Module 2 Defining Culture and Society from the Perspectives of Anthropology and Sociology Flashcards
A term used to include all the facets of human experience; the way we understand ourselves both as individuals and as members of society, and includes stories, religion, media, rituals, and even language itself
Culture
A society’s shared and socially transmitted ideas, values, and perceptions, used to make sense of experience and which generate behavior and are reflected in that behavior; an anthropological term; a product of human evolution
Culture
Sees culture as consisting of beliefs, behaviors, objects, and other characteristics common to the members of a particular group or society
Sociology
A group of people living in the same territory, relatively independent of people outside their area, and participate in a common culture
Society
Understanding people’s worldview; repository of our being
Anthropology
Consists of the “objects” of a society
Culture
Consists of the people who share a common culture
Society
The collection of all physical objects that people invented or borrowed from other cultures
Material culture
Father of communism
Karl Marx
Conflict/critical perspective
Neomarxism
One of the greatest thinkers of the 20th century
Pierre Bourdieu
Three symbolic capitals:
- Social capital
- Cultural cpaital
- Economic capital
When we learn our own culture; welcoming, embracing, practicing your own culture
Enculturation
When old people learn from the young
Pre-figurative
When young people learn from the old
Post-figurative
Learning from each other/colleagues
Co-figurative
Can be tangible or intangible
Heritage
Consists of the intangible human creations that include beliefs, values, norms, and symbols
Nonmaterial culture
The conceptions that people accept as true, concerning how the world operates and where the individual fits in relationship to others
Beliefs
The conceptions that people accept as true, concerning how the world operates and where the individual fits in relationship to others
Beliefs
The general and shared conceptions of what is good, right, appropriate, and important regarding conduct, appearance, and states of being
Values
The rules, written or not, specifying appropriate and inappropriate behavior to a particular social situation; ranges from the mild ones applying to the mundane aspects of daily life (folkways) to the ones that people define as essential to the well-being of the group (mores)
Norms
Any kind of physical or conceptual phenomenon that carries additional meaning beyond itself to others who share in the culture
Symbol
An organized set of symbols by which humans are able to think and communicate with others
Language
Symbols can be:
Physical, conceptual
Culture has allowed us to survive in major geographic regions all over the globe.
Culture is an adaptive mechanism.
Culture is non-instinctive; we are not genetically programed to learn one. We are predisposed to learn cultural traits, including language.
Culture is learned.
What we know and discover were added up to what has been previously known.
Culture is cumulative
Knowledge is stored and passed on from one generation to the next, and new knowledge is being added to what is existing.
Culture changes.
The way we experience culture in our everyday lives seems “natural” to us.
People usually are not aware of their culture.
Although culture is largely shared, it is not the same for everyone.
We do not know all of our own culture.
Culture tells us how different activities should be conducted.
Culture gives us a range of permissible behavior patterns.
From one culture/locality to another; transcultural exchange because of the influence of other cultures
Culture gives us a range of permissible behavior patterns.
Due to globalization, improvements in transportation and communication, it is highly unlikely that there are societies still existing in total isolation from the outside world.
Cultures no longer exist in isolation.
Elements, patterns, traits, or institutions that are common to all human creatures worldwide
Cultural universals
Anthropologist who dug into the works of many anthropologists and compared different cultures through customs
George Murdock
Refers to the differences in social behaviors that different cultures exhibit around the world
Cultural variation
A culture within a broader mainstream culture, with its separate values, practices, and beliefs; distinctiveness of cultures among societies
Subculture
A type of subculture that rejects some of the norms and values of the dominant culture
Counterculture
The practice of viewing and judging someone else’s culture according to the values and beliefs of one’s own culture
Ethnocentrism
Views people’s behavior from the perspective of their own culture; places a priority on understanding other cultures
Cultural relativism
The opposite of ethnocentrism; the tendency to value other cultures more highly than one’s own culture
Xenocentrism
The opposite of ethnocentrism; the tendency to value other cultures more highly than one’s own culture
Xenocentrism
