Lecture 1-Culture (2) PDF

What is culture Culture and Society Culture is the totality of learned, socially transmitted customs, knowledge, material objects and behavior. These are passed on from one generation to the next. Abiding by the rules of culture generally secures rewards, while violating the cultural expe...

What is culture Culture and Society Culture is the totality of learned, socially transmitted customs, knowledge, material objects and behavior. These are passed on from one generation to the next. Abiding by the rules of culture generally secures rewards, while violating the cultural expectations may lead to punishments. Society pertains to a group of persons who interact with one another as members of a collectivity within a defined territory and a highly structured system of human organization. This system helps to shape the social structure of society.  A society is the largest collection of people in group form. People within a society share a common heritage and culture. A society is viewed as a totality of social systems. Social systems include local communities, schools, business firms, kinship units, and so on. All societies are dependent upon the interchanges among and continuation of subsystems that serve as their foundations. Ethnocentrism Ethnocentrism is the tendency for members of a society to use their culture’s norms and values as standards for judging other cultures or to believe that their culture is “right” and others are “wrong.” It refers to the tendency to assume that one’s own culture and way of life represent the norms or are superior to others. Cultural Relativism Cultural relativism means viewing people’s behavior from the perspective of their own culture. It places a priority on understanding other cultures, rather than classifying them as “strange”, “exotic” Cultural relativists use value neutrality in their studies Elements of Culture Language All members of a culture use a system of symbols and language to communicate with others in the same culture. Although today’s society uses technologically advanced forms of communication, the use of symbols and language remains as the foundation. Symbols are so common in our culture that we take many of them for granted. Traffic signals are among the most obvious symbols that we take for granted. We do, however, become keenly aware of the importance of symbols when someone misinterprets them.  Language is the foundation of every culture. Language is an abstract system of word meanings and symbols for all aspects of culture It includes speech, written characters, numerals, symbols and non verbal gestures and expressions. Within a given society, different dialects of the same language may be spoken.  Regionalism—linguistic dialect specific to certain geographical areas—is just one aspect of variations in the same language found within one society. For example, if you greet your friends by saying, “Hi, guys,” and wear “sneakers” to walk to the store to buy some “soda,” chances are you live in the northeastern United States; if you greet your friends by saying, “Hello, y’all,” and wear “tennis shoes” to walk to the store for some “coke,” chances are you live in the southeastern United States Language tells us a good deal about what is important and relevant to a culture.