chapter two giving meaning to human lives

Symbol

An object, idea, image, figure, or character that represents something else....They do change (sometimes dramatically), but they are particularly stable. They are easily remembered. They are preserve a culture's conventional meanings.

Values

Are symbolic expressions of intrinsically desirable principles or qualities. Tend to conserve a society's dominant ideas about morality and social issues. Can change . . . but more slowly than other aspects of culture. It's like , "Mom" expresses the purity of selfless sacrifice for the greater good. "Apple pie," a common food since colonial times, expresses Americans' shared heritage

Traditions

Are the most enduring and ritualized aspects of a culture. Are usually assumed to be timeless (or, at least, very old). The powerful notion that things have always been a certain way makes challenging traditions difficult, even if they justify actions that make no logical sense in modern times.

Norms

Are typical patterns of behavior, viewed by participants as the unwritten rules of everyday life. Remain stable because people learn them from an early age and because society encourages conformity. Are usually unnoticed by people until they're violated.

Can anybody own culture?

Nobody can own "the collective processes that make the artificial seem natural." But conflicts do arise over claims to the exclusive right to use symbols that give culture power and meaning. Cultural appropriation, the unilateral decision of one social group to take control over the symbols, practices, or objects of another. Mormons and the coffee shop Indians and the mascots

Functionalism

Proposes that cultural practices and beliefs perform functions for societies: explaining how the world works, organizing people into efficient roles, etc. Emphasizes that social institutions function together in an integrated and balanced fashion to keep the whole society functioning smoothly and to minimize social change. society would fall apart if there was no culture

Cultural construction

The meanings, concepts, and practices that people build out of their shared and collective experiences. people build culture collectively

Enculturation

The process of learning the cultural rules and logic of a society, which begins at birth.

If culture is emergent and dynamic, why does it feel so stable?

Today, anthropologists study culture as a dynamic process, not a static thing. Societies function most smoothly when cultural processes feel natural and stable."People need cultural stability." Enculturation occurs every day, whether we are consciously aware of it or not. Our experience of culture is repeatedly stabilized by symbols, values, norms, and traditions.

Geertz's Definition of Culture

Web of symbols, Web of signs, Share system of meanings, Share system of symbols

Holism

a perspective that aims to identify and understand the whole—that is, the systematic connections between individual cultural beliefs and practices—rather than the individual parts.

A cross-cultural perspective

demonstrates the incredible flexibility and plasticity of the human species—human belief and practices come in all shapes and forms. Analyzing human social phenomenon by comparing that phenomenon in different cultures.

What is culture?

it is anthropology's central concept, and most definitions share certain common features. it's is learned. It uses symbols. It is dynamic and integrated with daily experience. It is shared by groups of people and passed along from generation to generation. it is "the complex whole which includes knowledge, belief, art, law, morals, custom, and any other capabilities acquired by man as a member of society."

How is culture expressed through social institutions?

the organized sets of social relationships that link individuals to each other in a structured way in a particular society Culture feels so stable because it is expressed and reinforced by social institutions:Patterns of kinship and marriage, Economic activities, Religious institutions, and Political forms