CULTURE

AND SOCIET Y
WHAT IS CULTURE?
Culture: Totality of learned, socially transmitted
customs, knowledge,
material objects, and behavior

Culture includes ideas, values, customs, and

artifacts of groups of people

Adorno: worldwide culture

industry limits people choices
CULTURE
• It implies that each society has
its own way of life shared by
most of its members
• Culture has a powerful effect
on a person’s daily as it
influences his mode of
thinking, feeling, and acting.
 CULTURE AND SOCIETY
Society:
• Large number of people
• Same territory,
• Independent of people outside that area,
Common culture
–Adorno: worldwide culture
industry limits people choices
Culture is like an
Iceberg…
ELEMENTS OF CULTURE
• A. Language
• B. Norms
• C.Values
• D. Beliefs and Ideologies
• E. Status and Roles
• Cultural Variations
• 1.MATERIAL CULTURE
-consists of human technology – all
things that humans make or use

• 2. NONMATERIAL CULTURE
-consists of totality of knowledge,
beliefs, values, and rules for
appropriate behavior.
• NORMS
• FOLKWAYS
• LANGUAGE
A. LANGUAGE
 Language – Is an abstract system of word meanings and symbols for all
aspects of culture.
- It includes speech, written characters, numerals,
symbols, and non verbal gestures and expressions.

According to Saphir and Worf, since people

can conceptualize the world only
through language,language precedes thought).
 Module 12

NONVERBAL COMMUNICATION/ SYMBOLS

█ Nonverbal communication: Use of gestures, facial
expressions, and other visual images to
communicate
– Learned
– Differs by cultures
– Symbols: gestures,
objects, and words that
form basis of human
communication
NON-VERBAL GESTURES
 B. NORMS
Norms: Established standards of behavior
█

maintained by a society
–Formal norms: Generally written;
specify strict punishments
–Law: government social control
–School Rules
–Informal norms: Generally
understood but not precisely recorded
–Proper Dress
–Attitudes toward late
 Module 12

TYPES OF NORMS
█ 1.Mores (Formal): Norms deemed highly
necessary to the welfare of a society
█
█ 2. Folkways(Informal): Norms
governing everyday behavior
– In many societies, folkways exist to
reinforce patterns of male dominance
– Eating behavior, appropriate dress,
shaking hands etc.
 PHILIPPINES
RESPECT FOR ELDERS
INDIA
SINGAPORE GERMANY

INDIA SIKHS

MORES
Read more at Buzzle: http://www.buzzle.com/articles/examples-of-social-mores-in-different-
cultures.html
CHINA
 Module 12

ACCEPTANCE OF NORMS
█ People do not follow norms in all
situations
– Behavior that appears to violate
society’s norms may represent
adherence to a particular group’s
norms(teenage drinkers)
– Norms may be violated because
they conflict with other norms
– Acceptance of norms is subject to change
Module 12

TYPES OF NORMS
█ 3. Sanctions: Penalties and rewards for
conduct concerning social norm
– Positive sanctions: Pay raises,
medals, and words of gratitude
– Negative sanctions: Fines, threats,
imprisonment, and stares of contempt
 Module 12
NORMS AND SANCTIONS
 TYPES OF NORM
• 4.TABOOS and RITUALS
• A taboo is a very strong negative norm;
• It is a strict prohibition of behavior that results in
extreme disgust or expulsion from the group or
society.
• Considered unfit to live in that society
TABOOS examples
• PHILIPPINES TABOO
• Cannibalism – EXCEPT Korowai tribe of south-east Papua
and Aghoris of India.
• INCEST – EXCEPT Turkey etc
• FOOD/drinks –
– beef is prohibited for Hindus,
– pork is prohibited for Jews and Muslims
– Jains are prohibited from eating any meat and even some
plants
– Muslims are prohibited from consuming alcohol
– Sikhs are prohibited from smoking
 Module 12

C. VALUES
█ Cultural values: Collective conceptions
of what is good, desirable, and proper –
or bad, undesirable, and improper
Influence people’s behavior

