A group of people who live in a particular territory, are subject to a common system of political authority, and are aware of having a distinct identity from other groups. Some societies, such as hunting and gathering societies, are small, numbering no more than a few dozen people. Others are large, numbering millions. Modern Chinese society, for instance, has a population of more than a billion people.
cultural universals
Values or mode of behavior shared by all human cultures
marriage
A socially approved sexual relationship between two individuals. Marriage historically has involved two persons of opposites sexes, but in the past decade marriage between same-sex partners has been legalized in a growing number of states and nations throughout the world. Marriage normally forms the basis of a family of procreation–that is, it is expected that the married couple will produce and bring up children.
nonmaterial culture
Cultural ideas that are not themselves physical objects
material culture
the physical objects that a society creates that influence the ways in which people live
values
Ideas held by individuals or groups about what is desirable, proper, good, and bad. What individuals value is strongly influenced by the specific culture in which they happen to live
norms
Rules of conduct that specify appropriate behavior in a given range of social situations. A norm either prescribes a given type of behavior or forbids it. All human groups follow definite norms, which are always backed by sanctions of one kind or another, varying from informal disapproval to physical punishment
symbol
One item used to stand for or represent another, as in the case of a flag symbolizing a nation
signifier
Any vehicle of meaning and communication
semiotics
The study of the ways in which nonlinguistic phenomena can generate meaning, as in the example of a traffic light
language
The primary vehicle for meaning and communication in a society, language is a system of symbols that represent objects and abstract thoughts.
linguistic relativity hypothesis
A hypothesis, based on the theories of Sapir and Whorf, that perceptions are relative to language
cultural turn
Sociology’s recent emphasis on the importance of understanding the role of culture in daily life.
hunting and gathering societies
Societies whose mode of subsistence is gained from hunting animals, fishing, and gathering edible plants.
pastoral societies
Societies whose subsistence derives from the rearing of domesticated animals.
agrarian societies
Societies whose means of subsistence are based on agricultural production (crop growing).
industrialization
The process of the machine production of goods.
industrialized societies
Strongly developed nation-states in which the majority of the population works in factories or offices rather than in agriculture, and most people live in urban areas.
nation-states
Particular types of states, characteristic of the modern world, in which governments have sovereign power within defined territorial areas, and populations are citizens who know themselves to be part of single nations.
colonialism
The process whereby Western nations established their rule in parts of the world away from their home territories
cultural capital
The accumulated cultural knowledge within a society that confers power and status
emerging economies
Developing countries such as India and Singapore, that over the past two or three decades have begun to develop a strong industrial base
cultural appropriation
When members of one cultural group borrow elements of another group’s culture
subcultures
Values and norms distinct from those of the majority, held by a group within a wider society
countercultures
Cultural groups within a wider society that largely reject the values and norm of the majority
assimilation
The acceptance of a minority group by a majority population in which the new group takes on the values and norms of the dominant culture
multiculturalism
A condition in which ethnic group exist separately and share equally in economic and political life
ethnocentrism
The tendency to look at other cultures through the eyes of one’s own culture, and thereby misrepresent them
cultural relativism
The practice of judging a society by its own standards
sociobiology
n approach that attempts to explain the behavior of both animals and human beings in terms of biological principles.
instincts
Fixed patterns of behavior that have genetic origins and that appear in all normal animals within a given species. (biologically fixed patterns of action found in all cultures)
nationalism
A set of beliefs and symbols expressing identification with a national community.
cultural lag
The idea introduced by William Ogburn, that changes in cultural values and norms take time to catch up with technological development.
