sociology culture and identity Flashcards

1
Q

what is culture

A

way of life for particular part of society

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2
Q

how is culture developed and transmitted

A

through socialisation

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3
Q

what is culture diversity

A

differences between cultures or a wide range of cultural values within a society

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4
Q

what is multiculturalism

A

cultures, races, religions and ethnicities deserve to have their culture celebrated and acknowledged

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5
Q

what is homogenisation of culture

A

cultures have become more similar or alike

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6
Q

what is an example of homogenisation of culture

A

americanisation of style, music, dialects and local customs

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7
Q

what is a subculture

A

group separate from the majority of society that share the same norms customs and values

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8
Q

what are some examples of subcultures

A

goths, chavs, teddy boys, mods, skinheads, hippies

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9
Q

what is mass culture

A

set norms and values that the majority of the population share through the same exposure of media, news sources, music and art

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10
Q

what is folk culture

A

culture that has been passed down through generations from the same community

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11
Q

what are examples of mass culture

A

cinema football

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12
Q

what are examples of folk culture

A

durham miners gala may pole

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13
Q

what is high culture

A

cultural practices that are superior to others of lasting value

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14
Q

what are some examples of high culture

A

ballet theatre opera

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15
Q

what is low culture

A

cultural practices that are inferior to others enjoyed by the masses

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16
Q

what are some examples of low culture

A

soap operas love island reality tv football

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17
Q

what is popular culture

A

culture that is enjoyed by the masses who play an active role in it

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18
Q

what are some examples of popular culture

A

love island

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19
Q

what is global culture

A

culture that has been impacted by globalisation making it more diverse and driven by technology

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20
Q

what is cultural imperialism

A

global culture has led to america and western cultures taking over the world

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21
Q

what are some examples of global culture

A

mcdonalds nike apple

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22
Q

what did ritzer propose and what is it

A

mcdonalisation- efficiency, calculability, predictability which can be related back to society

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23
Q

what is the main functionalist view of culture

A

acts as a social glue or bond that keeps society together and maintains social order and is the shared norms and values of society

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24
Q

what are norms

A

expected forms of behaviour in a particular society

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25
Q

what are values

A

important and lasting beliefs or ideals shared by members of a particular society about what is good and bad and desirable and undesirable

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26
Q

what is the important thing about culture

A

it forms a consensus- members agree how to behave and what is important- a collective consciousness which binds them together and keeps society in order and functioning effectively

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27
Q

how do conflict theories criticise it (functionalism on culture)

A

dispute that there is a consensus that helps society function effectively for everyone
they see it as maintaining a certain social order- patriarchy and capitalism

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28
Q

how do postmodernists criticise it (functionalism on culture)

A

they see culture as being diverse and societies are characterised by great diversity

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29
Q

what is the marxists main view of culture

A

working on behalf of the ruling class to sustain a capitalist system

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30
Q

what did adorno say (neo-marxist)

A

culture creates false needs created through mass culture leading to commodity fetishism

31
Q

what did they say was the main transmitter

A

the media- the cultural products of media encouraged the working class to accept their fate eg. newspaper horoscopes and the national lottery- and mass culture which leads to a passive working class preventing a revolution

32
Q

what did bourdieu say

A

concepts of cultural capital and habitus showed the way culture is used to benefit the ruling class- due to opportunity of high culture they gain advantage to access power and opportunity and the working class are limited by their habitus

33
Q

what did gramsci say

A

used the term hegemony to refer to the dominant ruling class culture which is broadly accepted but notes the existence of counter-hegemony

34
Q

what is one criticism (marxists on culture)

A

they do not all agree with each other

35
Q

how do functionalists criticise (marxists on culture)

A

disagree with the nature of society and dont see a unifying culture as benefiting only one part of society

36
Q

how do feminists criticise (marxists on culture)

A

agree that the dominant culture benefits but they argue that it is men that benefit rather than the ruling class

37
Q

what are the feminists main views of culture

A

controls society for the benefit of the powerful at the expense of the weak- men

38
Q

what do they focus on

A

how popular culture stereotypes women into social roles whilst making patriarchy normal

39
Q

what did ferguson and mcrobbie say

A

the way magazines for girls promoted traditional housewife role

40
Q

what did radical feminists look at

A

the way some cultural products appear to promote and legitimise violence against women

41
Q

what did wolf say

A

argued that the media portray traditional images of women to keep women oppressed into a narrow range of roles

42
Q

what is the beauty myth

A

encouraged to see their bodies as projects that constantly need improving

43
Q

how do postmodernists criticise (feminists on culture)

A

liberal and radical- most of the representation of women is empowering- now in control of their own sexuality and empowered by their image rather than oppressed by it
gender is just one identity among many and people can create their own diverse culture and are not defined by mainstream cultural norms

44
Q

how do functionalists criticise (feminists on culture)

A

social order is a positive thing and women benefit from social order just as much as men do

45
Q

what are interactionists main view of culture

A

culture is created through interactions between individuals rather than being imposed by the structures of society- people choose how to behave, culture is create, shape, changed and developed by people

46
Q

what did goffman say

A

how norms were developed through interactions so we have developed rules for every day life

47
Q

what are the postmodernists main view of culture

A

culture is diverse, no culture is superior or inferior to another

48
Q

what is a strength of interactionists

A

its been influential- acknowledge people shape culture as well as being shaped by it

