Society, Culture & Cultural Change

1. Society, Culture & Cultural Change Introduction to Social Science

2. Today • Culture • Causes of cultural change • Cultural change & social problems

3. Culture • Set of learned behaviours and ideas that are sharedby particular society or other social group • Defining features: Learned, Shared • Includes beliefs, values, ideals, attitudes, customs, etc.

6. Subculture • Group within a society with commonly shared customs

7. Society • group of people who occupy a particular territory and speak a common language

8. Cultural universals • Cultural element, trait or pattern that is common to ALL cultures

9. Cultural alternates • Cultural characteristics not shared by all cultures

10. Cultural integration • The degree to which a culture is internally consistent and homogenous

11. Some Elements of Culture Social Norms Social Institutions Material Culture Language Social Values

12. Social Norms • Norms: standards or rules about acceptable behaviour • Conventions: simple, every day customs • Mores: conventions that would have serious consequences if violated • Laws: principles and regulations established in a community by some authority, applicable to the people either in form of legislation or policies recognized and enforced by judicial decision

13. Social Institutions • Normative systems of behavior for five basic areas of life: • Family • Government • Economics • Education • Religion

14. Social Institutions

15. Material Culture • Material products of customary behaviour • Culture includes knowledge of how to produce and/or use a variety material products

16. Material Culture

17. Language • Complex system of symbols used for communication

18. Social Values • Culturally defined standards of desirability, goodness, beauty, etc.

20. Some causes of social change Discovery and Invention Diffusion Acculturation

21. Discovery and Invention • An innovation – either an object (e.g. the wheel) or an idea (e.g. democracy) -gains widespread acceptance • Discovery: Addition to knowledge • Invention: Practical application of knowledge

22. Discovery and Invention

23. Diffusion • Spread of cultural traits from one group to another • Direct Contact • Intermediate Contact • Stimulus Diffusion

24. Diffusion

25. Acculturation • Adaptation of cultural traits due to contact with a dominant , more powerful society

26. Acculturation

27. Revolution • Replacement, usually violent, of a country’s rulers through rebellion against the established authorities

28. Revolution 1971 2004

29. Social Problems • Social problem: situation or condition recognized as adversely affecting the welfare of a large number of people

30. Cultural Lag • William Ogburn (sociologist) • Cultural lag: slowness in the rate of change in one part of culture in relation to another (due to material invention/technological change) • The change in one part of the cultural pattern may create strain and disturbances in closely related parts • Although adjustments will be made to restore harmony, there will be lag time during which tension persists

31. Cultural Lag

32. Ethnocentrism • Belief that one’s culture’s own behaviours and attitudes are the correct ones and that people who do not share them are immoral or inferior • Judgement of other cultures by the standards of one’s own culture • Has both positive and negative consequences • Positive side: it creates social solidarity within the group • Negative: can lead to harmful discrimination against people whose ways differ from ours

33. Cultural Relativism • Belief that a society’s customs and beliefs should be described objectively and understood in the context of that society’s problems and opportunities

34. Cultural Relativism & Human Rights • Idea of universal human rights challenges cultural relativism • Is there a moral/ethical code that is superior to any country, culture, or religion? • Cultural relativism does not preclude an anthropologists or other social scientists from respecting human rights

35. Summary • Culture is a set of learned behaviours and ideas that are sharedby particular society or other social group • Elements of culture include social norms, social institutions, language, social values, material culture • Cultural change can be brought about by diffusion, acculturation, invention and discovery • Sometimes change addresses social problems, other times it causes it (cultural lag)

36. Dancing with a Ghost:Exploring Indian RealityBy Rupert Ross “We are not seeing, despite what we seem to be seeing….”

37. Dancing with a Ghost:Exploring Indian RealityBy Rupert Ross • Rupert Ross - Canadian lawyer who works with the Cree and Ojibway people in Canadian court system • “Rather than assume their behavior stems from principles similar to our own and judging it poorly for not conforming, we must realize its different because it stems from different principles.”

39. The Spirit Catches You and You Fall Down:A Hmong Child, Her American Doctors, and the Collision of Two CulturesBy Anne Fadiman

40. The Spirit Catches You and You Fall Down:A Hmong Child, Her American Doctors, and the Collision of Two CulturesBy Anne Fadiman • Clash between Hmong refugee family from Laos and American doctors at small California hospital • Six year old Lia’s diagnosis: • Family and Tvixneeb: Quag dab peg “The Spirit catches you and you fall down” • American Doctors: Epilepsy