Cultural Concepts and Social Change Quiz

UNIT 1: CULTURE AS A CONSTRUCT

• Culture: Defined as the characteristics and knowledge of a particular group, encompassing language, religion, cuisine, social habits, music, and arts. Values and beliefs constantly evolve.
• Material Culture: Tangible aspects of a culture—physical objects, technology (developed from raw materials). It is the visible "tip" of a larger iceberg of cultural elements.
• Non-Material Culture: Intangible aspects, like language, beliefs, values, behaviours, family structures, and political systems. Provides a sense of identity (region, family, religion, community).
• Symbols: Anything carrying meaning, including objects, gestures, language, and even rituals.
• Language: A system of symbols enabling thought and communication.
• Values: Shared beliefs about what is good/bad, right/wrong, and desirable/undesirable.
• Norms: Rules of behaviour outlining acceptable conduct.
• Culture as Context: Examining culture within larger societal contexts, including origin, ethnic background, subcultures and how they function in society.
• Best vs. Better: Competition is often seen as a driver of excellence but potentially influenced by capitalism.
• Group vs. Individual: Groups provide social cohesion, shared values, and alignment. Individuals need independence for personality development and a sense of self.

UNIT 1: CULTURE AS A CONSTRUCT (Continued)

• Culture & Group: Culture strengthens social relationships and promotes cooperation. It can create new needs.
• Culture & Individual: Culture differentiates humans from animals, offering behavioral guidelines for complex situations and interpretation of experiences.
• Cultural Elements: Language, norms, beliefs, ideologies, statuses, roles, social interactions, and cultural integration are important components.
• Tangible/Intangible Cultural Elements: Discusses physical objects (artwork) versus non-physical ones (expression, celebrations).
• Cultural Universals: General characteristics found across cultures, such as families, survival needs, illness/healing, life/death, and humour (identified by George Murdock).
• Worldview Definition of Culture: Culture is an attitude toward the world, reflecting a people's values through artistic expressions (Johann Herder).
• Symbolic Definition of Culture: Culture is transmitted through symbols, enabling communication, knowledge, and attitudes toward life (Clifford Geertz).
• Inclusive Definition of Culture: Culture encompasses spiritual, material, intellectual, emotional aspects, including lifestyles, traditions, beliefs (UNESCO).
• Subcultures: Distinct groups within a larger culture differing in beliefs but sharing in aspects of the larger culture.
• Culture is Learned: Culture is not inherent but acquired through teaching and experience, impacting views on family, society, and other aspects of life.
• Culture is Layered: Combines real and ideal, surface-level and deep-seeded, subcultures, and cultural universals.
• Culture is Interrelated: Individuals identify with multiple cultures (age, gender, sexuality, race, ethnicity, nationality, interests).

UNIT 1: CULTURE AS A CONSTRUCT (Continued)

• Culture Creates Structure: Culture provides structure, predictability, and continuity; however, some aspects change over generations.
• Norms: Specific rules of standard behaviour, some of which are unchanging.
• Deviance: Behaviour differing from norms, ranging from minor to significant.
• Customs/Beliefs/Attitudes: These form habits or ways of behaving, speaking, dressing, and developing practices and beliefs used to solve problems. They also include positive or negative evaluations toward concepts/objects.
• Module 4: Theoretical Perspectives:
  • Structural Functionalism: Views society as complex interrelated parts working together; focuses on how society works.
  • Conflict Theory: Emphasizes social, political, or material inequalities, focusing on continuous struggles between groups (e.g., Indigenous peoples).
  • Symbolic Interactionism: Emphasizes how individuals interpret and react to interactions, giving meaning to their experiences with others.
  • Cultural Materialism: Focuses on culture as influenced by the resources, technology, and environment used to understand cultural change.
  • Feminist Theory: Investigates gender inequality, oppression, and patriarchy.

