Class 3_ Culture and Socialization.pptx

Culture and Socialization  Culture & Socialization https://www.timmacneill. com/  REVIEW: We Need to Socialize; We are not rational The Cingulate Cortex: – Integral to the Limbic System - generates maternal response, empathy, emotional...

Culture and Socialization  Culture & Socialization https://www.timmacneill. com/  REVIEW: We Need to Socialize; We are not rational The Cingulate Cortex: – Integral to the Limbic System - generates maternal response, empathy, emotional expressiveness, and motivation to communicate – When it is damaged, all of these things disappear We have natural drives to be altruistic and we dislike too much inequality Healthy humans suffer depression, reduced immunity, even die without communication Our ‘selves’ are created through communication Our culture, society, institutions are produced and reproduced through communication We need these institutions to survive – they make our world intelligible and navigable (structural functionalism) Sometimes inequalities are built in to these institutions however (Conflict theory) These inequalities tend to reproduce and even amplify themselves over time But, remember, humans have an aversion to inequality, especially when they are on the bottom themselves We become emotionally attached to our view of reality Nature or Nurture? It is both working together in complex ways Twin Studies (basic physical & personality traits): – Heritability (genetic) – Shared environment (both twins socialized the same) – Nonshared (twins have different experience from one-another) Epigenetics (newer area of genetics): – the study of changes in organisms caused by modification of gene expression rather than alteration of the genetic code itself – It is not one gene that makes you behave a certain way, but the interaction of many – Genes are inherited, but how/if they are expressed may be impacted by the environment – How/if genes are expressed can be passed generationally with or without socialization (Diaz & Ressler, 2014 mouse study) Bouchard, Lykken, McGue, Segal, & Tellegen, 1990  SOCIALIZATION IS KEY: Humans interact from the moment they are born In this interaction, they “acquire the necessary cognitive and emotional skills to get along in their society” Learn daily routines and to conform to particular behaviours – Where/when to sleep, eat, what is funny, what is serious, what to wear, etc. Develop their identity concept of the self Example: women and babies study  Erving Goffman: dramaturgy People (while developing their identity) observe social roles of those they see, and rehearse them like an actor learning a role, to become who we are 3 Main types of Socialization  Mostly in the family Primary Intentional: What to eat, what to wear, Socializatio what to play with, what is taboo, what is sad, what is funny, n how to treat others, what behaviours are rewarded/punished Unintentional: power, authority, gender, patriarchy, racism…  Secondary Socialization Socialization does not end People experience new situations and interact with new people, constantly re-calibrating Adult socialization differs from child socialization because it is based on accumulated learning One gets to choose their own socialization more to a degree But their socialization choices are limited by their past That is: socialization is path- dependent  Anticipatory Socialization Learning the codes and norms of a certain group that one is not yet a part of E.g. learning about high fashion when one cannot afford to take part Learning about the lifestyle of doctors and lawyers – mimicking their actions Education – learning how to behave in the work place  4 Main Agents of Socialization The Family: parenting behaviour can overcome risk factors such as bad neighbourhood, single parent home etc. The Media: Transmits stereotypes, violence, sex, morals (good or bad) – Does it teach us consumerism? In whose interest? – Do African-American women conform to white beauty standards that they get from media? (beautiful hair) – The solution? http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=enpFde5rgmw The Peer Group: Extremely important in adolescence, expands experience beyond family, may reinforce media or family influences, or contradict – Some have argued that children are socialized more by other children than by families School: Transmit norms, values, roles, ideas of authority, reward particular behaviours, punish others  Culture: The set of shared attitudes, values, goals, and practices that characterizes an institution, organization, or group It is primarily based in language – the set of symbols that humans use to communicate and order their understanding of the world Sapir–Whorf hypothesis – also known as the linguistic relativity hypothesis, the language you speak influences the way you think about reality Culture is not monolithic, nor is it stagnant, nor does it have definite borders Semiotics (Ferdinand de Saussure) The study of signs Whether we believe that there is a material world, humans use signs to create meaning Sign = Signified + Signifier – The signified is a concept that may or may not relate to something in the natural world TRE E  Are all signifiers that do not symbolize an actual tree, but the concept of tree. There may be an actual tree in your yard but it would look very different from your abstract generalized concept TREE. A sign is the combination of the signifier (TREE) and the signified (concept of tree) Both are needed in order for humans to communicate  Semiotics … Humans make meanings through the creation and interpretation of signs We think only in signs Anything can be a sign as long as someone interprets it as 'signifying' something - referring to or standing for something other than itself: smells, objects, flavors, people. Signs can be denotative or connotative: eg: “Chicken”; “iPhone 7” Our vocabulary of signs comes to us through communication Our thought and ability to perceive may be restricted by out vocabulary of signs Our vocabulary of signs could be called our “culture” Example: Canadi an Culture  Cultures Western Culture: Eastern Culture:  Two Cultures Models Samuel J. Huntington: “Clash of Civilizations” – West: rational, scientific, democratic – Rest: religious, mysterious Benjamin Barber “Jihad vs. McWorld”  Major Cultures: Arabic, African, European, North American, East Asian, Indian, Latin, more…? Now, more than ever, these cultures mix. But on what terms? Cultural Loss? Linked to biodiversity loss? Currently 7000 languages One is lost every two weeks By 2100 half will be lost 80% of the population only speak 1% of its languages  Art and Aesthetics Aesthetics: Judgments on sentiment, style, and taste Constantly Change and are Diverse. Why? Car Commercial 1970s http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sOXnDB3sjig Apache (The Incredible Bongo Band) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OLK5ZOjWaXE High Culture Low Culture Low Culture High Culture Notice that… Low Culture = mass culture High Culture = anything that excludes This constantly changes  Pierre Bourdieu Culture is political, used as a weapon to reinforce inequality Habitus – habits, dispositions, tastes Field – social surroundings Social Capital – who you know Financial Capital – what you have Cultural Capital – what you know (specific to the field, constantly changes) Symbolic Violence – calling someone out for their lack of cultural capital Music Snobbery: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cMK3 hRsTAs8  Language and Cultural Capital Newfoundland Accent http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WRBD4CbrhVg Benedict Anderson: England, media, Imagined Nations Identity and Cultural Capital Otavalo Ecuador, Indigenous Artisans