Ravelli-Webber Ch. 5 Culture_FT2024 (1)

Chapter 5: Culture Overview

What Is Culture?

• Definition:

  • Culture is a complex collection of values, beliefs, behaviors, and material objects shared by a group, passed from one generation to the next.

• Five Defining Features of Culture:

  • Learned: Culture is acquired through socialization.

  • Shared: Members of a culture share common beliefs and values.

  • Transmitted: Culture is passed down through generations.

  • Cumulative: Culture evolves and expands upon itself over time.

  • Human: Unique to human societies.

Types of Culture

Material Culture

• Definition:

  • Tangible artifacts and physical objects found in a given culture.

Non-Material Culture

• Definition:

  • Intangible and abstract components of a society, including values and norms.

Key Concepts in Culture

• Values: Beliefs about ideal goals and acceptable behaviors.

• Norms: Rules that dictate appropriate behavior, including:

  • Folkways: Informal norms suggesting customary behaviors.

  • Mores: Strong norms significant to social order.

  • Taboo: Prohibition of certain actions seen as immoral.

  • Laws: Formal norms enacted in legislation.

  • Sanction: Penalties for violating norms or rewards for adherence.

Ethnocentrism and Cultural Relativism

• Ethnocentrism:

  • The belief that one's own culture is superior; restricts appreciation of cultural diversity.

• Cultural Relativism:

  • Understanding other cultures on their own terms; raises ethical questions about judging actions.

Reflection on Cultural Views

• Ethical considerations on how to approach cultural practices, especially concerning universal human rights versus cultural specifics.

Culture Shock

• Definition:

  • Disorientation experienced when entering a significantly different culture.

• Stages of Culture Shock (Oberg, 1960):

  • Honeymoon: Initial excitement upon arrival.

  • Crisis: Feelings of anxiety and disorientation.

  • Recovery: Gradual adaptation begins.

  • Adjustment: Acceptance and understanding of the new culture.

Impact of Colonialism and Indigenous Peoples

• Experiences of culture shock can differ significantly for Indigenous Peoples in settler colonial contexts such as Canada due to ongoing systemic racism.

Language and Culture

• Symbols: Represents meanings in a culture.

• Language: A critical system for sharing cultural symbols, integral to identity.

  • Over 3500 languages are at risk of extinction, leading to cultural loss.

Effects of Language Loss

• Consequences of language loss include:

  • Loss of knowledge and cultural identity.

  • Social rootlessness and deprivation of belonging.

  • Altered worldviews and loss of historical memories.

Linguistic Theories

• Linguistic Determinism: Language dictates thought (limited contemporary support).

• Linguistic Relativism: Language reflects worldviews and cultural perceptions.

• Importance of non-verbal communication in cultural expression.

Cultural Diversity

Subcultures

• Definition:

  • Groups within a larger culture with distinct values and norms, e.g., ethnic or religious groups.

Countercultures

• Definition:

  • Subcultures that strongly oppose the dominant culture, e.g., Hells Angels.

Canadian Culture

• Characteristics:

  • Defined in part by opposition to American culture and the historical coexistence of English, French, and Indigenous cultures.

Cultural Change

• Sources of Cultural Change:

  • Discovery: Recognition and application of new ideas or items.

  • Invention/Innovation: Modifying existing items to create something new.

  • Diffusion: Spread of cultural items/practices across groups.

Sociological Approaches to Culture

Functionalism

• Culture aids in fulfilling human needs through shared values and practices, requiring adaptation to environmental pressures.

Conflict Theory

• Focuses on societal tensions regarding resource control; those in power shape cultural norms and ideologies.

Symbolic Interactionism

• Cultures are continuously created and redefined through interpersonal interactions; minority identities are shaped within cultural symbols.

Group Activities

• Review provided materials on culture and identity.

• Discuss and create a presentation on cultural wars: definitions, examples in Canada, and concepts of cultural humility.