culture

• Margaret mead

  She studies tribal cultures & male/female behaviours and expectations in Samoa & Papua New Guinea

  • Arapesh tribe : both genders cooperative
  • Mundugumor : both genders violent and aggressive
  • Chambri tribe : women were dominant, whilst men were more timid
• Popular/mass culture

  • Enjoyed by the majority/masses
  • Involves watching tv, going cinema, etc

  Bourdieu – distinction of popular and high culture is how worthy they are. It lies in the power of the group who accesses them.
• High culture

  • Involves classical music, opera, ballet & Seen as superior
  • Appreciated by the upper class, however it can now be accessed by everyone

  Bourdieu – Identified how knowledge, skills, education and cultural tastes function as cultural capital that confers social advantage. Higher social classes use cultural preferences to distinguish themselves from others and how educational systems reward cultural capital of higher classes.
• Global culture

  • Cultural products/activities become universal
  • E.g. brands, books, films are identical across different countries
  • Globalisation – mcdonalds, nike, coca cola

  Mcluhan – world has become smaller, like a global village, with instant communication across vast distances.

  Ritzer - Mcdonalisation
• consumer culture

  • Excessive consumption & debt is seen as acceptable and normal
  • Shopping has become a leisure pursuit, rather than a necessary one
  • Conspicuous consumption – individuals consume branded goods for status and conformity

  Baudrillard – in a consumer culture, people consume goods for the meanings and identities they represent rather than their practical use.
• cultural diversity

  • Variety and differences found in a society
  • Intercultural diversity – diversity between cultures
  • Intracultural diversity – diversity within a culture
  • The UK is intraculturally diverse