Culture & Society.pdf

1. Culture
Week 8

2. Objectives of the session
I- Understanding culture and its underlying
notions;
II- Aspects or components of culture
III- Key constructs in culture

3. • Human beings have faced similar problems of survival
across the years of human existence. Different groups
have found various answers to the question, “How
shall we live?” When a group of humans successfully
found a way to survive, they began to value that
approach to life. They built beliefs around their survival
and acted on those beliefs and values. Such activities
became normal to that group, and created their
culture. Some cultures appear quite similar to our own
while others seem extremely different.
• Simple and complex cultures (More stuff)

4. Society & Culture
A group of people who
live in a particular
territory, are subject to a
common system of
political authority, and are
aware of having a distinct
identity from other
groups.
• Culture is from latin word ‘colere’, which
means to cultivate
• The most complicated word in English
language.
• Kroeber (1952) 161 different definitions
• “Culture or civilisation is that complex
whole which includes Knowledge, beliefs,
arts, morals, law, custom and any other
capabilities and habits acquired by man
as a member of society” E.B. Tylor
(Enculturation)
• Culture is learned (not genetically
acquired), symbolic (language, the
capacity for language is inherited but
not language itself), shared
(subcultures & counter cultures),
patterned, integrated & adaptive

5. Nurture and nature
• People have to eat, drink, sleep, eliminating (Nature) but what,
how, when, where is cultural
• E.g., What: permissible & non-permissible foods. Also taste
categories: sweet, sour, bitter, and salty. Cross-cultural research
disproves these as universals.
• How to eat? Which hand, silverware, earthenware, own plate etc?
• Who cooks? Women in households, men in feasts
• When? Food timings
• Where? Eating places
• Is sleep natural or cultural?
• Cultural habits mold human nature in may ways. (defecation, aging,
cloning, diseases such as small pox, polio)
• Hurricanes, earthquakes, floods other natural disaster though can’t
be averted, can be culturally challenged

6. Culture is symbolic
• A symbol is an object, word, or action with a
culturally defined meaning that stands for
something else
• Symbols are arbitrary (bearing no necessary
relationship to that which is symbolized),
unpredictable, and diverse. (rats are jumping in
my stomach)
• A pet that barks (dog, chien, hund, mbwa, spey in
English, French, German, Swahili, pashto)
• Culture as a control and rewarding mechanism

7. Culture is learned
• Because culture is based on symbols that are
arbitrary, culture must be learned anew in each
context.
• Cultural learning begins from the moment of
birth, if not before
• cultural learning is unconscious, occurring as a
normal part of life & transmitted through
observations (looking glass self)
• Hearing stories and seeing performances of
rituals and dramas are all part of cultural learning

8. Culture is integrated & encompassing
• To state that cultures are internally integrated is
to assert the principle of holism. Thus, studying
only one or two aspects of culture provides
understanding so limited that it is more likely to
be misleading or wrong than more
comprehensive approaches
• Head-cutting, Banning jirga, watta-satta
• Culture is not haphazard collection of customs
and beliefs but is integrated and patterned. If
young girls get education how it will change other
aspects of home-making in this part of the world?

9. Culture is shared
• Culture not an attribute of individual per se
but of individuals as members of groups
• Shared beliefs, values, memories, &
expectations link people who group in the
same culture. Enculturation unifies people
• E.g., individualism in American culture, that
every person is unique in their own ways, is in
itself is a distinctive shared value

10. II- Essential elements of Culture

11. 1- Values and Beliefs
Values
• Ideas held by individuals or groups about
what is desirable, proper, good, and bad.
• Values are deeply embedded and critical
for transmitting and teaching a culture’s
beliefs.
• Values portray an ideal culture, the
standards society would like to embrace
and live up to. But ideal culture differs
from real culture, the way society actually
is, based on what occurs and exists.
• In an ideal culture, there would be no
traffic accidents, murders, poverty, or
racial tension. But in real culture, police
officers, lawmakers, educators, and social
workers constantly strive to prevent or
repair those accidents, crimes, and
injustices.
• Values are not static; they vary across time
and between groups as people evaluate,
debate, and change collective societal
beliefs.
• American culture- success, hard work,
freedom, equality, democracy,
individualism, and progress
Beliefs
• Specific ideas about what people
believe to be true about the world
• Democracy is a value system rooted
in the belief that every person
participation in decisions making is
good for the society
• Beliefs are contextual and linked to
past experiences. Values are universal
& transcend contexts

