Rubenstein - Chapter 4

Acculturation

The process of adopting the cultural traits or social patterns of another group.

Assimilation

The process of giving up cultural traditions and adopting the social customs of the dominant culture of a place.

Cultural landscape

The human-modified natural landscape specifically containing the imprint of a particular culture or society.

Cultural trait

A single element of normal practice in a culture, such as the wearing of a turban.

Culture hearth

A place where innovations and new ideas originate and spread outward (diffuse) to other regions.

Culture region

An area marked by a culture that distinguishes itself from other regions.

Custom

The frequent repetition of an act, to the extent that it becomes characteristic of the group of people performing the act.

Folk culture

Culture traditionally practiced by a small, homogeneous, rural group living in relative isolation from other groups.

Globalization

Actions or processes that involve the entire world and result in making something worldwide in scope.

Multiculturalism

A perspective recognizing the cultural diversity of the United States and promoting equal standing for all cultural traditions

Popular culture

Culture found in a large, heterogeneous society that shares certain habits despite differences in other personal characteristics.

Taboo

A restriction on behavior imposed by social custom.

relocation diffusion

the spread of an idea through physical movement of people from one place to another

Contagious Diffusion

The rapid, widespread diffusion of a feature or trend throughout a population.

hierachical diffusion

The spread of an idea from persons or nodes of authority or power to other persons or places

Stimulus Diffusion

Changes as it diffuses due to cultural preferences or available resources in a specific region

Syncretism

a blending of beliefs and practices from different cultures

centrifugal force

a force that divides people and countries

centripetal force

a force that unites people and countries

cultural convergence

The tendency for cultures to become more alike as they increasingly share technology and organizational structures in a modern world united by improved transportation and communication.

cultural divergence

The likelihood or tendency for cultures to become increasingly dissimilar with the passage of time.