culture

Examples of culture in the following topics:

• Material Culture

  • Material culture consists in physical objects that humans make.
  • People's relationship to and perception of objects are socially and culturally dependent.
  • This view of culture, which came to dominate anthropology between World War I and World War II, implied that each culture was bounded and had to be understood as a whole, on its own terms.
  • The result is a belief in cultural relativism, which suggests that there are no 'better' or 'worse' cultures, just different cultures .
  • They constitute an increasingly significant part of our material culture.

• Cultural Universals

  • A cultural universal is an element, pattern, trait, or institution that is common to all human cultures worldwide.
  • Cultural universals are elements, patterns, traits, or institutions that are common to all human cultures worldwide.
  • There is a tension in cultural anthropology and cultural sociology between the claim that culture is a universal (the fact that all human societies have culture), and that it is also particular (culture takes a tremendous variety of forms around the world).
  • The idea of cultural universals—that specific aspects of culture are common to all human cultures—runs contrary to cultural relativism.
  • Discuss cultural universals in terms of the various elements of culture, such as norms and beliefs

• Culture and Society

  • Culture is what differentiates one group or society from the next; different societies have different cultures.
  • Different societies have different cultures; however it is important not to confuse the idea of culture with society.
  • Material and nonmaterial aspects of culture are linked, and physical objects often symbolize cultural ideas.
  • For instance, the high culture of elites is now contrasted with popular or pop culture.
  • In this sense, high culture no longer refers to the idea of being "cultured," as all people have culture.

• High and Low Culture

  • High culture most commonly refers to the set of cultural products, mainly in the arts, held in the highest esteem by a culture.
  • Gellner's concept of a high culture extended beyond the arts; he used it to distinguish between different cultures (rather than within a culture), contrasting high cultures with simpler, agrarian low cultures.
  • However, this definition of popular culture has the problem that much "high culture" (e.g., television dramatizations of Jane Austen) is also "popular. " "Pop culture" is also defined as the culture that is "left over" when we have decided what high culture is.
  • A postmodernist approach to popular culture might argue that there is no longer a clear distinction between high culture and popular culture.
  • Discuss the roles of both high culture and popular culture within society

• Cultural Sociology: Researching Culture

  • How do sociologists study culture?
  • One approach to studying culture falls under the label 'cultural sociology', which combines the study of culture with cultural understandings of phenomena.
  • Cultural sociologists look for how people make meaning in their lives out of the different cultural elements that surround them.
  • Not surprisingly, cultural conflict is an optimal scenario for the exploration of culture and cultural interaction.
  • First, he found a cultural border that presented cultural conflict.

• The Future of Culture

  • Examine how the process of globalization is predicted to influence the future of culture.

• Nonmaterial Culture

  • Non-material culture includes the behaviors, ideas, norms, values, and beliefs that contribute to a society's overall culture.
  • Material and non-material culture are two parts of culture.
  • Culture as a general concept consists of both material and non-material culture.
  • Different cultures honor different values.
  • Together, they provide a way to understand culture.

• Cultural Lag

  • The term "cultural lag" refers to the fact that culture takes time to catch up with technological innovations, resulting in social problems.
  • Cultural lag can occur when technological innovation outpaces cultural adaptation.
  • But these changes in the non-material culture do not match exactly with the change in the material culture.
  • This delay is the cultural lag.
  • Produce an example of cultural lag using an example of the tension between material and non-material culture

• Cultural Evolution

  • Although more inclusive, this approach to culture still allowes for distinctions between civilized and primitive, or tribal, cultures.
  • For instance, the high culture of elites is now contrasted with popular or pop culture.
  • In this sense, high culture no longer refers to the idea of being cultured, as all people are cultured.
  • Most social scientists today reject the cultured vs. uncultured concept of culture.
  • The result is a belief in cultural relativism, which suggests that there are no "better" or "worse" cultures, just different cultures.

• Mechanisms of Cultural Change

  • The belief that culture can be passed from one person to another means that cultures, although bounded, can change.
  • Fundamentally, although bounded, cultures can change.
  • Cultural change can have many causes, including the environment, technological inventions, and contact with other cultures.
  • Cultures are externally affected via contact between societies, which may also produce—or inhibit—social shifts and changes in cultural practices.
  • The other is a reflection of his biology and his culture: he is human and belongs to a cultural group or sub-culture.