Sociology & Culture Study Set

key terms

Culture

“The values, beliefs, behaviors, and material objects that together make up a people’s way of life “

Nonmaterial

(values, beliefs, behaviors, languages)

Material

 (objects, architecture, place of worship)

Beliefs

(statements about things that are held as true)

Values

(standards defined by a culture about what is good or desirable)

culture

the way of life, values, and belief systems

Society

“A grouping that consists of people who share a common culture, obey the same political authority, and occupy a given territory”

Nation

Recognized geographic legal entity, “A political entity, a territory with designated borders”

Nation-state

“A sovereign entity that represents the interests of people who share a common culture, presumably a common language, as well as common territory”

Cultural Universals

All cultures have language, forms of marriage, incest prohibitions, norms that govern interaction, property, art, etc.

Symbol

“Anything that carries a particular meaning recognized by people who share a culture”

Language

A system of symbols facilitating communication

Permits cultural transmission (the passing down of knowledge from generation to generation)

Cultural Lag

the time lapse in which cultures adapt to new socio-economic conditions

Ex. fertility rates in context of declining mortality

Sapir-Whorf Thesis

the theory that the structure and vocabulary of a language shape or influence the way its speakers think and understand the world

Technology

applied knowledge that allows people to manipulate

Impacts culture

cell phones and text messaging, internet

reflects dominant social values

automobiles, military technology

productive technological innovation

transforms the nature of work

Surveillance technology

reflects power relations and decreased social cohesion

communal society

Personal relationships predominate

Impersonal relationships

Group-related affiliations

Mechanical

communal

Organic Solidarity

associational

Hunting and Gathering societies

• More gender equality

• Vulnerable to nature

• Ex: the Mbuti in DRC, Semai in Malaysia

horticulture

• The use of hand tools for cultivation

• Creates a surplus of food

• More inequality than in hunting-and-gathering societies

• Leading to some forms of government.

pastoralism

Animal domestication (Herding cattle, etc. Ex: Tuareg & Fulani, and the Tungus of Siberia)

agrarian societies

• Agricultural technology

• Increases the division of labor.

• Surplus supports a much larger population

• Leading to the development of cities

• Relations of production can be feudal or semi-feudal

• Much higher income and social inequality

industrial society

Mechanization, factory production, automation. High social and economic inequality.

post-industrial society

• Creation and transmission of specialized knowledge

• Service positions may exceed production positions.

• U.S., Japan, Western Europe, and New Zealand are all considered Post-Industrial or in transition.

• Most of Africa, Asia, and Latin America are transitioning from agricultural to industrial and post-industrial economies. 

colonialism

• Systematic domination of a country's political, economic, and social life by a mother country for the purpose of enriching the colonizing country.

• Relationship to language & global inequality

imperialism

Ruling interests of one country dominate, through the use of economic and military power, the land, labor, natural resources, finances, and politics of another country.

orientalism

A set of representations often in the news, movies, TV, and art that portray a negative stereotypical image of Middle Eastern cultures and societies.

modernization theory

Assumptions about indigenous cultures

cultural relativism

judging a culture by its own standards

multiculturalism

recognition of cultural traditions and promotion of “equal standing” among different cultures.

functionalists (talcott parsons)

argued for society seeking balance and cultures adjusting to it 

murdock (1945)

indicated the presence of many cultural universals 

modernization theory

holds that societies seek to “modernize”