Views on culture
Cards (4)
- Functionalism
- Culture acts as a social glue or bond that maintains social order
- Culture is the shared norms and values of the population
- Norms are the expected behaviours in society and are not universal. They are relative so are key to an individuals culture
- Values are important and lasting beliefs shared by members in a society
- Norms and values act as a consensus - a collective consciousness
- Binds society together so it can function correctly
- Linked with Durkheim
- Evaluation of functionalism
- Marxists and feminists dispute there is not a consensus around a shared culture that helps society function
- Postmodernists disagree with the functionalist view as they see culture as being diverse - societies are characterised by great diversity
- Significant overlap between consensus and conflict theories. Conflict theorists see mass or popular culture working on behalf of either capitalism or the patriarchy in order to maintain social order
- Marxism and neo-marxism
- Culture works on behalf of the ruling class in order to sustain the capitalist system
- Mass culture is used to control the working class (opium of the masses)
- Adorno (neo-marxist) developed this and argued that mass culture creates false needs. This is seen in advertising but neo-marxists argue that this can be more subtle in terms of commodity fetishism (people value goods for status not practicality)
- Frankfurt School of neo-marxists
- The media is the main way in which the dominant ideology is transmitted. Cultural products of the media encouraged the working class to accept their fate
- Horoscopes in newspapers, rags-to-riches stories such as X-Factor or the National Lottery, people are encouraged to believe that their lot in life is down to luck not down to exploitation or social structures of capitalism
- Creates a passive working class, false-class consciousness, preventing a revolution
- Bordieu - culture is used to benefit the ruling class (cultural capital) W/c are limited