3. WHAT IS CULTURE(CHIKHALIDWE
N’CHANI)?
Culture= distinct way of life pursued/recommended by the majority in
society
within culture subcultures i.e. smaller cultures are found
Mainly practiced by a small group of pple e.g. A’ level students or vendors
Culture can be material or non-material
Material: housing design, type of food etc.
non-material: beliefs & knowledge a society has
Identity=A counterpart of culture
Defines who we are based on our environment (society) e.g. social characteristics
such as family name, nationality, gender etc.
Helps in describing culture itself
4. STRUCTURALISM(ZOWUMBA
CHIKHALIDWE)
Structuralism=society as a system made up of different parts and
processes that work towards the ultimate goal of maximising output.
Focuses on roles played by cultural institutions in shaping the society.
Culture sets rules on what to do or not through:
Social structures: these set rules of guiding what to be done or not thru
rewards & punishments
Consensus: this sets behaviour boundaries as to what is expected to be done
at a given time; think of distributing party uniforms at a funeral in Malawian
context?
Order and stability: the outcome of consensus & stability as people do what
they are expected to do at a particular place & time. For example no one can
asks why you are denying to steal because society doesn’t expect you to steal
but if you are found stealing that’s the birth of mutiny.
5. FUNCTIONS OF CULTURE(NTCHITO
ZACHIKHALIDWE)
Some of the functions include:
Communication: provides context for the development of human communication
systems e.g. language.
Perception: culture gives meaning to social situations.
Identity- influences how people see themselves and others.
Value systems: cultural institutions are a source of values through socialization
process
Motivation: cultural values involve punishments and rewards of which determine
the consequences of an individual’s action.
Stratification: society divides people in terms of social class (economic divisions)
and social rank.
Production and consumption: culture defines what people need, use and value
as a survival mechanism.
6. COMFLICT THEORIES OF CULTURE
culture divides people in societies according to social status and
social rank the phenomena of:
ELITE (HIGH) THEORIES say that contemporary(makono) societies
have competing cultural groups, each with its own particular
affiliations, products and consumption patterns.
maintain that elites(Azitsogo) determine what happens in a society
though this creates division in taste, which encompasses highbrow,
middlebrow and lowbrow.
support that cultural products and taste are a cornerstone of
stratification systems in contemporary societies
7. MARXISM
MARXISM- theory maintaining continuation of struggle between
classes within a society.
It involves:
Traditional Marxism (Instrumental Marxism)
Neo (Humanism) Marxism, a more recent one.
8. POPULAR CULTURE
Definition: Culture for the masses i.e. culture for the
less important ones or for the majority in a society.
Influenced by:
Marginalization and criticism
Reflexivity
Continuous exposure
9. SOCIAL ACTION
Sees human point of view as not the same
Different theories exist:
Pluralism= which stresses competition between groups in
society and rejects mass culture
Interactionism= which looks at culture as a product of
interaction that has purpose and meaning
Postmodernism= looks at culture as global & that cultural
products are malleable, which leads to hybridization and
hence rejects culture as a tradition i.e. culture as
something that is continuously passed down generation to
generation
10. PLURALISM
Emphasises competition between different groups in society
Plurality(diversity) of culture
Therefore denies the concept of
Mass culture i.e. culture is not like what some elite theorists emphasise
You can’t just say life was bad for workers in pre-industrial period than in industrial period
Only agree with postmodernism and interactionist in terms of choice
11. INTERACTIONISM
Sees culture as a product of human interaction
That involves purpose and meaning
There is a reason for an action & if a reason exist, a meaning too
Think of a teacher and students; what does a teacher think he or she is doing when
teaching or how do students categorise the role of their teacher?
Interactionism depends mainly on two human abilities:
Communication and
Memory
You have to communicate and remember what you communicated to preserve culture
Humans inhabit a world of Social Construction
12. POSTMODERNISM
Sees culture globalising
Malleable and hence leads to cultural hybrids rejects culture as being
traditional
Supports culture as loose & fluid (involves choices which are diverse &
changing) as compared to structuralism
14. GLOBAL CULTURE
Looks culture at globe level and describes it in three terms:
1)Convergence and Homogenisation- differences disappearing
2)Diversity and Heterogeneity: culture as constantly being turned over
different from other global culture ideas
3)Homogeneity and Diversity: combines ideas of points 1&2 above
1)Think of business culture;
2)Academic culture e.g. if business cultures try “to sell computer systems in India”,
academic cultures try “ to promote feminism or environmentalism there.
?What happens then at where the local & global meet?
=The Particularization of Universalism & The Universalisation of Particularism
