This document discusses key concepts in anthropological understanding of culture. It introduces practice theory, which recognizes that cultures shape individuals but individuals also influence cultural change. Culture exists at multiple levels, from national to subcultural. Ethnocentrism judges other cultures, while cultural relativism evaluates behaviors in their own cultural contexts. Mechanisms of cultural change include diffusion, acculturation, and independent invention. Globalization increasingly interlinks societies through economic, political, and communication forces.

1. SOC111
Introduction to Anthropology
CULTURE

2. CULTURE & THE INDIVIDUAL
.
: what people say they
should do and what they say they do
: their actual behavior as
observed by anthropologists.

3. CULTURE- Practice Theory
• Approach formed by Sherry Ortner
• Individuals within a society or culture have
diverse motives and intentions and
different degrees of power and influence.
• The system shapes the way individuals
experience and respond to external
events, but individuals also play an active
role in the way society functions and
changes.

4. CULTURE- Practice Theory
• Practice theory recognizes
both constraints on individuals
and the flexibility and
changeability of cultures and
social systems.

5. LEVELS OF CULTURE
• National culture: cultural features shared by
citizens of the same nation
• International culture: cultural traditions that
extend beyond national boundaries
• Borrowing, diffusion, migration, colonialism,
multinational organizations, communication
technology, media…
• Religions, the World Cup, Olympics
• Subcultures: identifiable cultural patterns
existing within a larger culture

6. CULTURE
• Ethnocentrism: a tendency to view
one’s own culture as superior
and to use one’s own standards
and values in judging outsiders
Ex: Nazi groups
• Cultural relativism: inappropriate
to use outside standards to judge behavior in
a given society; such behavior should be
evaluated in the context of the culture in
which it occurs

7. CULTURE
• Human rights: rights based
on justice and morality beyond
and superior to particular
countries, cultures, and religions
• Cultural rights: rights vested
in religious and ethnic minorities
and indigenous societies

8. MECHANISMS OF CULTURAL CHANGE
• Diffusion: borrowing of
traits between cultures
– Direct
– Indirect
– Forced

9. MECHANISMS OF CULTURAL CHANGE
• Acculturation: an exchange of
features that results when groups
come into consistent firsthand contact
• Independent invention: the process
by which humans innovate, creatively
finding solutions to problems

10. Globalization
• Globalization: a series of processes
that work to make modern nations
and people increasingly interlinked
and mutually dependent
– Economic and political forces
– Long-distance communication
– Local people must increasingly
cope with forces generated by progressively
larger systems