Culture as Meaning Generator (Video) - Vocabulary Flashcards

Vocabulary flashcards covering key terms from the lecture notes on culture (Chapter 3).

Culture

The shared symbols and their definitions that people create to solve real-life problems, including both material culture (tools/technology) and non-material aspects (norms, values, beliefs).

Symbol

A concrete object or abstract term that represents something else; the symbol's meaning comes from what it represents, not from the symbol itself, and it is shared across a community.

Abstraction

The ability to create general concepts that organize sensory experience; a foundational process behind language and thinking in culture.

Beliefs

Cultural statements about what a community considers real; beliefs are not always scientifically true and may reflect cultural constructions of reality.

Norms

Generally accepted rules of behavior that guide how people act; include subtypes such as folkways, mores, taboos, and laws.

Folkways

Norms that describe everyday social preferences; violations usually incur mild social sanctions.

Mores

Core norms essential for the group's survival; violations attract stronger sanctions than folkways.

Taboo

The strongest norms; violations typically provoke revulsion and severe punishment.

Laws

Norms that have been codified and are enforced by the state.

Production

The human capacity to make and use tools and technology; produces material culture and supports social organization.

Material culture

The tangible tools, techniques, and technologies that enable people to accomplish tasks.

Non-material culture

Culture that consists of intangible elements such as symbols, norms, values, and beliefs.

Social organization

The orderly arrangement of social interaction; how a culture structures relationships and roles.

Cooperation

The capacity to create a complex social life by establishing generally accepted ways of doing things and shared values.

Dominant culture

The culture that helps rich and powerful groups exercise control over others.

Subordinate culture

A culture that challenges or resists the dominant culture to varying degrees and is often marginalized.

Cultural appropriation

Adoption of elements of a subordinate culture by members of a dominant culture because they are deemed fashionable or useful; it can be controversial.

High culture

Culture involving refined arts and tastes, typically accessible to the educated and wealthy; less accessible to lower classes.

Popular culture

Culture enjoyed by many across social classes; mass or popular culture is broadly accessible.

Cultural survival kit

Three human capacities—abstraction, cooperation, and production—that generate symbols, norms/values, and social organization to solve real-life problems.

Real-life problems (cultural function)

Culture is created to solve real-life problems and shapes how people interpret experiences.