UNIT 2: CULTURE AS EXPRESSION

• Cultural & Perception: Media, entertainment, and popular culture shape perceptions of culture, potentially based on stereotypes.
• Cultural Expression: Refers to the creativity of individuals, groups, and societies; forms such as art, dance, music, food embody beliefs.
• Symbolic Expression: Culture objects/items represent and express personal culture.
• Spiritual Expression: Culture expression tied to religious contexts.
• Functional Expression: The creation of function or usefulness of an object or item.
• Philosophical Expression: Culture questioning existential questions, choices, and personal impact.
• Artistic Expression: Artistic creations shaped by cultural knowledge.
• Framework for Culture: Culture's structure provides a foundation for individual expression and personalization (community, ethnicity, traditions).

UNIT 2: CULTURE AS EXPRESSION (Continued)

• Elements of Culture: Symbols, values, beliefs, norms, folkways, mores, and taboos.
• Traditional Cultural Expressions: Practiced within families and communities; demonstrate pride in cultural preservation.
• Cultural Change: Cultures evolve over time, often in response to social turmoil; some may resist change; change is typically gradual and challenging.
• Cultural Loss: The inevitable consequence of old cultural patterns being replaced by new ones.
• Resisting Change: Processes include habit, integration, and interdependencies in culture institutions acting as a barrier against change.
• Diffusion: The movement of ideas and things between cultures; meaning can be altered or remain unchanged.
• Accumulation: Culture change when two or more cultures come into contact, often with the adaptation of new elements from a dominant culture.
• Assimilation: A more extreme form of cultural change, where a culture completely adopts the dominant culture, rejecting its original culture.
• Transculturation: The blending of different cultural elements.

UNIT 3: CULTURE AS DYNAMIC - BARRIERS TO UNDERSTANDING

• Barriers to Culture: Factors preventing cultural understanding, including visible or invisible barriers intentionally or unintentionally created by individuals, institutions, or societies.
• Power Dynamics: Those in power often have the ability to create conflict and maintain existing power structures, potentially leading to challenges to a culture's viewpoint.
• Cultural Appropriation: The adoption of elements from one culture by another culture, often when power imbalances exist.
• Systemic Barriers: Policies, procedures, or practices discriminating against specific groups limiting equal access to resources and power.
• Media Representations: Media significantly impact perceptions of culture, potentially fostering stereotypes or limited viewpoints.
• Stereotypes: Unfair generalizations about groups, potentially leading to discrimination, racial profiling, hate crimes, and bullying.
• Generational Barriers: Conflicts in values between generations, leading to loss of traditional values.
• Colonization: The domination of one group over another through invasion and appropriation of authority and dominance.
• Labels: Identifying people based on assumed qualities, leading to prejudice and discrimination.

UNIT 3: CULTURE AS DYNAMIC - TEARING DOWN THE WALLS

• Barriers to Cross-Cultural Communication: Ethnocentrism, stereotyping, filtering, assumptions of similarities, and avoidance.
• Barriers to Understanding: Intentional or unintentional, conscious/subconscious effects on cultural group relations, interactions with own communities, and cultural identity.
• Dismantling Barriers: Recognizing barriers to understanding, acknowledging problems, seeking methods, and recognizing the complexities of each perspective.
• Module 10: Brick by Brick...: Speaking up to confront social injustices/barriers and start social movements, address deeply-rooted institutional beliefs, and challenge unfair notions about certain cultures, removing the "mortar" that holds these negative views together, using words constructively, and recognizing the influence and effect of words to bring more awareness to social issues.
• Social Movement: A purposeful, organized group striving for a common goal, creating change or resistance, providing political voice.
• Types of Social Movements: Alternative (personal change), redemptive (spiritual change), reformative (specific change), and revolutionary (total change).
• Module 11: ...to the Foundation: Addressing social injustice requires challenging long-held institutional beliefs, chipping away at the foundation of social inequality via efforts.
• Celebrity Involvement: Celebrity-led campaigns can have a positive or negative impact on awareness of social issues.

Test your understanding of key concepts related to material and non-material culture, symbols, language, and norms. This quiz also explores the dynamics of group versus individual perspectives in cultural contexts and the role of social change. Dive into the factors affecting social injustice and examine feminist theory's viewpoints.