CULTURE & SOCIAL STRUCTURE

Question 1

Culture

Answer 1

all social practices and knowledge systems

• language, beliefs, values, material objects, etc
• how these things are translated from one generation to the next
• enables humans to adopt and thrive in a given environment

Question 2

Material elements of culture

Answer 2

• Physical or technological aspects of our daily lives

Question 3

Non Material culture

Answer 3

customs, ideas, expressions, beliefs, knowledge, philosophies, patterns of communication, etc.

language - systems of shared words and symbols including non-verbal

values - collective conceptions of what is good, desirable and proper

norms - established standards of behaviour maintained in society

• formal: written, codified laws
• informal: generally understood, not codified
• mores: highly necessary for societal welfare (codified)
• folkways: norms governing everyday behaviour (manners, etiquette)

Question 4

cultural lag

Answer 4

non-material culture struggling to adapt to material culture

(AI, cyberbullying, internet privacy and censorship)

Question 5

Ideology

Answer 5

culture that is dominant in society and legitimate existing powerful social, economic, and political interests

• Culture can help unify
• it can also serve the interests of some individual groups over others.

Question 6

Cultural variation

Answer 6

subculture - a segment of society that shares distinctive patterns of mores, folkways, and values that differ from the pattern of the larger society

• counterculture - deliberately oppose broader culture (hippies, terrorist)
• culture shock - disorientation, uncertainty, fear of encountering unfamiliar practices

ethnocentrism - the tendency to assume that one’s own culture and way of life represent the norm or are superior to all others

culture relativism - viewing others’ behaviour from the perspective of one’s own culture

cultural universals - a common practice or belief shared by all societies in some capacity

• take care of babies, murder bad, union between people like marriage, sports,

Question 7

Kymlicka 2003

Answer 7

argues the world is the most multicultural it has ever been, only going to progress. True multiculturalism is going to require synergy between multicultural state and intercultural citizen

MC state

• rejects the idea of the state belonging to one single national group, instead it belongs equally to all citizens
• rejects nation-building tactics that assimilate or exclude minority groups
• acknowledge historical injustice done to minority groups (white European settlers)

IC Citizen

• someone who not only supports the principles of MC state, but also has a positive range of attitudes toward diversity
• curious not fearful of other people’s culture
• can see other people’s POVs

Question 8

6 elements of social structure

Answer 8

1. statuses - socially defined and ranked positions within a society

ascribed - assigned at birth by society (id, race, gender)

achieved - in our power to change (profession, parent)

master - you hold that dominates the others

2. social roles - expectations for people who occupy certain social statuses
3. groups - people who interact with similar norms, values, and expectations

in-group - you feel you belong

out-group - you don’t feel you belong (or people not part of in-group)

4. social networks - social relationships that link people
5. virtual worlds - the maintenance of social networks electronically
6. social institutions - the organized pattern of beliefs and behaviour centred on basic social needs

Question 9

5 basic functions of social institutions

Answer 9

1. reproducing membership - biological reprodcution, families, health care
2. reproducing culture - teaching from one generation to next, family, education
3. producing and distributing goods - economy
4. preserving order - government, law
5. providing and maintaining sence of purpose - religion