Unit #3 Cultural Patterns and Processes

Culture

The shared beliefs, values, practices, behaviors, and technologies of a society.

Cultural Traits

Visible and invisible attributes that combine to make up a group's culture.

Material Culture

Aspects of society that people give value: objects, architecture, and other physical items.

Non-Material Culture

Made up of our ideas, attitudes, and beliefs.

Modern/Pop Culture

Often start in developed world but diffuse through hierarchical diffusion, diverse, changes at a very fast pace, constantly reshaped by society

Folk Culture

Focused on local communities, spreads through relocation diffusion, family and religion are the most important parts

Indigenous Culture

People who have originated at a geographic location and are still practicing their beliefs today.

Cultural Relativism

An unbiased way of viewing another culture, the goal of this is to promote understanding of cultural practices that are not typically part of one's own culture. Leads to a view that no one culture is superior to another culture when compared.

Ethnocentrism

Judging other cultures in terms of one's own standards and often includes the belief that one's own culture/ethnic group is better than others.

Subculture

A smaller culture that resides within a larger culture

Artifacts

The visible and tangible elements of a culture, including
objects, clothing, and physical expressions.

Sociofacts

The social and behavioral aspects of a culture, such
as norms, customs, and social structures.

Mentifacts

The cognitive and belief-based aspects of a culture,
encompassing values, beliefs, language, and knowledge systems.

Cultural Landscape

A natural landscape that has been modified by humans reflecting their cultural beliefs and values

Sequent Occupancy

The idea that societies or cultural groups leave their cultural imprints when they live in a place, each contributing to the overall cultural landscape over time.

Physical Features

Mountains, rivers, etc.

Acculturation

People retain their original culture while also adopting aspects of the new culture

Syncretism

Two cultures come in contact with each other and the end result is a new culture

Multiculturalism

When various ethnic and cultural groups coexist in a society

Assimilation

People lose their original cultural traits when they join a new culture

Relocation Diffusion

The spread of a cultural trait through the migration of people.

Expansion Diffusion

The spread of a cultural trait through the interaction between people.

Hierarchical Diffusion

The spread of cultural traits from the most interconnected, powerful, wealthy people/organizations down to others

Contagious Diffusion

A cultural trait spread rapidly, widely, and continuously from its hearth through close contact between people

Traditional/Local Culture

small, homogenous (similar) groups of people, often living in rural areas that are isolated and unlikely to change.

Sense of Place

Unique attributes of a specific location - cultural influences and feelings evoked by people in a place. Distinctiveness.

Cultural Norms

Agreed upon cultural practices or standards that guide the behavior of a culture

Cultural Taboos

Behaviors heavily discouraged by a culture

Ethnicity

A sense of belonging or identity within a group of people bound by common ancestry and culture. This is different from race which is based on physical characteristics.

Ethnic Neighborhoods/Enclaves

People of the same ethnicity that cluster together in a specific location, typically within a major city.

Ethnic Patterns

There is oftentimes a predictable distribution of ethnicities that can be examined at multiple scales

Gendered Spaces

Places in the cultural landscape utilized to reinforce or accommodate gender roles for men and women

Terrace Farming

Practice of cutting flat areas out of mountainous terrain in order to make it arable

Traditional Architecture

Influenced by the environment and built with available local materials. Reflective of history, culture and CLIMATE.

Postmodern Architecture

Diverse designs, representative of popular culture, business and economic success

Cultural Realm

Areas of the world that share cultural traits such as language families, religious traditions, food preferences, architecture, and/or a shared history.

Centripetal Forces

Characteristics that unify a country and provide stability

Centrifugal Forces

Characteristics that divide a country and create instability, conflict and violence

Cultural Hearth

The geographic origin of a culture or cultural trait.

Diffusion

The movement or spread of cultural traits, knowledge, ideas, trends from hearths to other geographic areas

Reverse Hierarchical Diffusion

The spread of cultural traits from the least interconnected, wealthy, or powerful people/organization outwards to others.

Stimulus Diffusion

As cultural traits spread they are altered/modified due to a cultural barrier, taboo, or difference.

Imperialism

The dominance of one country over another country through diplomacy or force

Colonialism

When a powerful country establishes settlements in a less powerful country for economic and/or political gain,

Neocolonialism

"New" colonialism - term to describe how in more modern times, imperialism can be pursued through the assertion of political, economic and cultural influence rather than occupation.

Trade

People interact in order to buy and sell goods - interactions results in the exchange of culture and ideas

Pidgin Language

An extremely simplified, limited non-native language used by two people that speak two different languages.

Creole Language

A pidgin language that develops into a new combined language with native speakers. Frequently developed through settings of colonization or slavery.

Lingua Franca

A common language used by speakers of two different languages for communication. Usually for business, trade, commerce or popular culture.

Dialects

Variations in accent, grammar, usage and spelling and develop out of geographic distance or isolation.

Official Language

Used by the government of a country for laws, reports, signs, public objects, money, stamps. Can be centripetal or centrifugal force

Friction of Distance

As a cultural trait diffuses, the people who adopt it might alter it. Things change over distance and time.

Globalization

The trend toward increased cultural and economic connectedness between people, business, and organizations throughout the world without regard to borders or barriers.

Time-Space Compression/Convergence

The shrinking of the world due to improvements in communication and transportation technologies.

Cultural Convergence

The process of two or more cultures coming into contact with each other and adopting each other's traits to become more alike.

Cultural Divergence

Cultures become LESS alike due to both cultural and physical barriers. The process of a culture restricting contact with other cultures in an attempt to retain its originality. Separating/distinguishing from mainstream.

Language Family

Largest group of related languages which are connected through a common, ancient ancestry and trace back to a common hearth.

Indo-European

The largest language family with about 3.2 billion speakers distributed across the world.

Sino-Tibetan

The second largest with 1.4 billion speakers mostly concentrated in East and Southeast Asia

Language Branch

Collection of languages that share a common origin from thousands of years ago. They were separated from other languages in their family and now are distinctive although related.

Roman Branch

Includes languages like Spanish, Portuguese, French and Italian

Germanic Branch

Includes languages such as German, English, and Dutch

Language Group

Collection of languages that share a more recent past with similar vocabularies and some overlap.

Isogloss

A geographic boundary in which a particular linguistic feature occurs. Lines that divide dialects

Universalizing Religions

Widely diffused from the hearth through both expansion and relocation diffusion

Ethnic Religions

Smaller diffusion and overall distribution from hearth. Restricted to relocation diffusion.

Christianity

A monotheistic religion, its hearth is located in the Eastern Mediterranean, one of the Abrahamic religions and it stems backs to the teaching of Jesus Christ.

Islam

A monotheistic religion, one of the Abrahamic religions that has its hearth located in the Eastern Mediterranean and it stems back to the founder Muhammed.

Hinduism

Originated in South Asia and is today predominantly located in India, one of the world's oldest religions, monotheistic or polytheistic.

Judaism

An Abrahamic religion that has its hearth located in the Eastern Mediterranean

Indicator

Statistics which tell us about a certain characteristic.

Placemaking

The process of creating vibrant, inclusive public
spaces through community involvement, often involving activities like public art, landscaping, and infrastructure improvements.

Placelessness

The lack of distinct character or identity in a location,
often resulting from excessive standardization and
commercialization, making it challenging to establish a meaningful sense of place.

Absorbing Barriers

Any factor that can completely halt the diffusion of
a cultural trait.

International Trade

The exchange of goods and services across international borders or territories.

Patois Language

A distinct linguistic variation within a larger language.

Sikhism

A monotheistic religion founded in northern India, combining elements of Hinduism and Islam