Culture

Question 1

What is culture?

Answer 1

A way of life, taught norms and values of the ethnic background religion and traditions.

Giddens: suggests culture makes people human rather than biology

Question 2

What is popular/mass culture?

Answer 2

Cultural products and practices enjoyed by the majority e.g listening to pop music, going to the cinema

Marxists see this as a type of social control as the ruling class encourage population to passively accept the status quo e.g celebrating celebrities and materialism. Pop culture fails to encourage the poor to ask about the way capitalist societies are formed

Question 3

What is high culture?

Answer 3

Refers to particular products and practices of a culture seen as intellectually and aesthetically superior because they represent highest human creativity

e.g enjoying ballet or reading poetry. Sporting activities may include lacrosse or hunting

Question 4

What is global culture?

Answer 4

refers to domestic cultures of society e.g UK can no longer exist in isolation from the rest of the world and are now shaped by globalisation.

Internet e.g twitter and corporations such as McDonald’s and dominance of US films are exposed to U.K. citizens and influence worldwide events.

Question 5

What are norms, customs and values?

Answer 5

Norms: cultural expectations that societies attach to particular behaviours e.g the way males and females dress, how we eat (knife and fork)

Values: beliefs and goals relating to members of society feel is morally important. Guidelines of behaviour. E.g respect for human life, materialism, fairness

Customs: norms that have been established for generations and are historic traditions e.g bonfire night

Question 6

What is Consumer culture?

Answer 6

Fuelled by rise in living standards, greater consumer goods and growing population of materialism.

Conspicuous consumption refers to how a person expresses their good taste e.g through buying designer labels

This may shape our norms and values as credit card debt in this day and age is the norm

Question 7

What is cultural diversity and cultural hybridity?

Answer 7

CD: cultural differences in societies despite a consensus of norms and values. People experience a common sense of belonging
e.g. ChinaTowns in London and African-Caribbeans in brick lane and Brixton. Multicultural society celebrates difference

CH: members of society mix and match elements of different cultures to construct their identity. e.g chicken tikka masala is a hybrid of Asian curry and British gravy