culture
the complex system of meaning and behavior that defines the way of life for a given group or society
material culture
consists of the objects created in a given society - buildings, art, tools, and toys
nonmaterial culture
norms, laws, customs, ideas, and beliefs of a group of people
norms
the specific cultural expectations for how to behave in a given situation
folkways
general standards of behavior adhered to by a group
mores
strict norms that control moral and ethical behavior
values
abstract standards in a society or group that define ideal principles
beliefs
shared ideas about what is true held collectively by people within a given culture
Sapir-Whorf hypothesis
asserts that language determines other aspects of culture because language provides the categories through which social reality is defined
Edward Sapir
anthropologist and linguist of Native Americans. Talked about importance of analyzing vocabulary in order to learn about physical and social environment of people.
Benjamin Whorf
1897-1941; Field: language; Contributions: his hypothesis is that language determines the way we think
William Graham Sumner
identified two types of norms: folkways and mores
social sanctions
mechanisms of social control that enforce folkways, mores, and norms
taboo
a behavior that brings about the most serious sanctions
ethnomethodology
the theoretical approach based on the idea that you can discover the normal social order by disrupting it
potlatch
a practice in which wealthy indian chiefs would periodically pile up their possessions and give them away to their followers and rivals
dominant culture
the culture of the most powerful group in society. Not necessarily the culture of the majority
subcultures
cultures of groups whose values and norms of behavior differ to some degree from those of the dominant culture. ex. Amish, hiphop,
countercultures
subcultures created as a reaction against the values of the dominant culture
ethnocentrism
the habit of seeing things only from the point of view of one's own group
cultural relativism
the idea that something can be understood and judged only in relation to the cultural context in which it appears
cultural hegemony
the pervasive and excessive influence of one culture throughout society
reflection hypothesis
contends that the mass media reflect the values of the general population
Robert Putnam
a functionalist who wrote Bowling Alone
Bowling Alone
a book where Robert Putnam argues that there has been a decline in civic engagement, defined as participation in voluntary organizations
civic engagement
participation in voluntary organizations, religious activities, and other forms of public life
functionalists
believe that norms and values create social bonds that attach people to society
conflict theorists
emphasize culture as a source of power in society. See contemporary culture as produced within institutions that are based on inequality and capitalist principles, and increasingly controlled by economic monopolies
cultural capital
refers to the cultural resources that are deemed worthy and that gives advantages to groups possessing such capital
social interactionists
emphasize that culture, like all other forms of social behavior, is socially constructed; culture is produced through social relationships and in social groups, such as the media that produce and distribute culture
postmodernism
based on the idea that society is not an objective thing; rather, it is found in the words and images that people use to represent behavior and ideas
cultural lag
when one aspect of culture lags behind another; often brought on by rapid technological change
culture shock
the feeling of disorientation when one encounters a new or rapidly changed cultural situation
cultural diffusion
is the transmission of cultural elements from one society or cultural group to another