12. 2- Norms
• The visible and invisible rules of conduct through which societies are
structured.
• Norms (as in NORMAL) define how to behave in accordance with what a
society has defined as good, right, and important, and most members of
the society adhere to them.
• Formal norms are established, written rules. They are behaviours worked
out and agreed upon in order to suit and serve most people. E.g, Laws,
employees manuals, university entrance requirements, no smoking signs.
• Formal norms are the most specific and the most strictly enforced. But
even formal norms are enforced to varying degrees and are reflected in
cultural values (no smoking signs)
• Longer list of informal norms—casual behaviours that are generally and
widely conformed to. Informal norms dictate appropriate behaviours
without the need of written rules. (Use of masks)
• It’s OK to stand in line behind someone at the ATM. It’s not OK to look
over his shoulder as he makes his transaction. It’s OK to sit beside
someone on a crowded bus. It’s weird to sit beside a stranger in a half-
empty bus. A norm either prescribes a given type of behavior or forbids it-
varies from informal disapproval to physical punishment
• Norms vary over time: women wearing jeans, smoking in public areas etc

13. 2a- Mores
• Norms may be further classified as either mores or
Folkways
• Mores (mor-ays) are strongly held norms that embody the
moral views and principles of a group. Violating them can
have serious consequences. The strongest mores are legally
protected with laws or other formal norms. In Pakistan, for
instance, murder is considered immoral, and it’s punishable
by law (a formal norm). But more often, mores are judged
and guarded by public sentiment (an informal norm).
Mumtaz Qadri, Majeed khan achakzai, Shahzaib
• People who violate mores are seen as shameful.
• plagiarism
• Mores in Pashtun culture??

14. 2b- Folkways
• Unlike mores, folkways are norms without any moral underpinnings.
Rather, folkways direct appropriate behaviour in the day-to-day practices
and expressions of a culture.
• They indicate whether to shake hands or kiss on the cheek when greeting
another person. They specify whether to wear a tie and blazer or a T-shirt
and sandals to an event.
• In GB, women can smile and say hello to men on the street. In KP, that’s
not acceptable. In countryside Pakistan, bumping into an acquaintance
means stopping to chat. It’s considered rude not to, no matter how busy
one is. In urban regions, people guard their privacy and value time
efficiency. A simple nod of the head is enough. Other accepted folkways in
the Pashtun culture may include holding the door open for a stranger or
feeding strangers. The rules regarding these folkways may change from
culture to culture.
• Folkways in Pashtun culture?

15. 2c- taboos
• The norms that are crucial to a society’s moral
center, involving behaviors that are always
negatively sanctioned
• Killing a person is a taboo?
• Cannibalism, incest, child molestation
• Taboos in Pashtun culture

16. 3- Symbols (& Language)
• Humans, consciously and subconsciously, are always striving to make
sense of their surrounding world. Symbols—such as gestures, signs,
objects, signals, and words—help people understand that world. They
provide clues to understanding experiences by conveying recognizable
meanings that are shared by societies.
• The world is filled with symbols. Sports uniforms, company logos, and
traffic signs are symbols. In some cultures, a gold ring is a symbol of
marriage. Some symbols are highly functional; stop signs, for instance,
provide useful instruction.
• Some symbols are valuable only in what they represent. Trophies, blue
ribbons, or gold medals, for example, serve no other purpose than to
represent accomplishments.
• Even the destruction of symbols is symbolic. Effigies representing public
figures are burned to demonstrate anger at certain leaders. Modi, Macron
• While different cultures have varying systems of symbols, one symbol is
common to all: language.

