1. Chapter 4

2. Outline
 Culture
 Ethnocentrism and Cultural Relativism
 Material and Symbolic Culture
 Values, Norms and Sanctions
 Dominant culture, Subcultures, and Countercultures
 Polysemy and Cultural Change

3. Culture
 Culture-entire way of life of a group of people-
includes material & symbolic elements – culture is passed
from one generation to the next and is a lens through
which we view the world
 Learned-becomes ingrained into our way of thinking
 Function-to provide meaning to people’s lives
 Ndembu tribe’s mudyi tree vs. the U.S. flag
 Examples of culture? (Music, art, food, tradition)
 All our behavior, feelings & thinking influenced by culture
 Page 91 – Study of Nacirema

4. Ethnocentrism and Cultural Relativism
 Ethnocentrism-using one’s own culture as a standard
for judging another culture or individual, leading to
the view that cultures other than one’s own are
abnormal
 Sociologists want to have clear view of society so we
must suspend our ethnocentrism
 Cultural relativism-principle of understanding
another culture on its own terms
 not better or worse, right or wrong, just different
 Discover new interpretations

5. Material and Symbolic Culture
 Material culture-any physical object to which we give
social meaning
 Ex. Tools, weapons, clothing, etc..
 Symbolic culture-the ideas assoc. with a cultural
group, including ways of thinking (beliefs, values, and
assumptions) and ways of behaving (norms,
interactions, and communication)
 Sign-symbol that stands for an idea
 Convey information
 Gestures-ways of using body to communicating w/out
words

6. Language
 Language-system of communication using words,
gestures, symbols-primary way we perpetuate culture
 Basis of symbolic culture
 Allows us to fully develop and express ourselves as
humans
 Human universal-present in all societies
 Sapir-Whorf hypothesis-idea that language
structures thought
 Mean Girls

7. Values and Norms
 Values and norms are symbolic culture in action
 Values-shared beliefs about what is desirable or
contemptible and right or wrong in a particular group
 General
 Norms-the rules or guidelines regarding what kinds of
behavior are acceptable and appropriate within a
culture
 Specific to time period and situation
 Develop from a culture’s values
 Formal and informal norms

8. Norms
 Folkways-ordinary conventions of everyday life
 Ex. Etiquette & standards of dress
 Not strictly enforced or punished
 Ensure smooth social interaction and acceptance
 Mores-norms that carry moral significance
 Related to the core values of a culture
 Many become laws
 Taboos-norm engrained so deeply that even thinking
about violating it evokes feelings of disgust or horror
 Ex. cannibalism, incest

9. Laws and Sanctions
 Laws-a common formally defined norm
 Provides explicit statement about what is permissible
and illegal in a given society
 Sanctions-means of enforcing norms
 Rewards for conformity and punishment for violations
 Functionalist-help to est. social control
 Social control-formal and informal mechanisms used
to increase conformity to values and norms and
increase social cohesion

10. Are Norms
Constant?
 1619-VA colonists required to grow
hemp (cannabis sativa)
 1770-Washington and Jefferson grow
hemp (fabric, rope, paper)
 1937-Marijuana Tax Act-hemp farming
made illegal at fed. level
 2002-CA, CO, IL, NY, OH
decriminalize for medical purposes-
other states give long prison sentences
for possession (up to life w/out parole)
 2005-Supreme Court rules that federal
antidrug laws can still be used to
prosecute

11. Dominant Culture and Subcultures
 Although our culture is filled with many smaller
subgroups, they are not all equal (size, wealth, power)
 Dominant culture-values norms, and practices of the
group w/in society that is most powerful in terms of
wealth prestige, status, influence, etc…
 Others are seen as alternative or minority (2nd class)
 Given cultural hegemony (ideas are accepted by all)
 Subcultures-a group differentiated by distinctive
values, norms and lifestyle
 Ex. age, ethnicity, interests
 Harmonious with dom. culture

12. Countercultures
 Counterculture –group w/in society that openly
rejects and/or actively opposes society’s values and
norms
 Some political groups, others resist mainstream values
 OK City bomber, Black Panthers, polygamist sects
 171 militia mvmt. groups as of 2003
 What is considered mainstream now may later be
defined as deviant
 Why?-because values change over time and differ
across cultures

13. Culture Wars
 Culture wars-clashes w/in mainstream society over
the values and norms that should be upheld
 Values and morality
 Played out on media
 Ideal culture-norms, values, and behavior that
members of a society believe should be observed in
principle
 Real culture-patterns of behavior that actually exist
 May or may not correspond to ideal
 What we believe in vs. what we do

14. High, Low and Popular Culture
 How we define high and popular culture are based on
traits of their audience
 Boundaries-Diff. of class, education, race, etc… help
create categories
 Popular culture-forms of communication assoc. w/
the masses and consumer goods
 High culture-forms of cultural expression usually
assoc. w/ the elite classes
 They can intersect (sampling, Led Zeppelin)

15. High, Low and Popular Culture
 David Halle (1993)-upper class vs. working class homes
 Taste publics-groups of people who share similar
artistic interests
 Taste cultures-areas of culture that share similar
aesthetics and standards of taste

16. Polysemy
 Polysemy-having many possible meanings for a
cultural product
 The Simpsons
 Audiences come from different backgrounds, which help
define experiences
 We make meaning individually and together
 Interpretive community-group of ppl. dedicated to
the consumption and interpretation of a cultural
product

17. Cultural Change
 Happens slowly and incrementally
 Technology-material artifacts and the knowledge and
techniques required to use them
 How is the digital revolution shaping our culture?
 Technological determinism-developments in
material culture drive social change
 “The medium is the message”-McLuhan
 The medium is what actually has the greater power to
change our cultural framework

18. Cultural Diffusion and Imperialism
 Cultural diffusion-dissemination of beliefs and
practices from one group to another
 Usually occurs in direction from more developed to less
developed nations
 Cultural leveling-process by which cultures that were
once distinct become increasingly similar
 Wal-Marts, malls, chain-restaurants, etc…
 Cultural Imperialism-imposition of one’s culture’s
beliefs, practices and artifacts on another culture
through mass media and consumer goods
 Like an invading force