Section A: CULTURE Flashcards
(18 cards)
Norms
Expected patterns of behaviour that are based on the values of a culture.
Values
A set of beliefs and ideas that a culture sees as important which are generally accepted by the majority of that culture.
Cultural diversity
Refers to variety and/or difference within a society.
Subculture
This is a culture within a culture- a group with a set of norms and values that may differ from wider society.
E.g. mods and rockers
Cultural hybridity
A merging of two or more things (cultures, ethnicity or nationality).
High culture
A culture that had a very high status (fox hunting, shakespeare, ballet, opera)
Popular culture
Activities that are practiced by the majority within society- such as watching TV, listening to pop music.
Consumer culture
A culture that is based upon the purchasing of goods.
Global Culture
Cultural products, activities that have become ‘universal’.
Intracultural
Diversity WITHIN cultures.
Intercultural
Diversity BETWEEN cultures.
Creolisation
When people are uprooted from one culture and placed in another. These people are forced to abandon their ancestral practices in favour of new cultural practice. However, these people incorporate some of their ancestral traditions into the new cultural practice.
What is culture?
Culture focuses on the way of life within particular societies. Within sociology the study of culture looks at the whole system of behaviours and beliefs of a society or group. This includes, but not limited to knowledge, language, faith, art, music, fashion, morals, law, customs, traditions, lifestyles etc…
Example of norms and values in British society
A value would be politeness.
A norm that would follow this value would be to say ‘please’ and ‘thankyou’.
Norms and values are not fixed and can change over time or based on a certain situation.
What is a cross cultural study?
When we pick an aspect of a culture such as religious practices or gender and compare it to other cultures around the world to see similarities and differences.
E.g. Margaret Meads study of gender roles.
Margaret mead
Found ones gender is not determined by biology but is socially constructed.
1. Arapesh- both males and females gentle and cooperative.
2. Mundugumor- both males and females violent and aggressive.
3. Tchambuli- women were dominant and not involved in childcare. Men timid and emotionally dependent.
Popular cultures
Postmodernist argument
Postmodernist disagree with the negative perception of popular culture from Marxists, suggesting that the mass access to media allows individuals to choose their own identity, drawing inspiration from different elements of popular culture. Postmodernist argue that popular culture allows for individuals to change their identity and for their identity to be fluid.
Popular culture
Marxist argument
Bourdieu 1994 argued that the distinction between high culture and popular culture lies in the power of the group who support and access them.
High culture is simply the culture that is mostly accessed by the higher economic class and is, therefore, not necessarily superior to popular culture.
Argues like postman that pop culture is a form of brainwashing in order to dumb down the masses of people who consume it so that they don’t question their position in society creating a false consciousness.
