Unit 3: Cultural Patterns And Processes Flashcards
Acculturation
Cultural modifications resulting from intercultural borrowing usually implying changes in
an indigenous culture caused by the imposition of a technologically more advanced
culture and a oneway transfer of culture traits.
Assimilation
The process by which immigrants acculturate into and are eventually absorbed into the
mainstream society through increasing interaction over time, gradual merging of
foreigners and natives, and loss of cultural traits.
Buddhism
The universalizing religion started by Siddhartha Gautama in India 2500 years ago.
Centrifugal Forces
Forces within a state that cause division among populations that live there.
Centripetal Forces
Forces within a state that cause unity among populations that live there.
Christianity
The universalizing religion based in the life of Jesus that began in the Middle East in
approximately 30 C.E.
Colonialism
The subjugation of one people to another through permanent resettling of a population to
a new territory while maintaining political allegiance to their country of origin.
Contagious Diffusion
The spreading of phenomenon through direct contact between individuals.
Creolization
The borrowing of ideas and commodities between cultures, most often applied in
processes of borrowing of words, phrases, meanings between two languages.
Cultural Convergence
When cultures or aspects of culture are adopted by a group of people who live away from
the aspect’s/culture’s hearth; could be forced or for practicality; often occurs as
interactions between locations increase in intensity or frequency.
Cultural Divergence
When cultures become less similar to other cultures either through choice governments
resisting and restricting the spread of culture or through lack of interaction and sharing
of ideas.
Cultural Landscape
The visible record of values, tastes, fears, technologies, etc. that create the identity of a
place in the humanbuilt landscape (buildings, structures).
Cultural Relativism
The idea that moral codes vary from culture to culture and that a person’s beliefs, values,
and practices should be understood based upon the context of that person’s culture,
rather than judged by the criteria of another cultural group.
Culture
Shared or learned behaviors of a group of people related to the immaterial (beliefs,
values, knowledge, etc.) and material objects and possessions.
Dialects
Language variants based in pronunciation, spelling, grammar, that are spoken by entire
groups of people and are geographically distinct from other groups.
Ethnic Neighborhoods
A voluntary community where people of similar origin reside by choice showing a desire
to maintain group cohesiveness.
Ethnic Regions
The shared spaces of an ethnic group that occurs through two means longstanding
ethnic homelands and as a result of chain migration to regions. For example: Ethnic
homelands in North America Acadiana Louisiana French identity with Cajun people;
Spanish America New Mexico, Colorado, South Texas; French Canadian Quebec;
whereas ethnic neighborhoods often represent the result of migration.
Ethnicity
People of a common ancestry or homeland and cultural tradition based in religion, beliefs,
customs, and memories of migration or colonization.
Ethnocentrism
The practice of viewing other cultural groups in relation or compared to one ethnic group’s
moral values; the practice of viewing one’s own cultural moral codes as verifiably correct
and using them to judge cultural practices and beliefs of other groups based upon one’s
own.
Expansion Diffusion
The spreading of phenomenon in a fast and continuously growing manner from its hearth
through either contagious, hierarchical, or stimulus forms.
Folk Culture
Small, cohesive, stable, isolated, nearly selfsufficient groups that are homogeneous in
custom and race; strong family or clan structure, order maintained through sanctions
based on religion or family, little division of labor except between the sexes, frequent
interpersonal relationships, and material goods mainly of handmade goods.
Gender
Sociocultural attitudes and behaviors that shape behaviors, products, technologies,
environments, and knowledges for a person.
Gender Roles
(Gender Norms)
Social and cultural attitudes about what behaviors, preferences, products, professions, or
knowledge is appropriate for women, men, and genderdiverse individuals
Globalization
The expansion of economic, political, and cultural processes to the point that they
become global in scale and impact.
Hearth
The location from which an innovation originates.
Hierarchical Diffusion
The spreading of an idea or phenomenon from a person or place of authority to other
persons or places of less authority.
Hinduism
An ethnic religion with hearth in India and present distribution comprised primarily of
people in India.
Imperialism
The practice of domination of one group of people over another through various forms
like settlement, sovereignty, or indirect mechanism of control.
Indigenous Communities
Groups identified by the fact that they live(d) in a location prior to settlement by
colonizers
Indo-European
The language family that has the largest number of speakers and widest spread
geographically.
Islam
A universalizing religion with hearth in Mecca whose current distribution includes portions
of S. Asia, SE Asia, SW Asia, and North Africa.
Judaism
An ethnic religion with hearth in SW Asia and current distribution spread among SW Asia,
N. America, and Europe.
Land Use Patterns
The various forms of use of land based upon patterns of agriculture, urbanization,
infrastructure, religious and cultural beliefs, etc.
Language
A system of communication through the use of speech, collection of sounds and symbols,
and understood by a group of people to have the same meaning.
Language Families
A collection of languages related to each other through a common ancestor long before
recorded history. Has the largest variety in grammar and vocabulary.
Lingua Franca
A language mutually understood and commonly used in communication by people who
have different native languages; often used to facilitate trade.
Multiculturalism
The coexistence of diverse cultures, where culture includes racial, religious, or cultural
groups and is manifested in customary behaviors.
Popular Culture
Widespread through heterogenous societies based in division of labor among
professions, secular control of governance, weak interpersonal ties, cash economies,
machine made goods, global transportation networks, and urban hierarchies.
Postmodern Architecture
A reaction to the sterile design of modern architecture that features historical styles,
eclectic building designs, pleasant forms, and plays on color to create inviting spaces.
Religion
Organized system of ideas about the spiritual sphere or the supranatural, along with
associated ceremonial practices.
Relocation Diffusion
The spreading of an idea or phenomenon from one location to another through physical
movement of people
Sequent Occupancy
The idea that successive societies leave their cultural imprints on a place, each
contributing to the cumulative cultural landscape. For example: colonial architecture is
prominent in certain sectors of cities in SE Asia and reflects the European influences.
Sikhism
A universalizing religion with hearth in India and current distribution primarily in India.
Stimulus Diffusion
The spreading of an underlying idea or phenomenon, adjusted for local customs.
Syncretism
The union/blending of different systems of thought or belief.
Toponyms
The name given to a place that often reflects the culture of people living in a location. For
example, San Jose reflects both the Spanish language and Catholic religious traditions of
Spanish colonizers in the SW portions of the US.
Trade
The free exchange of goods and services between two parties (also called
complementarity when two regions specifically satisfy each other’s demands)
Traditional Architecture
The types and forms of architecture that are indigenous to a region and a people,
typically based around the availability of local resources and the climate of the region itself.
Universalizing Religions
A religion that attempts to appeal to all people and, because of this, often has a wide geographic distribution.
Urbanization
The growth in the number and percentage of people living in cities.
