2. WHAT IS CULTURE?
Culture is the language, beliefs, values, norms, behaviors –
even material objects, that are passed from one generation to
another
There are 2 different subtypes of culture
Material culture
Nonmaterial (symbolic) culture
3. Material Culture – the material objects that distinguish a group of
people, such as their
art, buildings, weapons, utensils, machines, hairstyles, clothing, a
nd jewelry
Nonmaterial (Symbolic) Culture – a group’s way of thinking
(including their beliefs, values, and other assumptions about the
world) and doing (its common patters of behavior, including
language and other forms of interaction)
4. CULTURE AND TAKEN-FOR-GRANTED
ORIENTATIONS TO LIFE
Culture becomes the lens through which we perceive and
evaluate what is going on around us
We assume that our speech, our gestures, our beliefs, and our
customs are “normal” or “natural” and we almost always follow
them without question
5. Culture Shock – the disorientation that people experience when
they come in contact with a fundamentally different culture and
can no longer depend on their taken-for-granted assumptions
about life
Ethnocentrism – the use of one’s own culture as a yardstick for
judging the ways of other individuals or societies, generally
leading to a negative evaluation of their norms, values, and
behaviors
Cultural Relativism – not judging a culture but trying to
understand it on its own terms
6. COMPONENTS OF SYMBOLIC
CULTURE
Symbolic culture – nonmaterial culture
Symbol – something to which people attach meaning and that
they use to communicate with one another
Gestures
Language
Values, Norms and Sanctions
Folkways, Mores, and Taboos
7. GESTURES
The ways in which people use their bodies to communicate with
one another
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pxoB6MhmbIg
8. LANGUAGE
A system of symbols that can be combined in an infinite number
of ways and can represent not only objects but also abstract
thought
10. NORMS
What is expected of people; the expectations (or rules) intended to
guide people’s behavior
Sanctions – the reactions people receive for following or breaking norms
Positive sanction – expresses approval for following a norm
Negative sanction – reflects disapproval for breaking a norm
Subtypes of Norms:
Folkways
Mores
Taboo
http://www.buzzfeed.com/natgeo/lifestyles-that-are-taboo-in-the-us-but-are-okay5n1c
11. Folkways – Norms that are not strictly enforced
Mores – norms that are strictly enforced because they are thought
essential to core values or the wellbeing of the group
Taboo – a norm so strong that it often brings revulsion if violated
12. SUBCULTURE
The values and related behaviors of a group that distinguish its
members from the larger culture; a world within a world
http://www.ugo.com/web-culture/subcultures-you-never-knew-
existed
Pages 54-55
13. SUBCULTURE EXAMPLES
Any ethnic group (Native Americans, Chinese, Hispanics)
Religious groups (Jews, LDS/Mormons
Teenagers
Vegans
Farmers, Cowboys, Coal Miners
Tea Party Members
Homosexuals
Goths, punks, geeks, trekkies
Freemasons
14. COUNTERCULTURE
A group whose values, beliefs, norms, and related behaviors
place its members in opposition to the broader culture
15. COUNTERCULTURE EXAMPLES
Jihadists or Nation of islam
Fundamentalist Church of LDS
Gangs
PETA
Ku Klux Klan
Hippies
Mafia
Neo Nazis/Skinheads
16. VAULES
Pgs 53 – 57
Values of beauty across cultures :
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pUj01I6sucU&feature=relmfu
17. TECHNOLOGY IN THE GLOBAL
VILLAGE
Technology – in its narrow sense, tools; its broader sense
includes the skills or procedures necessary to make and use
those tools
New technology – the emerging technologies of an era that have
a significant impact on social life
18. CULTURAL LAG
Term for human behavior lagging behind technological
innovations
A group’s material culture usually changes first, with the nonmaterial culture
lagging behind
Ex – summer school break
19. DIFFUSION AND LEVELING
Cultural Diffusion – the spread of cultural traits from one group
to another; includes both material and nonmaterial cultural traits
Cultural leveling – the process by which cultures become similar
to one another; refers especially to the process by which Western
culture is being exported and diffused into other nations
Mcdonalds
20. GET INTO GROUPS!
Pick a subculture or counterculture
Identify why the group is categorized as either sub or counter
culture
Identify some the group’s gestures, language, and norms