Criteria for evaluating actions of others

Values may change

 D. RELIGION AND BELIEFS
• The religion and the beliefs of the people in a
civilization play an important role in shaping up of
the culture as well .
• Sociology of religion is the study of the beliefs,
practices and organizational forms of religion using
the tools and methods of the discipline of sociology
 E. STATUS AND ROLE IN SOCIETY
• Status describes the position a person occupies in a particular setting.
• Role is the set of norms, values, behaviors, and personality characteristics
attached to a status.
• Example: Status as student
Role 1: Classroom: Attending class, taking notes, and communicating with
the professor
Role 2: Fellow student: Participating in study groups, sharing ideas, quizzing
other students
• Status as employee
Role 1: Warehouse: Unloading boxes, labeling products, restocking shelves
Role 2: Customer service: Answering questions, solving problems,
researching information
F. CULTURAL INTEGRATION
• This includes the degree of harmony or integration
within the various elements of culture.
• This can include elements like sub-cultures, local
cultures and the difference between historical and
cultural traditions.
 PROCESS OF
CULTURAL CHANGE
AND EXPANSION
Module 10

DEVELOPMENT OF CULTURE
AROUND THE WORLD
█ Innovation: process of introducing
a new idea or object to a culture
– Discovery: Making known or sharing
existence of an aspect of reality
– Invention: Existing cultural items combined
into form that did not exist before
Module 10

GLOBALIZATION, DIFFUSION,
AND TECHNOLOGY
█ Diffusion: Process by which cultural
item spreads from group to group
– Diffusion can be variety of means, among
them exploration, military conquest,
missionary work, and the influence of the
mass media, tourism, and the Internet
– Technology: Information about how
to use material resources of the
environment to satisfy human
needs and desires (Nolan and Lenski)
MCDONALDIZATION
• According to Ritzer, the McDonaldization of society is a phenomenon that occurs
when society, its institutions, and its organizations are adapted to have the same
characteristics that are found in fast food chains.

efficiency, calculability,
• These include

• predictability and standardization,

• and control.
• BUT Workers in these conditions engage in repetitive, routinized, highly focused
and compartmentalized tasks that are quickly and cheaply taught, and thus easy to
replace.
devalues labor and takes away workers'
• This kind of work
bargaining power.
Module 10

GLOBALIZATION, DIFFUSION,
AND TECHNOLOGY
█ Material culture: █ Nonmaterial culture:
Physical or Ways of using material
technological objects as well as:
aspects of – Customs
daily lives – Beliefs
– Food items – Philosophies
– Houses – Governments
– Factories – Patterns
– Raw materials of communication
Module 10

GLOBALIZATION, DIFFUSION,
AND TECHNOLOGY
█ Culture lag: Period of maladjustment
when nonmaterial culture struggles to
adapt to new material conditions
LIMITATIONS OF THE GLOBAL THEORY
• Global culture is much more advanced in some parts
of the world than in others

• Many people cannot afford to participate in the

material aspects of a global culture

• Different people attribute different meanings to

various aspects of the global culture

© Copyright 2010 Alan S. Berger 36

IS TECHNOLOGY PROMOTING A GLOBAL CULTURE?

● New and emerging communications, computer, and other

technologies. Don’t forget bio tech
- It provides a set of concepts that both material and non
material culture need to adapt to.

-It can span the globe, but not all cultures will accept or
adopt to these technologies and the changes they
cause/impose at the same rate.

- East and West have different bases and adopt at

different rates

© Copyright 2010 Alan S. Berger 37

VIRTUAL CULTURE
Today’s children are bombarded with virtual culture,
images that spring from the minds of contemporary
culture-makers and that reach them via a screen.
Some of these cultural icons embody values that
shape our way of life. But few of them have any
historical reality and almost all have come into being
to make money.

© Copyright 2010 Alan S. Berger 38

 CULTURAL
VARIATIONS
SUBCULTURES
• Subcultures are cultures that exist within a dominant culture that
follow the dominant cultures norms and values while still following
a different set of norms and values
– They coexist with the dominant culture
• Ex. Conyos, Jologs, UP students, INC members,
• Cosplayers, Jejemon, Jpop, Kpop , Otaku
 COUNTERCULTURES
• Countercultures exist within a culture with
different norms and values, just like subcultures
–Countercultures often oppose the dominant
culture, forming from a conflict a social group
may have with the dominant culture
• Homeschooling families, rebels
• Ex. The Hippie movement,(1960-70)
Skinheads, cults, punks.
COUNTER CULTURE
POP CULTURE

