WALT: Outline different theories of Culture.WILFs:E – Description of the Key Terms of Culture.C – Explanation of the Key Terms.A – Outline and evaluate the different theories of Culture.

Your Task• In your groups… You must firstly work

together to provide definitions for Slides 3 – 14.

• Now divide into pairs – One pair will research Marxist theories of the role of culture the other pair will research Functionalist theories.

• Now as a group – Work on the Postmodern theory of culture.

• What is it?• Explain what it says about Culture?• Evaluate it as a theory… What do other

sociologists argue?

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• We will be presenting these tomorrow in the second half of the lesson.

Society…What is it?

Culture…What is it?

Identity…What is it?

Differentiation…What is it?

Stratification…What is it?

Deviance… What is it?

Primary Socialization

What is it?

How?

Examples…

Secondary Socialization

What is it?

How?

Examples…

High Culture…• The theory that

• How?

Mass Culture…• The theory that

• How?

Folk Culture…• The theory that

• How?

Global Culture…• The theory that

• How has it happened?

• Do you agree?

• Do sociologists?

Sociobiology

Postmodernist Theory on the role of culture…• Post-modernist view is that we are mere machines

and act dress and consume what the media determines is right for this society.

• Overwhelmed by music, TV and media that we are unable to think for ourselves.

Marxist Theory on the role of culture…• What is:• Bourgeoisie• Capitalism• Industrialized• Conflict theory

Marxist Theory on the role of culture…

• Example – Hate groups “blame” certain people for a society’s problems, they shift attention away from the ruling class.

• Look at the Frankfurt School Theory…

Culture in society reflects ruling-class ideology. It expresses the distorted view of the world put forward by the dominant class and is important in maintaining the system of social inequality that exist in capitalist society.

According to Marx, people are not aware that they are being dominated (False consciousness) meaning that people hold beliefs that they think promote their best interest when in fact they are damaging.

Functionalist Theory on the role of culture …• Culture of society reflects the shared values of that

society. (Value Consensus) Society needs a shared culture to run effectively, and various agencies play their part in socializing members of society.

• Functionalism interprets each part of society in terms of how it contributes to the stability of the whole society.

• Society is more than the sum of its parts; rather, each part of society is functional for the stability of the whole society.

• The different parts are primarily the institutions of society, each of which is organized to fill different needs and each of which has particular consequences for the form and shape of society. The parts all depend on each other.

Functionalist Theory on the role of culture …• Strengths:• It focuses on the needs of society and the fact that

stability is essential for a society’s continued success.

• Weaknesses.• Overemphasizes harmony and cooperation.• Does NOT acknowledge all the societal factors that

contribute to conflict.

Which theory is better?• And Why?• Or are they all good?