Culture Lecture Notes - Social Conflict, Functionalism, and Diversity

When we study culture, we look at how it effects ourselves and the world around us.  Structural-Functional Theory: The Functions of Culture \- Borrowing from the philosophical doctrine of idealism, this approach considers values the core of a culture.  Cultural values direct our lives, they give...

When we study culture, we look at how it effects ourselves and the world around us.  Structural-Functional Theory: The Functions of Culture \- Borrowing from the philosophical doctrine of idealism, this approach considers values the core of a culture.  Cultural values direct our lives, they give meaning to what we do, and they bind people together.  Thinking functionally this can help us understand an unfamiliar way of life.  Cultural universals are traits such as:  \- Family  \- Funeral rights  \- Jokes It shows how culture operates to meet human needs.  Functional approached ignores the cultural diversity that is in each culture.  \- It downplays the importance of change. \- They're not as stable ideas.    Social Conflict Theory: Inequality and Culture Any cultural trait will benefit some members of society at the expense of others.  Why do certain values dominate society in the first place?  \- A society is shaped by a society's system of economic production.  Materialism: a society's system of material production has a powerful effect on the rest of a culture.  \- Very different from a functionalist approach. That one emerges from idealism, this one emerges from a lived, physical, material world.  The culture of capitalism teaches us to think that the rich work longer and harder then others. Also makes us believe that it is natural, and that we shouldn't try to lessen the economic inequalities.  Feminist Theory: culture is gendered:  Our way of life reflects the ways in which our society defines what is male as more important than what is female.  Culture is an arena of conflict, feminist theory says that this is rooted in gender.  \- Gender is a crucial part.  \- Our society defines what being male is as being more important then being what a woman is.  \- Masculine is dominate. Society defines it as natural and defines gender inequality as being unchangeable  Culture does not all human needs to be addressed equally. Some are dominated over others.   Cultural Diversity:  By 1901: 12.8% of the population were born outside of Canada  By 2001, 18.4% of the population were born outside of Canada By 2021, 22% of the population were born outside of Canada The pattern of immigration is reflected in the diversity we see today.    Subculture: cultural patterns that set apart some segment of a society's population  \- These are a source not only of pleasing variety but also of tension and even violence  o Makes society happy because variety is good, but also can cause tension if there is too much variety.  \- Involve not just difference but also hierarchy  \- Everyone participates in many subcultures without having much commitment to any one of them.  \- Others will view subculture as things that people who are poor or less fortunate have.  Counterculture: cultural patterns that strongly oppose those widely accepted within a society.  \- Youth orientated counterculture that rejected the idea that they're different and instead have a collective way of life.  o Hippies dropped out of the general society and joined counter cultural communities.    Ethnocentrism and Cultural Relativism:  Ethnocentrism: the practice of judging another culture by the standards of one's own culture Cultural Relativism: the practice of judging a culture by its own standards.  \- When you judge someone's culture based off of what you know as normal.  \- People have to be emotionally attached to their own way of life.  This can lead to misunderstandings and conflict. \- Everyone prefers what they know already  \- How can we avoid imposing our standards on others.  \- When confronting an unfamiliar cultural practice, it's best to avoid judgements, and try to understand the cultural meaning behind it.  Culture as Value Thesis:  Our culture determines our value view.  The idea that we're socialized into culturally specific moralities that guide our feelings about right and wrong.  When cultures clash, they require logical arguments, but these too are cultural  Culture as Rationale Thesis:  \- The idea that we're socialized to know a set of culturally specific arguments with which we can justify why we feel something is right or wrong  We search for culturally similar rationales to justify our strong reactions to different situations.  Sociological Sympathy:  People react strongly when actions go against their cultural rationales.  Sociological sympathy is when we set aside our own point of view in favour of trying to understand others as they understand themselves.  \- Letting go of the idea that one's culture is better then the others.  Our criticisms must be based in something other than mere difference To what extent are human beings as cultural creatures to what extent are we free? Does culture bind us to each other? To the past? Or does culture enhance our capacity for individual thought and choice.  We are symbolic creatures and because of this we cannot live without culture.  \- This causes some drawbacks.  Culture forces us to make choices as we make and remake a world for ourselves.  Culture is largely a matter of habit.  \- Racism and sexism continues to be repeated in every society.  \- These patterns can urge us towards excellence but also isolate us.  \- Material objects can bring us happiness but also push us away from the connection you have with close relationships.  There is a crucial difference, biological instincts create a ready made world, culture forces us to make choices as we make and remake a world for ourselves. No better evidence of this freedom exists then in our cultural diversity that we see within society.