Unit 4 Vocab (Culture)

culture

the learned beliefs and practices of a group of people.

non-material culture

Beliefs/Ideas such as religion/folklore or languages

material culture

Objects (can see or be touched) such as food or fashion

cultural hearth

the origin of a cultural trait

cultural diffusion

the spread of a cultural trait

expansion diffusion

traits diffuse outwards from the hearth

contagious diffusion

most people adjacent to the hearth adopt the trait

hierarchical diffusion

people with power adopts the trait first, then it spreads to others

stimulus diffusion

the trait is adopted in a new form

relocation diffusion

traits are being brought to a new location via human migration

connectivity

a measure of interaction across space

The Gravity Model (Tobler’s First law of Geography)

close spaces are more similar [connected] than distant places

distance decay

as distance increases, connectivity decreases

space time compression

a decrease in the time that it takes for something to diffuse from one place to another

local culture (folk culture)

a shared belief, practice or custom that is specific to a localized group of people
Changes quickly over space
Has a sense of place
Diffuses via relocation diffusion
Changes slowly over time
Origin is unknown

Pop Culture

ideas that are widespread and mainstream around the world.
They are made for sale
Change slowly over space
Creates placenessless
Changes quickly over time
Diffuses via expansion diffusion
Origin is known

globalization

increased connectivity across natioanl borders

cultural convergence

When 2 cultures become similar to one another, through contact and interaction

placelessness

similarity in the appearance of cultural traits

transnational corporation

a business who operates in many countries

Ethnic Religion

A religion that does not seek to convert; local and has a sense of place

Universalizing Religion

A religion that seeks to convert and is widespread

Syncretic Religion

A religion that is formed from the combination of different religions.

Sacred Site

A site with religious significance.

Nation State

An ethnically homogenous country

Ethnicity (nation)

A group of people with shared culture and history

Ethnic Enclave

A neighborhood with a high concentration of immigrants from the same country

multiethnic state

a country with more than one major ethnic group

centripetal force

A factor that promotes unity among a population

centrifugal force

A factor that promotes division among a population

balkanization

The division of a multiethnic state into smaller, ethnically homogenous countries

ethnic cleansing

the forced removal of one ethnic group to create a ethnically homogenous state

race

a group of people with shared physical characteristics

segregation

the enforced separation of races

redlining

bank’s refusal to grant loans to people of a specific race

white flight

movement of whites from cities to suburbs

block busting

exploiting fears of integration to get white homeowners to sell their homes at a low price

restrictive covenant

an agreement that forbade the sale of a home to members of a certain race

language family

a group of languages that share distant ancestor

lingua franca

a language used for communication by people whose native languages are different from one another