17. • Language is a symbolic system through which people communicate and through
which culture is transmitted.
• Societies often share a single language, and many languages contain the same
basic elements. An alphabet is a written system made of symbolic shapes that
refer to spoken sound. Taken together, these symbols convey specific meanings.
The English alphabet uses a combination of twenty-six letters to create words;
these twenty-six letters make up over 600,000 recognized English words
• Language is constantly evolving as societies create new ideas. In this age of
technology, people have adapted almost instantly to new nouns such as “e-mail”
and “Internet,” and verbs such as “downloading,” “texting,” and “blogging.” Thirty
years ago, the general public would have considered these to be nonsense words.
• The Sapir-Whorf hypothesis or Linguistic-relativity hypothesis is based on the idea
that people experience their world through their language.
• unless people have access to the word “ambivalent,” they don’t recognize an
experience of uncertainty from having conflicting positive and negative feelings
about an issue. Essentially, the hypothesis argues that if a person can’t describe
the experience, the person is not having the experience.

18. • Nonverbal communication is symbolic, and, as in the case of language,
much of it is learned through one’s culture. Some gestures are nearly
universal: smiles often represent joy, and crying often represents sadness.
Other nonverbal symbols vary across cultural contexts in their meaning. A
thumbs-up, for example, indicates positive reinforcement in the US &
Pakistan, whereas in Russia and Australia, it is an offensive curse
• Other gestures vary in meaning depending on the situation and the
person. A wave of the hand can mean many things, depending on how it’s
done and for whom. It may mean “hello,” “goodbye,” “no thank you”.
• Winks convey a variety of messages, including “We have a secret,” “I’m
only kidding,” or “I’m attracted to you.” From a distance, a person can
understand the emotional gist of two people in conversation just by
watching their body language and facial expressions. Furrowed brows and
folded arms indicate a serious topic, possibly an argument. Smiles, with
heads lifted and arms open, suggest a light-hearted, friendly chat.

19. Key constructs in culture

20. Cultural universals
• Common features found virtually in all
societies
• language, personal names, family, marriage,
religious rituals, property rights, incest, art,
dance, bodily adornment, games, gift giving,
joking, hygiene etc
• Variations: incest- ancient Egyptians practiced
it, Japan’s bodily adornment

21. Material and non-material culture
Material
• The objects or belongings of a
group of people are
considered material culture. BRT
passes and prayer caps are part of
material culture, as are
automobiles, stores, and the
physical structures where people
worship, or engage in other
recognizable patterns of
behaviour.
Non material
• Nonmaterial culture, in
contrast, consists of the
ideas, attitudes, and beliefs
of a society.
• Values, Norms, and symbols
Material and nonmaterial aspects of culture are linked, and physical objects often
symbolize cultural ideas
Clothing, hairstyles, and jewellery are part of material culture, but the appropriateness
of wearing certain clothing for specific events reflects nonmaterial culture.

22. Class activity
• Examine the difference between material and
nonmaterial culture in your world. Identify ten
objects that are part of your regular cultural
experience. For each, then identify what
aspects of nonmaterial culture (values and
beliefs) that these objects represent. What
has this exercise revealed to you about your
culture?

23. Ethnocentrism & Xenocentrism
• ethnocentrism, or evaluating and judging another culture based on
how it compares to one’s own cultural norms.
• Ethnocentrism, as sociologist William Graham Sumner (1906)
described the term, involves a belief or attitude that one’s own
culture is better than all others, and should therefore serve as the
standard frame of reference
• A high level of appreciation for one’s own culture can be healthy; a
shared sense of community pride, for example, connects people in
a society. But ethnocentrism can lead to disdain or dislike for other
cultures and could cause misunderstanding and conflict.
• Sometimes when people attempt to rectify feelings of
ethnocentrism and to practice cultural relativism, they swing too far
to the other end of the spectrum. Xenocentrism is the opposite of
ethnocentrism, and refers to the belief that another culture is
superior to one’s own.

