acculturation
cultural modification of an individual group or people by adapting to or borrowing traits from another culture
assimilation
the process in which a minority group or culture comes to assemble the dominant cultures values behaviors and beliefs
centrifugal force
forces that pull people apart
centripetal force
forces that bring people together
colonialism
control by one power over a dependent area or people; occurs when one nation subjugates another, conquering its population and exploiting it, often while forcing its own language and cultural values upon its people
contagious diffusion
the distance- controlled spreading of an idea, innovation, or some other item through a local population by contact from person to person
creolized language
language that results from the mixing of a colonizer’s language with the indigenous language of the people being dominated
cultural convergence
the tendency for cultures to become more alike as they increasingly share technology and organizational structure in a modern world unite by improved transportation and communication
cultural divergence
the likelihood or tendency for culture to become increasingly dissimilar with the passage of time
cultural hearth
heartland source area, innovation center; place of origin of a major culture
cultural relativism
the idea that a person’s beliefs, values, and practices should be understood based on that person’s own culture, rather than be judged against the criteria of another
culture
a total way of life held in common by a group of people, including such learned features as speech, ideology, behavior; livelihood, technology, and government; or the local, customary way of doing things- a way of life; an ever-changing process in which a group is actively engaged; a dynamic mix of symbols, beliefs, speech, and practices
culture trait
a single element of normal practice in a culture
ethnic region
a voluntary community where people of like origin reside by choice
ethnic religion
a religion identified with a particular ethnic or tribal group; does not typically seek to converts.
ethnicity
affiliation or identify within a group of people bound by common ancestry and culture
ethnocentrism
the attitude that one’s own race and culture are superior to others
expansion diffusion
the spread of ideas, behaviors, or other culture traits from one place to another through direct or indirect contact and exchange of information; the diffusion increases the number of people or cultural groups practicing the trait while leaving the trait intact or intensified in its area of origin.
globalization
a reference to the increasing interconnection of all parts of the world as the full range of social, cultural, political, and economic processes becomes international in scale and effect. One result of space-time compression
hierarchical diffusion
the spread of a feature or trend from one key person or node of authority or power to the other persons or places; spread of culture from one important/large area to another important/large area
imperialism
a policy of extending a country’s power and influence through diplomacy or military force
indigenous religions
belief systems and philosophies practiced and traditionally passed from generation to generation among people within an indigenous tribe or group
language dialect
a distinctive local or regional variant of a language that remains mutually intelligible to speakers of other dialects of that language; a subtype of a language
language family
a group of related languages derived from a common ancestor.
