Keywords Flashcards
Culture
material and nonmaterial products of human groups
Society
made up of people and cultures made of products.
Cultural elements
Technology, symbols, language, values, and norms
Physical products
material cultures, things you can sense
Abstract products
nonmaterial culture
Technology
- Refers to objects and the rules for using them
- Any tool and its usage
- Any rule that makes the use of an object illegal
- Laws are technology
Symbols
- Basis of human culture
- Any words, gestures, or images
- Different cultures use different symbols
Language
- Organization of written or spoken symbols into a standardized system
- Can be used to express any idea
Values
- Values are shared beliefs
- Distinguish between good and bad, right and wrong, desirable and undesirable
- Group’s values help to determine character and culture
Norms
- Shared rules of conduct in specific situations
- Folkways do not carry heavy moral significance
- Mores carry heavy moral significance
- Laws are written and enforced by the government
Cultural Variation
Cultures can be different, but there are certain features that all cultures share (cultural universals).
Cultural universals
features developed by all societies to fulfill basic needs.
Subculture
- Groups within a larger culture that share traits with each other but not society.
- Examples are groups organized by age, gender, politics, or geography.
- Most do not reject all the values of the larger society.
- Most subcultures do not threaten the larger American culture.
Counterculture
- Adopt values that are designed to challenge/reject the values of larger society.
- Examples are groups such as cyberpunks, anarchists, the Mafia, and hippies.
Ethnocentrism
- Tendency to view one’s own culture and groups as superior.
- People from all cultures are somewhat ethnocentric at different times.
- Can lead to discrimination.
- Can cause the home culture to stagnate.
- Professional scholars struggle with ethnocentrism.
- Ethnocentric ideas can be internalized.
Cultural Relativism
- The idea that a culture should be judged by its own standards.
- Can help explain beliefs or behaviors that seem strange or different.
Perspectives on Culture
Functionalist: Culture reflects and enforces society’s central values. Encourage harmony and stability by integrating individuals in society. Subcultures diffuse discontent of subgroups in society. Ethnocentrism encourages group solidarity.
Conflict: Culture reflects and enforces values of those who hold power. Subcultures and countercultures challenges those in power. Ethnocentrism encourages discrimination against the powerless.
Interactionist: Culture is maintained and modifies through everyday social interaction. Interaction among subcultural groups helps to transmit customs and traditions and introduces new cultural meaning systems.
Cultural Diffusion
- Spreading of culture traits from one society to another
- Today, it can happen almost instantly. (Space time continuum becoming compressed)
Cultural Lag
- The time it takes for nonmaterial culture to “catch up” to changes in material culture.
- Technology (cell phones)
Cultural Leveling
- Process by which cultures become more and more alike.
- Some suggest is it the first step toward a global culture.
Race
- Biological categorization based on phenotype (most common, unreliable scientifically)
- Social construct based this biological categorization- attribution of an ascribed status and associated role
o When you give someone a status that comes with roles
o Ascribed status: place in society
Racism
- Discrimination based on race
- Translates into actions and institutions
o Microaggressions
o Segregation
o Rhetoric - Critical Race Theory focuses on institutional racism known as systemic racism.
CRT
- Controversial approach and pedagogy (teaching)
- Systemic racism manifests as white privilege, implicit bias, and normalization of whiteness that leads to alterity.
- Advocates educating about racism.
- Calls for white allyship (white anti-racist).
- Warns against color-blind policies, and the use of BIPOC as tokens of post-racialism.
o Post-racialism: Racism as a thing of the past
