The Meaning of Culture Chapter 2 – Section 1
The Meaning of Culture Chapter 2 – Section 1. What Is Culture?
Dec 14, 2015
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The Meaning of Culture
Chapter 2 – Section 1
What Is Culture?
• Culture
– Shared products of human groups
• Physical objects
• Beliefs, values, and behavior
– Material Culture?
– Nonmaterial Culture?
– Society• Organization of a independent group of
people• What do they organize?
Components of Culture
– Technology
• Combination of objects and rules
– Symbols
– Language
• Organization of written and spoken symbols into a standardized system
– Values
• Shared beliefs
– Norms• Shared rules of conduct
– Folkways• Socially acceptable behavior
– Mores• Great moral
significance for society
– Laws• The written
rules of conduct in society
• Cultural Traits– Simple levels of culture
• Culture Complexes– Cluster of interrelated traits
• Culture Patterns– Combination of culture complexes
Cultural Variation
Chapter 2 – Section 2
What Do We Have in Common
• Cultural Universal
– All cultures have the same needs – Why are they different?
– Family as cultural universal
Variations Among Societies
• Cultural differences
– Inherited characteristics
– Cultural influences
• The Arapesh
– Society based on complete cooperation
• Shared work responsibilities between women and men
• Marriage arrangements for girls
• The Mundugumor
– Headhunter• Men and women
extremely aggressive
– Hostility between family members• Fathers linked to
daughter • Mothers linked to
sons
• Comparing the Two Societies
– Arapesh – living in the mountains• Farmers
– Mundugumor – living in a river valley• Gatherer
Studying Variation
• Ethnocentrism– Tendency to see one’s own culture
and group as superior
• Cultural Relativism
– Different cultures should be judged by their own standards
– Example – India
Variation Within Society
• Subculture
– Values, norms and behaviors not shared with the entire population
– Groups add diversity
• Counterculture
– Groups reject major values, norms and practices of the larger society
– Replaced by new set of cultural pattern
– Do they become a threat to society?
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