Caribbean Society And

Culture
Multiple cultural meaning – Disciplinary perspectives


 Multiple culture meaning
-
Disciplinary perspectives

 A ‘discipline perspective ’ is an organized body of
knowledge, which examines some of the ways in which
culture is perceived in differently according to their subject
specialty.
 D. Perspectives Cont’d

 Geography
Within the aspects of geographical terms of
landscape and human activity we are invited to
view culture as the ways people have found to
adapt, and adapt to, the environment in which
they live , it is the public and shared ways in
which culture is manifest.

For e.g. Thus, agricultural organization – be it

subsistence, peasant or plantation economies –
describes a particular way of adapting the skills
of people and the possibilities of the landscape
 D. Perspective Cont’d

 History
History studies culture as an aspect of social organization. under
the guise of politics, religious organization, diplomacy, economic
activity or any other aspect of social life in a specific historical
period or periods. And they are studied in terms of the social
forces and processes evident in society that are changing these
aspects of social life over time looks at culture in quite a different
way, at its role in human evolution
 D. Perspectives cont’d
 Anthropology

Culture is a contested concept, hard to tie down in its
overall form, anthropologists have found it necessary to
subdivide it into specific areas for specialized study In
other words, various explanations of culture have
different emphases because of the difference in social
location between groups. Branch of anthropology looks
at the ideas, beliefs, values, assumptions and behaviors
of a people, referred to as its non-material or symbolic
culture, which includes language and other characteristic
forms of interaction material culture – the objects that a
group produces and which differ significantly from the
material culture of other groups clothing, art in its
various expressions, architecture,
fashion, technological products, utensils and the
products known as ‘popular culture
 D. Perspective cont’d
 Feminism

Sociology, anthropology and history have all acquired
feminist practitioners, and in sociology there are a number of
feminist perspectives, including radical feminism, liberal
feminism, Marxist feminism and black feminism, each with
their own special focus. Feminists generally see both society
and culture as undervaluing the contributions of women, both
historically and in contemporary society. They also view
traditional forms of femininity and masculinity as
problematic, causing both men and women to feel constrained
by received ideas of how they should behave, and even how
they should feel. Men are often made to feel unmasculine, for
example if they wish to be more involved in childrearing, or
scorned if they decide to take on the homemaking role to
enable a spouse to continue with her career.
 Cont’d

 Sociology
Sociology sees culture as a social phenomenon. In other words, various explanations of culture

have different emphases because of the difference in social location between groups .
1. Reducing complexity. In defining culture, complexity is glossed over in favor of short, precise, all-
encompassing statements like ‘ways of life’, ‘learned behavior’, ‘shared meanings’ and ‘adaptive
mechanisms’. High culture’, ‘mass culture’ and ‘global culture’ refer to art, creative expressions,
artifacts, media and technology, and are attempts to understand culture through its products

2. Social constructions. Sociologists acknowledge that culture exists in a social context and inevitably
people will construct a view of culture that takes into account the interaction and relationships of
social groups. There are those who see culture as reflecting social life, as a mirror of the society
 
 Multiple perspectives- Attempts to understand
culture that recognize this social context must
acknowledge variation, complexity, change and
interaction. Thus, explanations themselves will be
complex because what they are attempting to do is to
understand how people make meaning
 References

• COLLINS CAPE REVISION GUIDE CARIBEAN
STUDIES

• JENIFFER MHAMED CARIBBEAN STUDIES FOR

CAPE