Chapter 3 - Culture - SOC 1000

Question-and-answer flashcards covering definitions, theories, Canadian examples, and critical perspectives from Chapter 3: Culture.

What is the sociological definition of culture?

The sum total of the social environment in which we are raised and continue to be socialized throughout our lives.

According to a post-modern perspective, does a single, unified “Canadian” culture exist?

No; there is no single Canadian culture—only a multiplicity of diverse cultures.

What are cultural universals?

Practices or elements found in every known human society despite cultural differences.

Differentiate material culture from non-material culture.

Material culture consists of tangible objects (e.g., tools, buildings), whereas non-material culture refers to intangible ideas (e.g., language, beliefs).

Name the three main ways culture shapes our understandings.

Through language, norms, and values.

Define culture shock and reverse culture shock.

Culture shock is the disorientation experienced when encountering an unfamiliar culture; reverse culture shock is similar disorientation felt upon returning home after being abroad.

Why is language considered essential to culture?

It enables personal expression, the transmission of knowledge, and the formation of personal, social, and cultural identities.

Roughly how many mother tongues are spoken in Canada, and how many of those are Indigenous languages?

Over 200 mother tongues, including more than 70 Indigenous languages from 12 language families.

What does the Sapir-Whorf Hypothesis propose?

Language shapes the reality of those who use it.

Provide two examples of gendered language.

Gendered job titles (e.g., fireman) and different adjectives used to describe males versus females.

What are folkways?

Informal norms based on accepted traditions.

What are mores?

Formal, institutionalized norms often embedded in law and used to maintain social control.

What are taboos?

Behaviours considered wrong in and of themselves, provoking disgust or revulsion.

Distinguish prescriptive norms from proscriptive norms.

Prescriptive norms specify behaviours we should perform; proscriptive norms specify behaviours we should avoid.

What is an emblem in non-verbal communication?

A non-verbal gesture with a direct verbal equivalent, conveying specific meaning.

Define values in sociological terms.

Collectively shared ideas about how to determine whether something is right or wrong.

List four commonly cited Canadian values.

Equality and fairness, accommodation and tolerance, support for diversity, and compassion and generosity (others include consultation and dialogue, attachment to natural beauty, Canada’s world image).

How do functionalists view the relationship between norms and values?

Shared core values promote consensus and harmony; norms and values are social facts that keep society running smoothly.

What is the difference between ideal culture and real culture?

Ideal culture refers to the values a society claims to uphold, whereas real culture refers to the actual practices in everyday life.

Give one example of a gap between Canadian ideal and real culture discussed in class.

Government-run residential schools contradicted Canadian values such as equality, fairness, and support for diversity.

Define cultural relativism.

The ability to understand another culture on its own terms so that it appears coherent and meaningful.

Define ethnocentrism.

The tendency to believe one’s own cultural beliefs and practices are superior and to use them as the standard for judging others.

What is a subculture?

A group within society that has divergent language, norms, beliefs, and/or values (e.g., Hutterites, cosplay enthusiasts).

What is a counterculture?

A group whose language, norms, beliefs, and/or values oppose those of the dominant culture (e.g., Hell’s Angels, 1960s hippies).

How does Bourdieu explain high culture?

He argues that high culture supports the social reproduction of classes through cultural and educational practices, recognizable via status symbols.

Provide two examples of high culture.

Ballet and opera.

Define popular culture.

The everyday cultural practices of the masses, such as pop music or Hollywood movies, often associated with youth culture.

What did the Frankfurt School argue about popular culture?

Popular culture serves the interests of the dominant class and exploits the lower class, partly through commodification (Adorno).

What does Storey mean by calling popular culture an “empty conceptual category”?

Its meaning depends entirely on how it is defined in opposition to something else, such as high culture or mass culture.

How does Fiske distinguish mass culture from popular culture?

Mass culture is produced by industry for profit; popular culture is actively interpreted and used by audiences.

What is Peterson’s concept of the cultural omnivore?

Members of all classes today consume both high and popular culture, demonstrating broad cultural tastes.

Summarize the chapter’s main points about culture.

Culture includes material and non-material forms, shapes understandings via language, norms, and values, is diverse with subcultures and countercultures, is symbolically represented, and comprises both high culture and popular culture.