49
Q

what is a weakness of interactionists

A

how useful these ideas are for understanding of the role of culture in society

50
Q

what is a strength of postmodernists

A

influential- avoid language like high and low culture and making judgements about some cultures being superior to others

51
Q

what is a weakness of postmodernists

A

problems with cultural relativism- if cultural practices are harmful and damaging it is important they are condemned and not defended due to being a different culture

52
Q

what is thorntons subcultural capital

A

being in the know

53
Q

what did parsons say about youth and youth subculture

A

parsons- no need for social category of youth- children become adults after learning what is expected of them through ceremonies known as rites of passages but are not involved in contemporary society so instead said it was transition from childhood to adulthood (made up pf formal training and education), very stressful period of time from dependence to independence and had potential to undermine young peoples commitment to consensus and integration and thus social order

54
Q

what did eisenstadt say about youth and youth subculture

A

role of youth subculture is to socially integrate young people into society- provides them with a set of norms and values they could share with peers creates a sense of belonging- provides a safe and tolerable context to relieve the stress caused by uncertainty- provides an opportunity to rebel temporarily before settling down to adult conformity without threatening social order- functions to minimise social disruption and encourage social integration reinforce consensus on norms and values and social order

55
Q

what are the criticisms (functionalists on youth and youth subcultures)

A

accused of over generalising and failing to explain the emergence of specific spectacular youth subcultures that are impacted by social class gender and ethnicity
fail to consider some may be harmful or dysfunctional to society and individuals
being ehtnocentric- reflecting their cultural background white middle class might not be appropriate to british working class or black youth

56
Q

what is marxist and neo marxist views on youth and youth subculture

A

underpinned by exploitation and social class inequality and conflict
neo marxist focus on hegemony- how ruling class maintains cultural capitalism and authority over working class

57
Q

what did jefferson study and conclude

A

teddy boys (popular working class youth 1950s elaborate dress code- edwardian coloured jackets) poked fun at middle class social superiors, casual violence was form of ideological resistance to social an economic decay of neighbourhoods and exclusion of relative affluence

58
Q

what did clarke study and conclude

A

skinheads (1970s rolled up jeans doc martins braces toe capped boots) reaction to decline of working class communities, attempting to recreate working class masculinity and community

59
Q

what did cohen study and conclude

A

skinheads- aggressive and violnetly racist behaviour to immigrants was reaction to how they saw immigration breaking up white working class neighbourhoods- dress demonstrating symbolic resistance to social change

60
Q

what did hebdige study and conclude

A

punk rockers- form of resistance to dominant cultural values in late 1970s, deliberately shock society and establishment but were fairly short lived due to incorporation (capitalism commercialises aspects of youth subcultures)

61
Q

what are the criticisms (marxists on youth and youth subculture)

A

decoding styles in sense of only opposition and resistance
accused by feminists of being gender blind
middle class subcultures have been neglected
only few were committed to spectacular subcultures- not representative of the views or behaviour of the majority
outdated
ignores ethnicities

62
Q

what are postmodernists views on youth and youth subcultures

A

drove out of modernity into postmodern society through globalisation and rapid expansion of digital media- more fluidity, greater choices, hybrid identities, diminshing role of traditional shapers of culture

63
Q

what did johal say

A

british asians- brasians- refuse to accept subordinate place in white dominant society or in origin of culture- adopts a hyper ethnic style which promotes empowerment through difference, they switch between asian and british culture

64
Q

what did nyak say

A

white youth influenced by black hip hop and rap culture, adopted dress sense ways of greeting one another and black slang- white wannabes eg. eminem and thornton observes able to define what is in or out which is used to gain status and estbalish superior identity

65
Q

what did maffesoli say

A

neotribes- orgnaised groupings that do not have a fixed memberships, more likely to attract the same amount of females and males, mainly concerned with single issues

66
Q

what did bennett say

A

night life in newcastle and found neotribes

67
Q

what did polhemus say

A

supermarket of style young people can pick and choose when constructing their identity so commitment to one style is less common many of them may be plundered and put together to create a postmodern hybrid form of identity and style

68
Q

what are the criticisms (postmodernists on youth and youth subcultures)

A

doesnt explain why distinctive youth subcultures continue to attract young people
youth today is more likely to be engaged in activities shaped by commercial and corporate measures rather than neo tribes
exaggerating the degree of choice people have
too much emphasis on individualism

69
Q

what are feminist say about youth and youth subcultures

A

source of unhappiness is male dominance society or patriarchy and ignore the role of girls in subcultures show girls as girlfriends or bystanders instead of being known individually argued that sociology is malestream written by and about males

70
Q

what did thornton say

A

argued girls have invested more time doing well at school- pro school subculture and boys invested in music and going out leading to differences in subcultural capital

71
Q

what did mcrobbie and garber say

A

strong teeny bopper based on romance fashion and private domestic sphere of girls. the key features: experimenting with hair and makeup, gossiping with friends about boys ad reading and discussing jackie magazine. the codes: romace, fashion and beauty, personal life and pop music. bedroom culture didnt get attention because of the placement explains why they were invisible as it was difficult to gain access

72
Q

what did lincoln say

A

girls bedrooms are split into zones- new technologies play a key role, work zones are more likely to be hidden by leisure based activities and shows the transition from childhood to youth through teddy bears and photos

73
Q

what did reddington say

A

some of spectacular subcultures had active females eg vivian westwood and punk subcultures that offered resistance for women who didnt want to get married or go to secretarial college