Ap human Unit 3 culture

Assimilation

Assimilation

Process by which a person or people acquie the social and psychological characteristics of a group and cannot be distinguished from anyone else

Acculturation

Acquiring the social and psychological traits of a group but still retain original uniqueness; often occurs as a result of colonization or immigration

Multiculturalism

Maintaining a diversity of ethnic cultures within a community that are valued and respected for their unique differences

Synctetism

Development of a new cultural trait as a result of the blending of two distinct but interacting cultures

Placelessness

Loss of distinct local features in favor of standardized landscapes which happens as a result of pervasive Ness of pop culture and mass production and availability of a wife variety of consumables

Global culture

Culture traits of large, heterogeneous; urban populations (usually rapidly changing)

Sacred sites

Area/places of religious/spiritual significance, including cathedrals, mosques, temples, and cemetries

Ethnocentrism

Judging another culture based on the values of one’s own culture

Cultural relativism

Thr idea thay a person’s belief, value, and practices should be understood based on that person’s own culture, rather than be judged against the criteria of another

Ethnicity

A group of people who share a common cultural identity

Race

Historical classification that is used to categorize human populations with shared physical traits (not culture)

What are examples of material culture?

Clothing, food, art, architecture

What are examples of nonmaterial culture traits?

Language, religion, education systems, government, music, holidays

Cultural landscape

The combination of physical features, agricultural and industrial practices. Religious and linguistic characteristics, sequent occupancy, traditional and postmodern architecture, and land use patterns

Sequent occupance

The combined imprint on an area when it has been inhabited by a succession of cultures e.g. buildings, transportation systems, farms, irrigation, and recreation facilities

Indigenous communities

The original settlers of an area who have retained their culture apart from the colonizers

Ethnic neighborhood

An area within a city occupied by a distinctive minority culture

E.g. little Italy in NYC

Gender

Social and cultural differences between males and females (not biological differences)

Gender role

Learned behaviors that are deemed appropriate to gender as determined by cultural norms

Role of women in workforce

Women engaged in paid work outside the home has increased substantially over 2nd half of the 20th century

Gendered spaces

Areas in which gender expression is either welcome or unwelcome

E.g. Muslims soviety: public space (employment, politics) belongs to men and private space (home) belongs to women

Sense of place

Term used to connote attachment to comfort in a particular place with a strong identity that is deeply felt by inhabitants

Place making

How a culture makes a place fit their identity shaping the landscape to show what they believe and value (buildings, statues, sacred sites, etc.)

Centripetal forces

Forces that unite a country

E.g. common language

Centrifugal petal

Forces that divide a country

E.g multiple languages

Culture is socially constructed

The practices and beliefs that appear to be natural and obvious to people who accept it, but are actually learned behaviors

Cultural change

Occurs through media, technological change, politics, economics, and social relationships

Globalization

The process of increased interconnectedness among countries most notably in areas of economics, politics, and culture

Urbanization

Refers to the movement of people to towns and the resulting expansion of the rural countryside to absorb increase in people

Time-space compression

Increasing connectivity between cultures that occurs as a result of communication technology

Cultural convergence

Cultures become more alike as their interactions increase

Cultural divergence

The tendency for culture groups to disassociate from others in order to protect or preserve their culture from influence or change

Indinigenous culture

Culture traits of usually small, traditional homogenous

Loss of indigenous language

Consequence of colonialism and policies of assimilation

Lingua Franca

A language mutually understood by people who speak different languages, usually for the purpose of trade

E.g Arabic as language of trade in southwest Asia Or English as language of international business

Creolization

The blending of European, amerindian, and African cultures in the new world as a result of colonialism to create something new

Examples of relocation diffusion

The spread of Christianity to the new world, spread of Spanish and English to the new world

Colonialism

The policy of acquiring control over another country, occupying it with settlers and exploiting it economically

E.g. Spanish conquistadors landing in america

Cultural imperialism

Dominance of one culture over another, historically, often occurred as a result of colonization

E.g. Spanish and English cultures imposed on the native people in the americas

Local culture

Cultural traits in a specific location

Localization

Preservation of indigenous and/or local cultures against the spread of global culture

Glocalization

The process which a product, service or cultural trait is developed and distributed globally but adjusted ro accommodate the tastes and cultural traits of local consumers

E.g different varieties of coca cola sold internationally

Trade

People move from place to place around the world as they trade and come into contact with new ideas and cultural practices

Language family

a group of languages with a shared but fairly distant origin

Dialect

Variant of a standard language along Regional or ethnic lines

E.g. differences in vocabulary or pronounciation

Isogloss

Boundaries between variations in pronunciations or word uses

E.g. coke/pop/soda

Indo-European language family

Family of languages believed to all come from a single language that spread outeard

Universalizing religion

Religions that actively seek converts because they view themselves as offering belief systems of universal applicability and appeal

Ethnic religion

Religions that do not actively seek converts and are generally found near hearth or spread through relocation diffision