Elements of Culture: Understanding Society's Way of Life

1. Elements of Culture

2. All things that make up a people’s entire way of life

3. Confucius • “All people are the same; only their habits differ.”

4. ELEMENTS OF CULTURE Norm- Norms refer to the expectations, or rules of behavior, that develop from our values • Culture • All things that make up a person’s way of life. • 7 Elements =

5. ELEMENTS OF CULTURE Culture Video 2:00 • Culture • All things that make up a person’s way of life. • 7 Elements • Social Organization • Customs & Traditions • Language • Arts & Literature • Religion • Forms of Government • Economic System

6. ELEMENTS OF CULTURE • Create a mnemonic for the Elements of Culture • Mnemonics are memory devices that help learners recall larger pieces of information • 7 Elements • Social Organization • Customs & Traditions • Language • Arts & Literature • Religion • Forms of Government • Economic System

7. 1. Social Organization • Definition: smaller units of a culture to create social structure and help people work together to meet basic needs

8. 1. Social Organization • Family-basic way to pass on culture – • social controls: regulates individual or group behaviors • Nuclear: immediate family • typical for industrialized societies • Vary in size based on culture and traditions • Extended: several generations living in one household • Common agricultural/traditional societies • Economic unit

9. 1. Social Organization • Social Class – • Rank people by status • Ways: money, education, job, heritage • relative to culture and economy • Social Mobility: ability to move social class • Social Groups • Members have similar interests

10. Social Organization • The person who exercises authority, or power, in a family varies from one culture to another. • Most cultures are patriarchal, or cultures where the male holds power. • Women hold authority in matriarchal societies. • Marriage customs can also vary. • Commonly marriages are monogamous (monogamy), or where an individual has only one partner during their lifetime or at any one time. • Polygamy is where there are multiple spouses to one person. • Polygyny – One husband and multiple wives • Polyandry – One wife and multiple husbands • Some marriages can be arranged, or predetermined by the parents of the bride and groom. • Arranged marriages are often created for economic or political reasons. • Dowry and Bridewealth

11. 2. Customs and Traditions • Def: rules for behavior/how a society expects people to behave = social controls • Governs behavior • Ways to express ideas, emotions, and pass on information • Examples: ways you eat, sleep, greet, wear, obtain food, prepare food • Vary in importance • from daily behavior to right and wrong • (peer pressure or written law)

12. 3. Language • Def: ways to communicate/express thoughts, feelings, emotions, and knowledge • Basic way to pass on culture • Helps unify and strengthen culture • dialects is a form of a language that differs from place to place. • Different languages can be spoken within the same society. • All culture have language but not all develop forms of writing • Verbal/Non-Verbal/written • Digital Language

13. Language • What do you call the miniature lobster that one finds in lakes or streams? • How do you pronounce “crayon”? • Do you call coleslaw “slaw”? • What word(s) do you use to address a group of two or more people? • How do you pronounce the second vowel in “pajamas”? • How do you pronounce “pecan”? • What is your generic term for a sweetened carbonated beverage? • What do you call a traffic situation in which several roads meet in a circle and you have to get off at a certain point? • What do you call a long sandwich that contains cold cuts, lettuce, etc.? • What do you call the thing from which you might drink water in a school? • What is your “general” term for rubber-soled shoes worn in gym class for athletic activities?

25. Languages • Top languages spoken in the world today (by native speakers): • Mandarin (955 million) • Spanish (405 million) • English (360 million) • Hindi (310 million) • Arabic (295 million) • Portuguese (215 million)

26. 4. Arts and Literature • Def: ways to express ideas, information and emotions, teaches cultural values; teaches basic beliefs of a society • performing arts • Strengthens a cultures identity • Express cultural pride • Examples: music, visual arts (pictures), dance, stories

27. 5. Religion • Def: a person’s belief system that helps guide behavior and teaches basic values = social controls • Where do we come from? How to act? Where are we going? Moral compass

28. Cosmology: The study and explanation of the universe

29. 1 3 Cyclical 2 2 1 3 Linear

30. Theology: A system of religious beliefs

31. 5. Religion • Monotheism • Worship one God • Christianity, Islam, Judaism • Polytheism • Worship of many Gods • Hinduism, Buddhism • Sect: religious group, division, “branch” or faction • Atheism: a belief in no gods

32. 6. Forms of Government • Def: a system for making decision for a society: provide for common needs - order, protection, education • people who hold power and make the laws

34. 6. Forms of Government • Types of Government: • Democracy • People have supreme power • Republic • Representative democracy • Dictatorship • Ruler or group holds power by force • A government that officially calls itself a "democratic republic" is usually a dictatorship • Fascism

35. 6. Forms of Government • Types of Government: • Monarchy • power or sovereignty held by a single person for life – inherited position - Ruling family • Constitutional Monarchy • has a written Constitution and has a monarch as Head of State • Absolute monarchy • Theocracy • type of government led by religious leaders. • Autocratic/Authoritarian • ruling with absolute authority

36. Democracies • In a democracy, the people hold supreme power and the government acts by consent.

37. Republic • In a republic, the people elect representatives to serve them in the government.

38. Dictatorships • In a dictatorship, a ruler and/or group holds power by force usually relying on military support for power.

39. Theocracy • A theocracy is a type of government led by religious leaders.

40. Monarchy • In a monarchy, kings and queens rule. These monarchs will usually claim rule by divine right and are granted their position based on inherence.

41. Economic system • Traditional Economy • Produce what they need to survive • Hunting and Gathering, Farming, and Herding • Surplus is traded • Market Economy • Buying and Selling • Command Economy • Government controlled • Individuals have little economic power • Mixed Economy • Individuals and Government make decisions • Cars are a great example: People pick & Government sets standards

42. 7. Economic Systems • Def: how a society obtains food, clothing, and shelter - Distribute goods and services • How people use limited resources to satisfy their wants and needs • Answers: • what to produce, • how to produce it, • and for whom.

43. 7. Economic Systems • Examples of Economic Systems: • Traditional economy • People produce what they need to survive • Hunting and gathering, farming, herding • Market economy • Free Market economy: people decided the basic economic questions based on supply and demand

44. 7. Economic Systems • Examples of Economic Systems: • Command economy • Government controls the economy and answers basic economic questions • Individual has little input • Mixed economy • Bits of all economies • Individual makes some economic decisions and the government makes others • Most countries mixed economies

45. Traditional Economies • In a traditional economy, people produce most of what they need by themselves. • Activities in a traditional economy include hunting, gathering, farming, herding cattle, and/or making their own clothes/tools.

46. Market Economies • In a market economy, people buy and sell goods and services. • people decided the basic economic questions based on supply and demand • Usually there is no government interference.

47. Command Economies • In a command economy, the government controls what/how goods are produced and what they cost. • Individuals in a command economy have little economic power. • Black markets frequently appear in command economies. These markets provide illegal goods or services which the government has banished (often at inflated prices.)

48. Mixed Economies • In a mixed economy, individuals make some economic decisions and the government makes others. • Government involvement in the marketplace often takes the form of regulations, rules or laws designed to govern conduct.

49. Economic Philosophies Regarding Markets • Socialism (L) and Capitalism (R) • Both are ideals, frequently not purely achieved. • Socialism is an economic system in which the society holds control over the means of production and the management of the economy. • Capitalism is an economic system in which trade, industry, and the means of production are largely or entirely privately owned and operated for profit. • Under capitalism, market forces determine the supply and demand of goods and services.

50. What determines cultural similarities and differences? • Technology • Availability of money • History • Relationship with nature • Geography and climate