SOC100 - Lecture 3 Culture

Instrumental or means end rationality

* choosing the most efficient, practical and effective means to reach the desired end which includes considering the conditions of other human beings that affect the ability to achieve the desired end

Value rationality

* making decisions according to an ethical value that is seen as worth pursing for its own sake regardless of likelihood of succeed

Weber’s idea of rationalization

* society was moving constantly more towards an instrumental rationality
* particularly as it moved away from religious motivations for actions

shrinkflation

* when private businesses want to keep the same price of a product but face inflation

value rationality for universities

* provides the best education/learning experience possible

instrumental or means end rationality for universities

* provide as quality an education as possible in an environment where financials resources are stretched very thin with little leeway

what are universities’ solutions to value and instrumental rationality?

* charge more tuition
* charge more tax
* continue freezing tuition and raising class sizes

what are the four tenets of critical race theory?

* race is a socially constructed category used to oppress and exploit people of color
* racism is normal, persistent, and defining characteristic of social institutions (politics, legal system, economy)
* progress on racial issues occurs during periods of interest convergence
* individuals cannot be adequately understood by their membership in separate marginalized communities (marginalization is intersectional)

interest convergence

when marginalized group interests are take up by the dominant group only due to it fitting their own interests

intersectional

membership in multiple marginalized communities compounds or intensifies the negative repercussions an individual faces as a result

statistical interactions

* when the effect of one variable depends on another variable

culture

* the way that non-material objects like thoughts, action, language and values come together with material objects to form a way of life

what are the 2 primary components of culture?

* material culture
* non-material culture

material culture

* all physical and tangible objects that reflect and define a way of life
* tools, weapons, art, jewelry, etc

non-material culture

* all non-physical/non-tangible objects that reflect and define a way of life
* ideas, beliefs, behaviours, etc

what are the main components of non-material culture?

* symbols
* values
* norms

symbols

* anything that carries a specific meaning that is recognized by people who share a culture

values

* cultural standards that people use to decide what’s good or bad, what’s right or wrong, they serve as the ideals and guidelines that we live by

norms

* rules and expectations that guide behavior within a society

what are the 3 types of norms?

* folkways
* mores
* taboos

folkways

* unwritten, informal rules and expectations that guide behavior
* based on tradition and customs

mores

* more official than folkways and are rooted in morality
* tend to be codified or formalized as stated rules and laws of a society but can be more informal

taboos

* norms that are crucial to a society’s moral center, involving behaviours that are always negatively sanctioned
* culturally and contextually dependent

post-modernism

* broad and somewhat intentionally difficult to define term
* typically applied to arts and philosophy that is skeptical of objective universal explanations of how society and culture operate
* focuses on how things are constructed especially culturally

objective

* truth and facts without the influence from personal opinions, biases, feelings and emotions

subjective

* truth and facts based on a person’s own mind, feelings/emotions, biases, perspectives and ideas

hyperreality

* the inability to separate reality from its representation
* when a representation distorts reality or does not actually represent a true reality, yet it nonetheless comes to create that reality

ubiquity of culture

* we have complete control over culture
* it can exist without us

obstinance of culture

* culture is not controllable by any person or group of people
* independent of us despite how hard we try
* our influence is always limited

cultural transmission

* the process by which culture is passed down from one generation to the next
* occurs through socialization

socialization

* the lifelong process of an individual learning the expected norms and customs of a group or society through social interaction

primary socialization

* the passing of knowledge, beliefs, values, behaviors, norms, language from close family and friends

path dependency

* how decisions are not made in a vacuum and how current decisions are affected by beliefs ad values from the past or simply by the momentum of the past

cultural lag

* when traditional beliefs clash with modern circumstances

what are the branches of secondary socialization?

* popular culture
* mainstream
* sub cultures
* counter cultures

popular culture

* cultural behaviors and ideas that are popular with the majority of people in a society

mainstream culture

* cultural patterns that are broadly in line with a society's cultural ideals and values

sub cultures

* cultural patterns that set apart a segment of society’s population
* exists everywhere

counter cultures

* push back on mainstream and/or popular culture in an attempt to change how a society operates
* they can be considered subcultures but not vice versa

secondary socialization

* when a child learns the values, beliefs and attitudes of their culture through those outside of a family such as teachers friends and the media

what does secondary socialization lead to?

* cognitive dissonance
* loss in sense of belonging and cultural identity

cultural displacement

* when people who have moved regions or immigrated report after some time that they no longer feel accepted by the prior culture or their new one
* makes one feel like they no longer have a home

cultural diffusion

* asocial process resulting in the transfer of beliefs, values and social activities
* more common due to globalization

what is the result of cultural diffusion?

* increase in cultural diversity
* increase in feelings of cultural displacement
* greater conflict between conflicting ideas, values and beliefs

globalization

* worldwide flow and integration of culture, economies, media and technology due to advances in communication systems and economic interests

liquid modernity

* due to technological developments and increased cultural diffusion, all culture is in an increasingly constant state of flux and change with no ability to impose order or stability on it

ethnocentrism

* practice of evaluating or judging one culture by the standards of another
* typically judging other cultures using your culture

cultural relativism

* view that a culture can only be understood and judged by the standards, behaviours, norms and values within the culture and not by anything outside

assimilation

* process whereby individuals or groups of differing ethnic heritage are absorbed into the dominant culture of a society

multiculturalism

* rather than seeing society as a homogenous culture, recognizes cultural diversity while advocating for equal standing for all cultural traditions
* follows cultural relativism and dictates that cultural preferences should be respected and protected