Part 2; Unit 2; Chapter 3: Culture

Folkway

A loosely enforced norm involving common customs. Practices, or procedures that ensure smooth social interaction and acceptance.

Sign

A symbol that stands for or conveys an idea.

Culture wars

Clashes within mainstream society over the values and norms that should be upheld.

Sanction

Positive or negative reactions to the ways that people follow or disobey norms, including rewards for conformity and punishments for violations.

Hegemony

Term developed by Antonio Gramsci to describe the cultural aspects of social control, whereby the ideas of the dominant social group are accepted by all of society.

Dominant culture

The values, norms, and practices of the group within society that is most powerful (in terms of wealth, prestige, status, influence, etc).

Gestures

The ways in which people use their bodies to communicate without words; actions that have symbolic meaning.

Law

A common type of formality defined norm providing an explicit statement about what is permissible and what is illegal in a given society.

Subculture

A group within society that is differentiated by its distinctive values, norms, and lifestyle.

Counterculture

A group within society that openly rejects and/or actively opposes society's values and norms.

Taboo

A norm ingrained so deeply that evening thinking about violating it evokes strong feelings of disgust, horror or revulsion.

More

A norm that carries great moral significance, is closely related to the core values of a cultural group, and often involves severe repercussions for violators.

Multiculturalism

A policy that values diverse racial, ethnic, national, and linguistic backgrounds and so encourages the retention of cultural differences within society rather than assimilation.

Norm

A rule or guideline regarding what kinds of behavior are acceptable and appropriate within a culture.

Language

A system of communication using vocal sounds, gestures, or written symbols; the basis of symbolic culture and the primary means through which we communicate with one another and perpetuate our culture.

Conflict theory

Approach to Culture: Values and norms are part of the dominant culture and tend to represent and protect the interests of the most powerful groups in society. Case Study; Religion: Religion serves to control the masses by creating rules for behavior; sanctions against violators may not be equally or fairly applied. Culture wars reflect tensions among groups over which values and norms will dominate.

Structural Functionalism

Approach to Culture: Values and norms are widely shared and agreed upon; they contribute to social stability by reinforcing common bonds and constraining individual behavior. Case Study; Religion: Religion is an important social institution that functions as the basis for the morals and ethics that followers embrace, and that are applied to both society and the individual, thus promoting social order.

Symbolic Interactionism

Approach to Culture: values and norms are social constructions; meaning is created, maintained, and changed through ongoing social interaction. Case Study; Religion: Religion consist of beliefs and rituals that are a part of the interaction among followers. Reciting the Lords prayer, bowing towards Mecca, or keeping a kosher home are meaningful displays of different religious values and norms. Leaders may play a role in creating social change.

Values

Ideas about what is desirable or contemptible and right or wrong in a particular group; they articulate the essence of everything that a cultural group cherishes and honors.

Technology

Material artifacts and the knowledge and techniques required to use them.

Cultural diffusion

The dissemination of material and symbolic culture (tools and technology, beliefs and behavior) from one group to another.

Culture

The entire way of life of a group of people (including both material and symbolic elements) that acts as a lens through which one views the world and is passed from one generation to the next.

Social control

The formal and informal mechanisms used to elicit conformity to values and norms and thus increase social cohesion.

Sapir-Whorf hypothesis

The idea that language structures thought and that ways of looking at the world are embedded in language.

Symbolic culture

The ideas associated with a cultural group, including ways of thinking (beliefs, values, and assumptions) and ways of behaving (norms, interactions, and communication).

Cultural Imperialism

The imposition of one culture's beliefs and practices on another culture through mass media and consumer products rather than by military force.

Real culture

The norms, values, and patterns of behavior that actually exist within a society (which may or may not correspond to the society's ideals).

Ideal culture

The norms, values, and patterns of behavior that members of a society believe should be observed in principle.

Technological determinism

The notion that developments in technology provide the primary driving force behind social change.

Material culture

The objects associated with a cultural group, such as tools, machines, utensils, buildings, and artwork; any physical object to which we give social meaning.

Cultural relativism

The principle of understanding other cultures on their own terms, rather than judging or evaluating according to one's own culture.

Ethnocentrism

The principle of using one's own culture as a means or standard by which to evaluate another group or individual, leading to the view that cultures other than one's own are abnormal or inferior.

Cultural leveling

The process by which cultures that were once unique and distinct become increasingly similar.