concepts of culture Flashcards
Types of culture + subcultures
Define culture?
The beliefs, ways and acts that are followed by a group of people.
Define ageism
Stereotyping and discriminating against individuals of groups on the basis of their ages
Different types of subvultures:
Youth subcultures
religious subcultures
lesiure subcultures
deviant subcultures
According to Durkheim, how was culture in pre - industrial societies?
Function of social institutions was to socialise individuals.
Relgion had a strong impact on individual behaviour
People went along with what society demands, which led to social solidarity.
How was culture in modern societies?
Industrial societies were more compex.
More experiences + choices came about, people became less like each other which casued conflict (ANOMIE)
Critcisms of Durkheim?
- Inerpretivists sociologists: sees people as less important than society + culture.
- Exaggerates to whoch degree culture is shared in countries
Whats the functionalist appraoch of subcultures:
- Eisenstadt, Parsons + Baker~ youth subcultures emerge as a way of dealing with status fustration, that arisies from childhood to adulthood.
- Youth culture makes young people practice independance + form their own identity.
Criticsims of funtionalists:
Doesnt explain the subculture styles such as: class, gender, ethnic differences, sexism, crime + anti social behaviour
Marxists approach of subcultures:
- Try explain the difference in style in terms of social class positions.
- Hall + Jefferson~ saw youth styles such as skinheads, as a form of resitance to ruling class.
- Cohen~ saw w/c suncultures arising, as a means re-establishing a sense of community
Criticsms of Marxists:
- Cohen~ suggests youth suncultures are not created by factors such as ethnicity, gender…
- They dont pay attention/study working class, minority ethnic groups who arent in suncultures
Role of culture according to Feminism?
- Culture plays an important role in the sunordination of women to the interests of men.
- Sharpe~ maintains differences in child socialisation to generate masculine/feminine cultural identites
Functionalist perspective of culture:
- Durkheim~ society + culture are more important that individuals.
- society members are united by value consensus.
- Durkheim~ saw culture as the cement that bonds the individuals together.
Marxists persepctive on culture:
- Capitalist society are characterised by wealth, power and income.
- Bourgeosie use their wealth to gain political + cultural value
- Ideas of people are completely dominated by ruling class.
Neo Marxists perspective on culture:
- Believe diff social classes have diff levels of class consiousness.
- We do have some control over the population.
Feminist perspective on culture:
- Culture is dominated by men mostly.
Interactionist perspective on culture:
- Looks at individuals rather than wider society
- Believes ypur behaviour reflects on how people react to it
- Cultures based on “I, me + self”
- Believes that theres potential for individuals to change culture of society by acting different
Post Modernist perspective on culture:
- Differences between different cultures no longer apply
- Some types of culture are no longer are automatically seen as supreior to other types
Criticism of functionalist perspective on culture:
- Exaggerates cultural consesnus
- Little acknowlegment that people play an active role in shaping culture
Critcism of Marxists perspective on culture:
- Overemphasises social class as the main reason for conflict in modern societies
- Assumes that w/c are passive victms of ruling class ideology
Criticisms of interactionist perspective on culture:
- Neglects wider structres of society
- Neglects class and gender inequalities and differences in power
Criticism of post modernists perspective on culture:
- Social divisions ush as class, ethnic and age have not disappeared and still influence cultures and identities
Define mass culture:
A value laden term which is used in a negative way to describe the cultural tastes od w/c.
What 2 groups discuss mass culture?
- Marxists
- Frankfurt school
What do marxists suggest about mass culture?
- Mass economic production led to the developments of mass society. This was caused by the breakdown of neighbourhoods as people moved from their traditional communities in search of work.
- Mass media became important
- Production of culture is more centralised
- Culture industries exist within a capitalist system to make profit.
Frankfurt school suggestion about mass culture?
- Was critical of mass culturre as its centralised to capitalist society.
- Mass culture include sources for profit for the owners + create false needs foe w/c (such as adverts)
- Its negative for w/c as it gives a one dimensional way of society + stops them thinking about important political issues.
