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Exploring Sociological Perspectives in Cultural Landscapes

Understand social interactions through the sociological perspective, including Functionalist, Conflict, and Interactionist perspectives. Learn about group structures, culture, norms, hierarchy of culture, and the human impacts on cultural landscapes.

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Exploring Sociological Perspectives in Cultural Landscapes

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  1. CULTURE BASICSCultural Landscape AP HG Mr. Hensley SRMHS

  2. The Social Sciences Umbrella

  3. What is the sociological perspective? • The sociological perspective means you seek to understand social interactions through data and the scientific method – not through anecdotes, folk tales and “common sense” beliefs

  4. Functionalist Perspective • Group structures exist to help keep things stable • Group structures have manifest (obvious) functions or latent (not-so-obvious functions) • Dysfunctional structures tend to make society less stable and do not become permanent

  5. Conflict Perspective • Resources are limited and social structures exist to help one group get those scarce resources at the expense of other groups • Winners and losers, the zero-sum game • Change is inevitable, chaos is part of life • Associated with Marx

  6. Interactionist Perspective • Concerned with symbols and how groups use symbols to interact with each other • Social groups give meanings to people – then people use those definitions to make decisions • Reality is what social groups decide it is • More “micro” than other two

  7. What is a GROUP? • Needs 2 or more people • Requires interaction • Members share expectations (values) • Group members share common identities (traits, norms) • NOT a group – “aggregates”

  8. Groups Have CULTURE • Culture – a groups shared system of ideas, values, traits, norms, and customs; a learned behavior expressed in dress, food, work, language, etc. • Norms or traits: shared rules of conduct that tell people how to act in specific situations - expected behaviors not actual behaviors

  9. Culture is System I • Cultural traits are rules-of-thumb, heuristics that help people function efficiently in a complex world • Cultural traits can break down when subjected to System II thought

  10. Hierarchy of Culture • Traits (norms) are the fundamental building block of culture • Related traits are cultural complexes • Complexes that share geography are cultural systems or regions • At the top are cultural realms (usually grouped by languages, religions)

  11. Cultural Realms

  12. Structure of Culture Three building blocks or “subsystems”: • Ideas: beliefs, language, religion • Technology: artifacts, tools, material objects • Social Organization: kinship, family, all interpersonal relationships

  13. Cultural Landscape and Possibilism • As humans act upon their environment, they create a cultural landscape • Possibilism says that the environment only provides constraints – within those constraints, humans are the dynamic force behind cultural development • Different directions of causation

  14. Human Impacts • Extinction of megafauna (aka Pleistocene overkill) • North African over-farming (Roman Empire) • Easter Island collapse • Dutch dike system • Current irrigation of American Southwest • Construction of Dubai • Global warming?

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