CULTURAL CHANGE
AND DIVERSITY
Presented by
Nahin Mahfuz Seam
Roll: 09
Course ID:204
Subject: Principles of Sociology
BEcon in Environmental and Resource Economics
Dhaka School of Economics
(constituent institution of the University of Dhaka)
(1)

Content
What is culture?
Elements of culture
Ways of Cultural Change
Cultural diversity
Aspects of diversity
Importance of diversity
Conclusion
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What is culture?
• Culture is everything which is socially shared and learned
by the members of a society.-Horton and Hunt.
• "Culture" refers to a group or community which shares
common experiences that shape the way its members
understand the world.
• Culture is a word for people's 'way of life‘.
• “Culture is not inherited biologically but it is leant socially
by man in a society.”
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Elements of culture
• There are seven elements of culture:
1.SOCIAL ORGANIZATION.
2.CUSTOMS AND TRADITIONS.
3.RELIGION.
4.LANGUAGE.
5.ARTS AND LITERATURE.
6.FORMS OF GOVERNMENT.
7.ECONOMIC SYSTEMS.
“These are things that all culture have in common”
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Elements of culture
1. SOCIAL ORGANIZATION :-When a culture organize its
members into smaller groups.
Example: Families, Friends, Religious group, Social class,
Occupation etc.
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Elements of culture
2. CUSTOMS AND TRADITIONS: rules of behavior
(written and unwritten)
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Elements of culture
3.Religion: In any culture two types of people are
seen
• * Monotheism : belief in one God
• * Polytheism : belief in more than one God
Major World Religions :
Judaism, Christianity, Islam, Hinduism, Buddhism
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Elements of culture
4.LANGUAGE : With the help of language we can
communicate with each other in society.
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Elements of culture
5. ARTS AND LITERATURE:
*teach about a culture’s values .
*promote cultural pride and unity.
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Elements of culture
6. FORMS OF GOVERNMENT: People form governments
to provide for their common needs.
Types :
Democracy : people have supreme power.
Republic : people choose leaders to represent them.
Dictatorship : a ruler or group holds power by force.
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Elements of culture
7. ECONOMIC SYSTEMS: There are four types of
economic System:
1.Capitalistic economy
2.Socialistic economy
3.Mixed economy
4.Islamic economy
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Cultural Change
• What is cultural Change?
Modification of a society through innovation, invention,
discovery, or contact with other societies.
 !(12)

Ways of cultural change
Cultural changes are set in motion in three ways.
1. Invention: The process of creating new cultural
elements. Invention has given us the telephone, the
airplane and the computer each of these elements of
material culture has had a tremendous impact on our
way of life.
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Cont.………….
2. changes in the natural environment: Environment play
a vital role in cultural change.
Example: In Bangladesh who lives in hill tracks area their
culture are different from who lives in River bank area.

Cont.………
3. Diffusion: the spread of cultural traits from one society
to another. Because new information technology sends
information around the globe in seconds, cultural diffusion
has never been greater than it is today.

Cultural Diversity
=>The cultural variety and cultural differences that exist in
the world, or in a society. ‘cultural diversity has increased,
exposing kids to new tastes and experiences’

Aspects of diversity
•Age
•Race
•Gender
•Ethnicity
•Sexual orientation
•Physical attributes
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Importance of diversity
1.Diversity creates richness in opinion: A diverse group
will offer fresh ideas to solve problems. Diverse groups
have often been found to be creative and thus producing
better solutions to problems.

Importance of Diversity
• 2. Diversity makes us compassionate about others:
When we interact and try to understand others, we will not
judge them. This instead makes us compassionate about
others. We are then able to love and help one another.
Compassion allows us to empathize with others and
realize that all human beings are the same

.
• 3. Diversity is a growing trend: Today there is no
country in the world that has only natives living there.
Each and every day, millions of people are moving from a
part of the world to another. Most people are in such of
better opportunities, education and lifestyle. In the
process people of different cultural backgrounds often find
themselves going to the same schools, working in the
same office and so much more. As citizens of this world,
we are therefore left with no choice other than to embrace
our diversity.

.
• 4. Diversity opens up new market opportunities:
Through diversity, entrepreneurs have been able to reach
new markets. Today we have multinationals setting up
offices in different parts of the world of which it would not
be possible without embracing diversity. This further
creates employment opportunities for people in those
parts of the world.

Conclusion
All countries have their own culture. Sometimes they
differ a lot from your own, sometimes you can
hardly notice them. Cultural change is happening
from the beginning of civilization. We should keep
pace with it. Embrace cultural diversity. It's
important for a sustainable and healthy lifestyle
across the board.

References
• http://www.sociologyguide.com/culture/causes-of-cultural-
change.php
• http://ctb.ku.edu/en/table-of-contents/culture/cultural-
competence/culture-and-diversity/main
• http://www.studylecturenotes.com/social-
sciences/sociology/112-what-is-culture-
• https://www.google.com/search?q=example+of+culture&rl
z=1C1NDCM_enBD694BD694&oq=example+of+culture+
&aqs=chrome..69i57j0l5.19896j0j7&sourceid=chrome&ie
=UTF-8
• http://anthro.palomar.edu/change/change_2.htm

THANK YOU