Culture and Social Change

Agency: capacity of individuals to act independently and make their own free choices

Culturural fragmentation: increasing diversity of cultural groups and the lack of a single dominant culture in octet

Dominant culture: most powerful group in society, often shaping social institutions and social inequalities

Subordinate culture: challenges or contests dominant culture (less global influence)

Pre-modernity: rigid social structure based on birthright and dominant culture, prior to industrialization, MONARCHY, aristocracy vs. Peasants, dominant culture with kings in favour

Modernity: shifts towards different system, dominant and subordinate cultures either support or challenge the status quo, Cold War, democracy, capitalism

Post modernity: considerable cultural fragmentation, no hatred occidental belief, value, or tradition but diverse smaller cultural groups

Folkways: Social norms with least severe punishment, social preferences, eg. Hygiene, not singing loudly in a store

Social Mores: essential for the survival of society, social requirements, eg. Wearing clothes, traffic rules

Taboos: breaking taboos leads to revulsion and/or horror, severe punishment, eg. Incest

Ideology: a set of beliefs and values that justify and legitimize a particular social order or political system

Settled times: periods of stability within a society where social norms, values, and routines are established and widely accepted, “common sense”, eg. Strict difference between royalty and how people act in their class of hierarchy

Unsettles times: periods of change, crisis, uncertainty, existing structure becomes out of sync with existing traditions, finding/creating new tragedies for action eg. Covid pandemic