Ch 1 Culture Material

1. Ch 1 Culture Material “Cultural Coherence & Diversity: The Geography of Tradition & Change”

2. CULTURAL IMPERIALISM… • Question 1 – The authors are referring to the rapid spread of Western culture due to global communication systems. Some parts of the world willingly accept this diffusion of Western culture, but others resist & resent it. • CULTURAL IMPERIALISM: the active promotion of one cultural system over another (historically associated with Imperialism; now caused by globalization). (glossary p. 637)

3. FACTIONALISM & SEPARATISM… • Factionalism – a group of people inside a larger group working in a common cause against the main group. (Example: Tea Party Republicans; Conservative Democrats). • Separatism – a group of people inside a larger group who actively advocates & desires to become a separate entity (can be political, religious, ETHNIC etc). • SEPARATISM ALWAYS RESULTS FROM FACTIONALISM BUT NOT ALL FACTIONALIS GROUPS ARE SEPARATISTS!!!!!!! Questions 2 & 3

4. 4 categories of contemporary cultures • FOLK – rural, largely self-sufficient, homogeneous, conservative/traditional (Ex: Amish) • ETHNIC – controlled by clear lines of authority through family, clan, tribe or church (EX: the Hutu & Tutsi tribes in Rwanda, Africa). • POPULAR – urban-based, heterogeneous, rapidly changing. (Ex: hip hop culture in USA) • WORLD – empowered by GLOBALIZATION – this refers to the idea that because we’re much more connected globally we will start to develop similar universal cultural traits & practices (EX: all major world cities have similar landscapes of offices, hotels, restaurants, entertainment choices, etc). HW Q #5

5. Cultural Imperialism (again) • 3 examples of cultural Imperialism: • McDonald’s/Starbucks/ found in major cities world-wide; • English is the dominant language of the Internet; • Western films & pop stars sell out venues on world-wide tours HW Q#7

6. CULTURAL NATIONALISM • CULTURAL NATIONALISM – the process of protecting & defending a cultural system against diluting or offensive cultural expressions while also actively promoting national & local cultural values. • Cultural Nationalism is a REACTION against cultural Imperialism because the latter attempts to do the OPPOSITE of what cultural nationalism seeks to achieve. HW Q#8

7. CULTURAL SYNCRETISM • CULTURAL SYNCRETISM aka “hybridization” occurs when contact/connections between cultures cause a blending of aspects from both cultures that forms a new culture that is unique. • EXAMPLE: due to the British colonial period in India, English is commonly spoken. However, India’s use of English (often called “Indlish”) has aspects of both formal English & Hindi & contains many words that are unique to that culture. HW Q#9

8. Lingua Franca • We will not cover the language information in the culture sections found throughout the regional chapters of our text, HOWEVER, you need to know that language can either promote OR detract from national unity, depending on the culture. • – Language is the primary means by which culture is passed along generationally. In areas where linguistics are very diverse, it may be necessary to use a LINGUAFRANCA – or an agreed upon common language to facilitate communication on important topics. (English is the most commonly used language in this capacity). • HW Q#10

9. Religion & culture… • PROSELYTIZING is done in an attempt to convert a person from one religion to another • UNIVERSALIZING RELIGIONSare those that usually have an active missionary program and that appeal to a large group of people regardless of local culture and conditions. Christianity and Islam are both examples of UNIVERSALIZING RELIGIONS. Hw q#11/12

10. Religion & culture… • ETHNIC RELIGIONSare those that are closely identified with a specific ethnic or tribal group. Normally ethnic religions do not seek new converts. (Judaism and Shinto are good examples of ethnic religions). • Proselytizing would play a major role in UNIVERSALIZING RELIGIONS and would not be a factor in ETHNIC RELIGIONS. • MONOTHEISTIC religions believe in 1 God (Christianity, Judaism, Islam); POLYTHEISTIC believe in several. (HINDUISM is a good example of a Polytheistic religion) HW Q#12

11. SECULARIZATION • SECULAR means “not sacred or religious” and signifies a “worldly” perspective absent significant religious influence. The trend in some world regions is to move away from regular participation and engagement with traditional organized religion is often referred to secularization. Some world regions are more secular than others…that is…the influence of religion is not nearly as significant (culturally, politically, etc) in those regions. HW Q#13