UCSP

• Culture


  The way of life of a social group or a society and of a country
• Society


  A group of people sharing a common culture. An organized group or groups of people who generally share a common territory, language, culture, and act together for collective survival and well-being
• Tylor (1920 [1871]): 'Culture is "the complex whole which encompasses beliefs, practices, values, attitudes, laws, norms, artifacts, symbols, knowledge, and everything that a person learns and shares as a member of society"'
• Raymond Williams' definition of culture

  1. A process of human perfection 2. A description of a particular way of life 3. An activity recorded and learned
• Aspects of culture

  • Material (objects, belongings)
  • Non-material (ideas, attitudes, beliefs)
• Characteristics of culture

  • Dynamic, flexible, and adaptive
  • Shared and contested
  • Composed of patterned social interactions; integrated and, at times, unstable
  • Learned and transmitted through socialization or enculturation
  • Requires language and other forms of communication
• Cultural universals


  • Food
  • Shelter
  • Clothing
  • Music and arts
  • Sports
  • Courtship and marriage
  • Rituals and feasts
• Surface culture


  Explicitly learned by an individual and taught by society
• Deep culture


  Implicitly and unconsciously learned; therefore it can be difficult to change
• Language


  A system of communication that humans use to express values, beliefs, and ideas, as well as to forge relationships and establish some sort of binding understanding between and among each other
• Symbol

  Any object, body language/gesture, or even abstract concept that has no meaning to outsiders, but it has a significant meaning to the people within a culture
• Types of norms

  • Formal norms (rules and regulations established by social institutions and governments)
  • Informal norms (simple, traditional customs of a culture, which are socially accepted but are not morally significant)
• Mores


  Norms guided by standards of morality, and they determine what is acceptable and unacceptable
• Law


  A formal norm as it is codified by the government and backed by the state's power to police
• Values


  Abstract concepts that make judgments on and/or determine what is good and desirable, and what is bad and undesirable within a culture
• Subculture


  A smaller culture within the dominant culture of a society, with its own beliefs, interests, and means of interaction, yet they still share certain elements of the dominant culture
• Counterculture


  A subculture that deliberately opposes certain aspects of the dominant culture, with its own norms, values, and beliefs that may challenge or contradict the widely accepted culture of the society
• Counterculture


  • Growth of ultraconservative groups, such as terrorist organizations and private militia groups
• Cultural relativism


  The idea that other cultures must be understood based on their people's own experiences and standards
• Ethnocentrism


  Judging a culture using the viewer's own beliefs, behaviors, values, and traditions, usually viewing one's own culture as superior to that of others
• William Graham Sumner: 'Ethnocentrism is an attachment toward one's ingroup (own culture) which leads to the hatred of the outgroup (other culture)'
• Xenocentrism


  The notion that another culture is superior to one's own, involving one's preference for others' way of living and rejecting his or her own culture believing that the others' way is better than his or her own
• Xenocentrism


  • Consumer xenocentrism
• Ways culture can be transferred

  • Diffusion (enculturation, acculturation, assimilation)
  • Socialization
• Socialization


  The process of learning various cultural patterns that are accepted by the culture
• Agents of socialization


  • Family
  • School
  • Peer group
  • Media & technology
  • Religion and state
• Deviance


  Behavior that violates the standards of norms of the culture
• Robert Merton's Deviance Typology

  • Conformity (accept goals and means)
  • Ritualism (reject goals, accept means)
  • Innovation (accept goals, reject means)
  • Retreatism (reject goals and means)
  • Rebellion (new goals and new means)

  
• Social control


  The practice of preventing deviant behavior in society
• Sanction


  A mechanism of external social control, which can be either positive (rewards) or negative (punishments)
• McDonaldization


  The process by which the principles of the fast-food restaurant, particularly McDonald's, come to dominate various sectors of society, including both public and private life
• Key principles of McDonaldization

  • Efficiency
  • Calculability
  • Predictability
  • Control
• McDonaldization


  Can lead to deskilling and routinization of work, limiting workers' ability to think critically and independently
• McDonaldization


  Can result in a loss of local culture and traditions due to the spread of standardized products and services
• McDonaldization


  Can affect consumers' expectations and behaviors, leading them to favor fast, cheap, and consistent options over diversity and quality
• McDonaldization


  Can extend to sectors like education and healthcare, impacting the way these services are delivered and experienced
• McDonaldization


  Can stifle creativity and innovation in both workers and consumers due to the emphasis on efficiency and predictability
• McDonaldization


  Can lead to cultural homogenization and loss of local customs due to the spread of standardized products and services
• McDonaldization


  Can lead to increased waste and unsustainable practices due to the fast-food model
• Cultural imperialism


  The dominance of one culture over others, often through the influence of media, technology, and consumer products