Summary The Real World An Introduction to Sociology

-Culture is one of the fundamental elements of social life and thus a very important topic in sociology -culture encompasses practically all of human civilization and touches on almost every aspect of social life -culture- is the entire way of life of a group of people- it can include everything from language and gestures to style of dress and standards of beauty, from customs and rituals to tools and artifacts, from music and child rearing practices to the proper way for customers to line up in a grocery store. -it forms basics beliefs and assumptions about the world and the way things work, and it defines the moral parameters of what is right and wrong, good and bad -culture actually accounts for our great success a species -we are dependent on it to deal with the demand of life in society -we learn culture- we are often unaware of the process -culture guides the way we make sense of the world around us and the way we make decisions about what to do and how to do it How to study culture? -theologians and philosophers- might debate the morals and values of an ideal culture -art literature, and film scholars focus on certain aspects of culture- novels, films, paintings, plays- as expressive, symbolic activities -cultural anthropologists often investigate societies outside the united states, travelings around the world engaging in empirical fieldwork -archaeologists study the cultures of the past -sociologists usually focus on the culture closer to home, often in the societies to which they belong -they do this by using the theories of functionalism, conflict theory, symbolic interactionism, and postmodernism and well as the research methods -sociologists may engage in the process of othering by studying the unusual, extraordinary, or deviant in culture groups. -ethnocentrism- the principle of using one's own culture as a means or standards by which to evaluate another group of individual, leading to the view that cultures other than one's owns are abnormal or inferior. -cultural relativism- seeing each different culture as simply that- different- not better or worse- not right or wrong, but on its owns terms- doing so helps us place diff values, beliefs, norms, practices within their own cultural context Material culture- is any physical object to which we give social meaning: art and artifacts, tools and utensils, machines and weapons, clothing and furniture, buildings and toysm --any physical thing that people create, use, or appreciate - by studying material culture we can see how santa barbara manages to preserve its history and heritage and successfully resist the pressures of encroaching urban development Symbolic culture (non material) - reflects the ideas and beliefs of a group or people. -it can be something as specific as a certain rule or custom: driving on the right side of the road in the US, and on the left in the UK -it can be as broad social system: democracy, or a large- scale social pattern: marriage The most important functions of symbolic culture is to allow us to communicate through signs, gestures, and language -these form the basis of social interaction and are the foundation of cultureSigns- (or symbols)- such as a traffic symbol, price tag, notes on sheet music, product logo are meant to represent something else -they all convey info -number and letters are the most common signs-some symbols may be nearly universal while others may be particular to a given culture Gestures- are signs made with the body- clapping, nodding, smiling, facial expressions -this is referred to body language or nonverbal communication -every culture has its own way of expressing praise and insulting others -some gestures in certain cultures could be offensive in another culture Language- the most significant component of culture, is what has allowed us to fully develop and express ourselves as human beings, and it is what distinguishes us from all other specifies on the planet -language is present in all societies -is the basis of symbolic culture and the primary means through which we communicate with one another -it allows us to convey complicated concepts and to pass along a culture from one generation to the next -language shapes not only our communication, but our perception- the way we see things -does play a significant role in how people construct a sense of reality and how they categorize the people, places, and things around them Sapir- whorf hypothesis- the idea that language structures thought and that ways of looking at the world are embedded in language- continue to influence numerous social thinkers Values- are the set of shared beliefs that a group of people consider to be worthwhile or desirable in life- what is good or bad- right or wrong- beautiful or ugly. -they articulate the essence of everything that a cultural group cherishes in a society Norms- are the rules and guidelines regarding what kind of behavior are acceptable; they develop directly out of a culture's value system. Formal norms: they are officially codified and explicitly stated Informal: that they are implicit and unspoken Exp: when we wait in line to buy tickets for a movie, we expect no one will cut us Norms can be broken down further into 3 types: Folkways, mores, taboos Folkways: are the ordinary conventions of everyday life about what is acceptable or proper and are not always strictly enforced -are the customary ways that people do things, and they ensure for smoother and orderly social interactions Exp: wearing flip flops with a business suit Mores: are norms that carry a greater moral significance and are more closely related to the core values of a cultural group. -are norms to which particular everyone is expected to conform Tabooss- actually a type or mores, are the most powerful of all norms -a forbidden subject -taboos are extremely serious -sociologists say that our sense of what is taboo is so deeply ingrained that they very thought of commiitting a taboo act, such as cannibalism or incest, evokes strong feelings of digust or horror Moral holiday- a specified time period during which some norm violations are allowed Sanctions- are a means of enforcing norms -they include rewards for conformity and punishments for violations Positive sanctions- express approval and may come in the form of a handshake, a smile, priase, or award Negative sanctions- express disapproval and may come in the form of a frown- harsh words or a fine or incarceration Social control- ensuring that people behave to some degress in acceptable ways and thus promoting social cohension, Multiculturalism- generally describes a policy that involves honoring the divers racial, ethnic, national, and linguistic backgorunds of various indivuduals and groups Dominant culture- the values, norms, and practices of the group within society that is most powerful (in terms of wealth, prestige, status, influence Cultural hegemony- describle the cultural aspects of social culture, whereby the ideas of the dominnay gorup are accepted by all Subculture- a culture within a culture- is a particular social group that has a distinctive way of life, including its own set of values and norms, practices and beliefs, age, ethnicitiy, or anything that draws individuals together Exp: korean amercians, senior citizens, snowboarders Counterculture: another kind of subgroup, its norms and values are often incompatible with or in dirrect opposition to the mainstream -some countercultures are political or activiist groups attemting to bring about social change; others resist mainstream values by living outside society or practiving an alternative lifestyle Culture wars: to describe the clashes that arise as result of conflicting viewpoints, -these clases are frequently played out in the media, where social commentators and pundits debates the isues -are mainly waged over values and morality and the soltions the social problems with liberal and conservative fighting to define culture in the us Ideal culture: the norms and values that members of a sociertt believe should be obserbed in principle Real culture: the patterns of behavior that actually exists -one of the most significant influences on any society is its material change -most changes in material culture tend to be technological -we usually equate technology with hi tech- electronic or digital devices- but technology can be anything from a hammar to the space shuttle, from to a search engine algorithm to hypertext markup language (HTML) as well as the “know how” it takes to use it -new tech often provides the basis and structure through which culture is disseminated to members of a social group. -one of the most prominent features of the info age is the spread of mass and social media Cultural diffusion- the dissemination of material and symboli culture (tools and technology, beliefs and behavior) from one group to another, -usually occurs in the direction from more developed to less developed nations Cultural leveling- occurs when cultures that were once distinct become increasingly similar to one another Cultural imperialism- the imposition of one cultures beliefs and practices on another culture beliefs and practices on another culture through media and consumer products rather than by miltary force Persepctive Aprroach to culture Religion