24. Cultural relativism & cultural
imperialism
• Europe’s colonial expansion, begun in the sixteenth
century, was often accompanied by a severe cultural
imperialism. A more modern example of cultural
imperialism may include the work of international aid
agencies who introduce agricultural methods and plant
species from developed countries while overlooking
indigenous varieties and agricultural approaches that
are better suited to a particular region.
• Cultural relativism is the practice of assessing a culture
by its own standards rather than viewing it through the
lens of one’s own culture.

25. High culture and pop culture
• Do you prefer listening to opera or
hip hop music? Do you like watching
horse racing or Golf? Do you read
books of poetry or celebrity
magazines? In each pair, one type of
entertainment is considered high-
brow and the other low-brow.
Sociologists use the term high
culture to describe the pattern of
cultural experiences and attitudes
that exist in the highest class
segments of a society. People often
associate high culture with
intellectualism, political power, and
prestige
• The term popular culture refers to
the pattern of the more accessible
cultural experiences and attitudes
that exist in mainstream society.
Popular culture events might include
a weekly melas, a street puppet
show, or the season finale of a
television show. Rock and pop
music—“pop” is short for
“popular”—are part of popular
culture. Popular culture is often
expressed and spread via commercial
media such as radio, television,
movies, the music industry,
publishers, and corporate-run
websites. Unlike high culture, popular
culture is known and accessible to
most people.

26. Subculture and Counterculture
• A subculture is a smaller culture within a
dominant culture that has a way of life
distinguished in some important way from
that dominant culture..
• subcultures are united by shared
experiences. Hobbies: Bikers, Islamabad
cycling, books club IMSciences.
• Some subcultures are formed by members
who possess traits or preferences that differ
from the majority of a society’s population.
e.g., The body modification community
• Subcultures based on age groups: Generation
Z or Ingeneration. Teen agers
• But even as members of a subculture band
together, they still identify with and for the
most part harmoniously participate in the
larger society.
• Sociologists distinguish subcultures
from countercultures, which are a type of
subculture that rejects the larger culture’s
norms and values. In contrast to subcultures,
which operate relatively smoothly within the
larger society, countercultures might actively
defy larger society by developing their own
set of rules and norms to live by, sometimes
even creating communities that operate
outside of and apart from the larger society.
It is this oppositional, perhaps even
antagonistic position that mainly
distinguishes a counterculture from a
subculture.
• Religious and other “cults,” a word that
derives from the same root as “culture,” are
also considered counterculture groups.

27. Class activity
• Consider some of the specific issues or
concerns of your generation. Are any ideas
countercultural? What subcultures have
emerged from your generation? How have the
issues of your generation expressed
themselves culturally? How has your
generation made its mark on society’s
collective culture?

28. Cultural lag
• When the pace of innovation increases, it can
lead to generation gaps.
• Material culture tends to diffuse more quickly
than nonmaterial culture; technology can spread
through society in a matter of months, but it can
take generations for the ideas and beliefs of
society to change. Sociologist William F. Ogburn
coined the term culture lag to refer to this time
that elapses between the introduction of a new
item of material culture and its acceptance as
part of nonmaterial culture (Ogburn 1957).

29. Cultural change- Innovations
• An invention refers to an object or concept’s initial
appearance in society. It can be thought of as the
creation of a product or introduction of a process for
the first time. Discoveries make known previously
unknown but existing aspects of reality.
• innovations result when something is improved upon
or formed from existing objects or concepts—when
things are put together in a new manner. For example,
in the late 1800s and early 1900s, electric appliances
were invented at an astonishing pace. Cars, airplanes,
vacuum cleaners, lamps, radios, telephones, and
televisions were all new inventions.

