vermette - pp - chapter 3 - culture and society

Introduction to SociologyNinth Edition

Anthony Giddens, Mitchell Duneier,

Richard P. Appelbaum, & Deborah Carr

Chapter 3Culture and Society

Copyright © 2014, W.W. Norton & Company

Culture and Society

2

• Who is more likely to use the latest Internet social networking technologies to develop networks of online friends, who are mostly persons they have never met? Teenage students in:– (a) Silicon Valley– (b) Beijing– (c) London– (d) New York


Learning Objectives

3

• Basic Concepts– Know what culture consists of and recognize how it

differs from society

• The Sociological Study of Culture– Learn about the “cultural turn” and sociological

perspectives on culture– Understand the processes that changed societies over

time


Learning Objectives

4

• Research Today: Understanding the Modern World– Recognize the legacies of colonialism and the effects of

globalization on your own life and the lives of people around the world

• Unanswered Questions– Understand the debate over the influence of biological

and cultural factors on behavior– Learn how the Internet and global culture influence local

cultures


Basic Concepts

5

• Culture is made up of– Values• Abstract ideals about right and wrong

– Norms• Standards of behavior

–Material goods• The objects and goods a society creates

– Languages and symbols


Basic Concepts

6

• Cultural universals– Grammatically complex language– Family systems and marriage– Incest prohibition– Art, dancing, and body adornments– Games, gift giving, and joking– Rules of hygiene


Basic Concepts

7

• Language– Linguistic relativity hypothesis– Speech and writing– Signifier– Symbols– Semiotics


Basic Concepts

8


The Sociological Studyof Culture

9

• Culture is not the same as society• Society– Group of people living in a given territory

governed by a common political authority and guided by a common culture

• Culture makes society possible• Cultural turn in sociology


• Hunting and Gathering Societies– Oldest but now close to disappearing

(<250,000 worldwide)– Very small—typically 30 to 40 people– Few material possessions– Tended toward equality and cooperation



• Pastoral and Agrarian Societies– Second oldest type of society– Pastoral—tending of domesticated animals– Agrarian—cultivation of crops– Some accumulation of material possessions– More inequality, competition, and

concentration of power



• Traditional Societies– Third oldest type of society– Disappeared in the 1800s– Cities, great inequalities of power and wealth,

and ruled by kings or emperors



• Industrialized Societies– Industrialization destroyed the forms of society

that dominated prior periods– Machine production based on use of inanimate

power resources– Mostly urban– More developed political systems



Research Today: Understanding the Modern World

16

• Colonialism– Global South• Most nations only independent post-World

War II• Agriculture remains the main economic

activity• Extremely high levels of poverty


• Cultural Conformity– Accomplished in two ways• Learn norms beginning in childhood with

parents playing an important role• Social control when a person fails to conform



• Cultural Diversity– Subcultures– Assimilation–Multiculturalism



• Ethnocentrism– Judging other cultures though the lens of

one’s own culture– Can lead to misrepresentations and

unfair judgments



• Cultural Relativism– Judging other cultures by their own

standards to understand them better– Useful for understanding differences in

culturally diverse societies



Unanswered Questions

23

• Nature or Nurture?– Influence of sociobiology• The application of biological principles to

explain the social activities of human beings

– Nature and nurture interact to produce human behavior



24

• Does the Internet Promote a Global Culture?– The Internet is in many ways compatible

with traditional cultural values



25



26

• Does Globalization Weaken or Strengthen Local Cultures?– Role of globalization in cultural change– Nationalism



27

• How Easily Do Cultures Change?– China: Then and Now



28


Concept Quiz

29

Culture can be defined as ___ .(a) artistic forms of expression that help cultivate the intellect of members of a society(b) expectations about modes of behavior appropriate to participating in a particular community or society(c) the values, norms, and material objects characteristic of a particular group(d) scientific understandings and the technological advancements that come from them, by which society is built


Concept Quiz

30

Which of the following might be considered a cultural universal?(a) using smart phone and the Internet(b) having conflict with one’s in-laws(c) decorating one’s body(d) teaching children how to be self-sufficient


Concept Quiz

31

___ consists of the physical objects that a society creates that influence the ways in which people live.(a) Scientific technology(b) Artistic propaganda(c) Infrastructure(d) Material culture


Concept Quiz

32

What is the main difference between pastoral societies and agrarian societies?(a) Pastoral societies relied mainly on domesticated animals, while agrarian societies relied on agriculture.(b) Agrarian societies predated pastoral societies by at least several thousand years.(c) Agrarian societies were marked by much more divisive inequalities than pastoral societies.(d) Pastoral societies only existed in Africa and the Middle East, while agrarian societies were spread across the entire globe.


Concept Quiz

33

Secret documents revealed by Edward Snowden in 2013 revealed a NSA program collecting vast amounts of information on the communications of Americans. Which of the following are characteristics of industrial societies that sociologists might use to put these revelations in context?(a) rapid technological developments based on advanced scientific knowledge(b) more extensive control over many aspects of citizen’s lives than previous types of human societies(c) advanced modes of military organization(d) the rise of a rational-legal mode of social organization


Concept Quiz

34

Disparaging attitudes towards polygamy (a marriage that includes more than two people) in the United States may be a formof ___ .(a) social control(b) ethnocentrism(c) cultural relativism(d) assimilation


Discussion Question: Thinking Sociologically

35

Mention at least two cultural traits that you would claim are universals; mention two others you would claim are culturally specific traits. Use case study materials from different societies to show the differences between universal and specific cultural traits. Are the cultural universals you have discussed derivatives of human instincts? Explain your answer.


Discussion Question: Thinking Sociologically

36

What does it mean to be ethnocentric? How is ethnocentrism dangerous in conducting social research? How is ethnocentrism problematic among nonresearchers in their everyday lives?

This concludes the Lecture PowerPoint presentation for Chapter 3

vermette - pp - chapter 3 - culture and society

Education