The latest trend

HIGH CULTURE

Museum, art gallery, opera, etc

CULTURE SHOCK
█Culture shock: Feeling disoriented, uncertain,
out of place, or fearful when immersed in an
unfamiliar culture
 Module 10

CULTURE LAG
█ Culture lag: Period of maladjustment
when nonmaterial culture struggles to
adapt to new material conditions
 ATTITUDES TOWARD
CULTURAL VARIATION
█Ethnocentrism: Tendency to assume that one’s own
culture and way of life represents the norm or is superior
to others
–Conflict theorists: ethnocentric value judgments serve to
devalue groups and to deny equal opportunities
–Functionalists: ethnocentrism maintains sense of solidarity
█Cultural relativism: – Views people from the
perspective of their own culture. It places priority on
understanding other cultures, rather than dismissing
them as “strange” or “exotic
• ETHNOCENTRISM –

• Examples of ethnocentric thinking..... We often talk

about British drivers driving "on the wrong side" of the
road. Why not just say "opposite side" or even "left hand
side"?
• We talk about written Hebrew or Arabic as reading
"backward." Why not just say "from right to left" or "in the
opposite direction from English." We consider certain
types of art “naive” or “primitive”
While ethnocentric views are not necessarily intended,
they have led to major human disasters throughout
history causing bullying, discrimination, intolerance,
war, genocide….
• CULTURAL RELATIVISM anthropologists promote
cultural relativism as an approach to understanding diversity.

• Cultural relativism is the principle that an individual human's

beliefs and activities make sense in terms of his or her own
culture.

• Therefore, when it comes to matters of right or wrong, there is

no fixed truth but rather all is relative.
FEMALE BEAUTY: IS IT A CULTURAL
UNIVERSAL? WHY OR WHY NOT?
 XENOCENTRISM
• Refers to the tendency to assume that a
foreign cultural element is superior compared
to his/her own culture.
 CULTURAL DIVERSITY – “CHEVY NOVA AWARD”

 Dairy Association’s huge success with the

campaign “Got Milk?” prompted them to expand
advertising to Mexico

 It was brought to their attention the Spanish

translation read, “Are you lactating?”
CULTURAL DIVERSITY – “CHEVY NOVA AWARD”

 Clairol introduced the “Mist Stick”, a

curling iron into Germany

 Only to find out that “mist” is

German slang for manure.
CULTURAL DIVERSITY CHEVY NOVA
AWARD
When Gerber started selling baby food in Africa,
they used US packaging with the smiling
baby on the label.

In Africa, companies routinely put pictures on

labels of what’s inside, since many people
can’t read.
CULTURAL DIVERSITY CHEVY NOVA AWARD

Pepsi’s “Come Alive With the Pepsi

Generation” in Chinese translated
into
“Pepsi Brings Your Ancestors Back
From the Grave”
CULTURAL DIVERSITY CHEVY NOVA AWARD

Coca-Cola’s name in China was first read as “Kekoukela”,

meaning “Bite the wax tadpole” or “female horse
stuffed with wax”, depending on the dialect.

Coke then researched 40,000 characters to find a phonetic

equivalent “kokou kole”, translating into “happiness in
the mouth.”
CULTURAL UNIVERSALS
█Cultural Universal: certain common practices and
beliefs that all societies have developed
–Murdoch compiled list of cultural universals but they are
expressed differently from culture to culture
–Example; marriage, sports, cooking, medicine and sexual
restrictions
CULTURE UNIVERSAL

FOOD
MEDICINES
MARRIAGE
CHARACTERISTICS
OF CULTURE
1. CULTURE IS LEARNED THROUGH
ENCULTURATION AND SOCIALIZATION
2. CULTURE IS TRANSMITTED
• Orally and by writing, as well as consciously or
unconsciously from one generation to another
or within the same generation in an endless
number of ways, through:
• (1) conditioning, (2) imitation, (3) suggestion,
(4) identification, (5) reward and punishment,
(6) formal instruction, and (7) mass
communication.
3. CULTURE IS SHARED IN WHICH
COMMON EXPERIENCES UNIFY PEOPLE.
4. CULTURE IS ADAPTIVE AND
MALADAPTIVE
No culture is static and each individual or generation makes
adjustments.
5. CULTURE IS DIVERSE