- W/c feel the need to appeal to mass culture, so cultural forms are simplified and dumbs down culture
What did Adorno suggest?
- Was part of the Frankfurt school
- Criticised popular culture as it offered w/c easy pleasure + simplifies music. Stops people from appreciating complex music forms
- Cultural commodity~ via mass media, w/c accept life is an unfair social system
Define popular culture:
Its commercially produced and reflects normas, values that make up everyday lives of majority people in society.
Its the culture of w/c
Who discusses popular culture?
- Gramsci, Clarke et al, Stuart Hall
- Center for contemporary cu;tural studies (CCCS)
What do CCCS + neo marxists suggest about popular culture?
- The young werent passive + challenged mainstream ideas
- Analysed lives + culture of ordinary people and how class, gender + ethnicity influenced youth and youth subcultures
What does Hall et al say about popular culture?
- Concept of cultural resistance was used to understand how youth subcultures did not passively accept the idea that capitlism is good,
- Researched mods, punks and rockers. Found clothing of punks can be seen as a rejection of commercial fashion.
What does Clark et al suggest about popular culture?
- Analysed skinhead subculture
- Clothing of skinheads (doc marten boots) can be seen as an attempt to recapture w/c aspirations.
- Smart suits of Mods can be seen as expressing w/c aspirations to become m/c
Gramscis suggestion about popular culture:
Hegemony - ruling class will attempt to make ideas that bemefit them, accepted by all.
- Gramsci ~ always pockets of resistance to ruling class hegemony
- Youth subcultures can be seen as a form of resistance
Postmodernists view of popular culture:
- More consumption of oppurtunities, makes it more device
- The boundary between high + popular culture has bluured (strinati)
Giddings suggestion about popular culture:
- Line between mass + popular culture are similar
Livingstones suggestion about popular culture:
- Soap operas (eastenders) are educating + informing about contreversial social issues
- Raise issues which rarely get aired in public such as rape.
- Promotes public discussions that may not have happened
Strinati suggestions about popular culture:
- Doesnt accept that there is a single mass culture, which people pasively consume
Storey suggestion about popular culture:
- A change that came about is that members of the dominant class arent consuming high culture, but now consume what they preiviously dismissed, seeing it as mass culture
- (Bansky) is a street artist but his work on popular culture is bought by higher social classes
Define global culture:
- Cultural products , norms, values + attitudes from different countries becoming more alike (tourism)
Whats the role of globalization?
- Undermines national + local culture
- Emerged global culture
- Broke down cultural resistance between coutries
- People can choose how to form their own identity
Ritzers suggestions about global culture + its impact on people?
- uses example of American food brands that now operate on a global scale
- Promotes a global standardised culture + consumer lifestyles.
- Weakens local cultures
- People can experience same cultural + consumer products + form their identities and view of their world
Define homogenization?
- Process of cultures of different countries becoming more alike + merging into one uniform culture
2 strengths of global culture:
- People can acces same thing + form their own identity
- W/c + mass culture has now a blurred line from high culture
2 weaknesses of global culture:
- Traditional folk culture is decreasing
- Asumes everyone will follow global culture and wont have a strong affect on everyday lives
Define High Culture:
- Cultural creations that have particular high status
Who talks about high culture?
- Haralambos + Holborn
What does high culture include?
- Usually seen as supreior to other forms of culture, however this is contreversial.
- Examples: Shakespeare, ballet, opera + usually established historically.
- High culture is an important part of idenity of economic + political elite in the UK.
Define folk culture:
- Traditional cultural products + activities that originate with ordinary people, root from pre industrial society
What does folk culture include:
- Culture normally passed down by generations or by mouth
- Claim to tell authentic stories about real lives + experiences
Define low culture:
- Refers to culture of low ranked groups with little power and status.
What are forms of low culture?
- Mass culture
- Folk culture (see more positive than low culture)
