The San of South Africa

1. 2:1 The Meaning of CultureBell Ringer: Interpreting the visual pg. 26EQ: What is the meaning of culture?

2. The San of South Africa • Hunter gatherers • Small groups • Cooperation • Rock painters

3. Physical objects, beliefs, values, and behaviors shared by human groups

4. Material World • Material Culture • Physical objects/tangible items that members of society make, use, and share • Raw Materials → Technology → Stuff

5. Material World • Non-Material Culture • Abstract/intangible human creations of society that influence people’s behavior • Language, beliefs, values, rules of behavior, family patterns, political systems

6. What’s the Difference? • Society-interdependent group of people who share culture and unity • Culture-material/nonmaterial products those people create

7. 5 Components of Culture • People of a culture share a broad set of material and nonmaterial elements • 5 components of Culture • Technology • Symbols • Language • Values • Norms

8. 5 Components of Culture1. Technology • Manmade products (material culture) that make life easier • Rules of acceptable behavior when using material culture

9. Components of Culture2. Symbols • Basis of human culture • Anything that represents something else • Has a recognized, shared meaning • Gestures, images, sounds, physical objects, events, etc.

10. Components of Culture3. Language • Organization of written or spoken symbols into a standardized system that can express any idea

11. Components of Culture4. Values • Shared beliefs about what is good/bad, right/wrong, desirable/undesirable • Determines character of people, kinds of material/non culture they create

12. Components of Culture5. Norms • Shared rules of conduct, expectations for behavior • Wide range of importance in norms: covering mouth to don’t kill • Some norms are selective: marriage, alcohol consumption, police

13. NormsFolkways v. Mores • Folkways-norms that describe socially acceptable behavior w/o great moral significance, do not endanger the well being or stability of society • Minor punishment for breaking a folkway norm

14. NormsFolkways v. Mores • Mores-great moral significance • Violation of these norms endangers society’s well being and stability

15. Laws • Established punishments for violating norms to protect the social well being • Written rules of conduct enacted and enforced by the government • Mores laws: murder, rape, theft, etc. • Folkway laws: parking tickets, jaywalking

16. Culture is Dynamic • Continually changing • New material objects: http://techland.time.com/2013/11/14/the-25-best-inventions-of-the-year-2013/ • New expressions: http://www.usingenglish.com/reference/idioms/

17. Levels of Culture • Culture Trait- individual tool, act or belief that is related to a particular situation or need: types of eating utensils/appropriate greetings • Culture Complexes- cluster of interrelated traits. Football (Complex) items needed to play, rules, business (traits) • Culture Patterns- combination of a number of culture complexes into an interrelated whole: American Athletic Pattern

18. Assignment • Using the diagram on pg. 27, create a visual for one of the following cultural patterns of our society: • Agriculture • Education • Family life • Manufacturing • Religion

19. 2:2 Cultural Variation • Bell Ringer: Interpreting the visual pg. 31

20. Cultural Universals • Features, common to all cultures, that fulfill basic human needs

21. 1940 George Murdock • Identified 65 Cultural Universals • Nature of universal traits varies widely • Example-Family • Cultural Universal-purpose is to add new members of society and care for them until they can care for themselves, introduce children to components of culture • Cultural Variation-the composition of a family

22. 1930 Margaret Meade • Study on Cultural variation • Purpose-determine whether differences in basic temperament is inherited or learned • Studied the cultural differences between the Arapesh and the Mundugumor • Conclusion: temperament is the result of culture rather than biology

23. Arapesh v. Mundugamor • Extreme Cultrual Variations-Why? • Arapesh • Hunters/gathers/mountains/scarce food • Mundugamor • Lots of food/river valleys/”easy” life

24. Ethnocentrism • Viewing one’s own culture and group as superior • Having a negative response to cultural traits very different from our own • Positive-builds group unity • Negative-culture can stagnate because we exclude people, and influences that might be beneficial

25. Cultural Relativism • Belief that cultures should be judged by their own standards rather than by applying the standards of another culture • Understanding cultural practices from the points of view of the members of the society being studied • Example: Cows in India

26. 2:1 ActivityMancala Tournament • People of many races and ethnic groups often enjoy the same entertainments. For example, a board game called mancala is popular in many countries, including the U.S. Mancala is possible the oldest board game in the world. Egyptians played the counting and strategy game before 1400 B.C. Like being a sports star in the U.S., being a “Mancala” star carries much cultural significance in other societies.

27. Subculture • Group whose values, norms and behaviors are not shared by entire population • Example: Chinatown • Same: education, democracy, role in economy • Different: living/shopping patterns, language, food, etc.

28. Functional Subcultures • Subcultures by profession, age, gender, religion, ethnicity don’t threaten the stability of societyand prevent society from becoming stagnat

29. Counterculture • Challenge the values of the alrger society • Reflects major values, norms and practices of the larger society and replaces them with a new set of cultural patterns • Examples: mafia, cults, 60s hippies