30. Cultural change- interaction
• Cultures interact and change each other through trade
networks, international development projects,
telecommunications, education, migration, and
tourism- culture is always evolving.
• Moreover, new things are added to material culture
every day, and they affect nonmaterial culture as well.
• Globalization does not spread evenly, and its
interactions with and effects on local cultures vary
substantially from positive change to cultural
destruction and extinction

31. MICRO Cultures
• The term micro-culture, or local culture, refers
to distinct patterns of learned and shared
behavior and ideas found in local regions and
among particular groups.
• Micro-cultures are based on ethnicity, class,
gender, age, and more.

32. Culture from the 3 key lenses

33. Socialization
• Socialization is the way we learn the norms
and beliefs of our society. From our earliest
family and play experiences, we are made
aware of societal values and expectations

34. In the summer of 2005, police detective Mark Holste followed an investigator from the
Department of Children and Families to a home in Plant City, Florida. They were there
to look into a statement from the neighbour concerning a shabby house on Old
Sydney Road. A small girl was reported peering from one of its broken windows. This
seemed odd because no one in the neighbourhood had seen a young child in or
around the home, which had been inhabited for the past three years by a woman, her
boyfriend, and two adult sons.
Who was the mystery girl in the window?
Entering the house, Detective Holste and his team were shocked. It was the worst
mess they’d ever seen, infested with cockroaches, smeared with faeces and urine from
both people and pets, and filled with dilapidated furniture and ragged window
coverings.
Detective Holste headed down a hallway and entered a small room. That’s where he
found the little girl, with big, vacant eyes, staring into the darkness. A newspaper
report later described the detective’s first encounter with the child: “She lay on a torn,
moldy mattress on the floor. She was curled on her side . . . her ribs and collarbone
jutted out . . . her black hair was matted, crawling with lice. Insect bites, rashes and
sores pocked her skin . . . She was naked—except for a swollen diaper. … Her name,
her mother said, was Danielle. She was almost seven years old” (DeGregory 2008).

35. • Danielle was able to see, hear, and vocalize normally. Still, she
wouldn’t look anyone in the eyes, didn’t know how to chew or
swallow solid food, didn’t cry, didn’t respond to stimuli that would
typically cause pain, and didn’t know how to communicate either
with words or simple gestures such as nodding “yes” or “no.”
Likewise, although tests showed she had no chronic diseases or
genetic abnormalities, the only way she could stand was with
someone holding onto her hands, and she “walked sideways on her
toes, like a crab”
• Without regular interaction—the holding, hugging, talking, the
explanations and demonstrations given to most young children—
she had not learned to walk or to speak, to eat or to interact, to
play or even to understand the world around her. From a
sociological point of view, Danielle had not been socialized.

36. Sociological theories of socialistion
• Psychoanalyst Sigmund Freud (1856–1939) was
one of the most influential modern scientists to
put forth a theory about how people develop a
sense of self. He believed that personality and
sexual development were closely linked, and he
divided the maturation process into psychosexual
stages: oral, anal, phallic, latency, and genital. He
posited that people’s self-development is closely
linked to early stages of development, like
breastfeeding, toilet training, and sexual
awareness (Freud 1905).

37. Sociological theories of socialistion
• Charles Cooley (1864–1929) “the looking glass
self”
• George Herbert Mead (1863–1931) studied
the self, a person’s distinct identity that is
developed through social interaction. Children
socialisation in stages: Imitation, play,
generalised other

38. • Kohlberg’s Theory of Moral Development
• Lawrence Kohlberg (1927–1987) was interested in how people learn
to decide what is right and what is wrong. To understand this topic,
he developed a theory of moral development that includes three
levels: preconventional, conventional, and postconventional.
• In the preconventional stage, young children, who lack a higher
level of cognitive ability, experience the world around them only
through their senses
• Conventional: when youngsters become increasingly aware of
others’ feelings and take those into consideration when
determining what’s “good” and “bad.”
• Postconventional: that legality and morality do not always match
up (e.g., Americans believing that everyone has the right to life,
liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.)