Life of a Garment Work in Bangladesh

|Chapter 3: Culture |[pic] |
|Chapter Overview | |

|PART I: CHAPTER OUTLINE |[pic] |
|What is Culture? | |
|Culture and Human Intelligence | |
|Culture, Nation, and Society | |
|The Components of Culture | |
|Symbols | |
|Language | |
|Language and Cultural Transmission | |
|Is Language Uniquely Human? | |
|Does Language Shape Reality? | |
|Values and Beliefs | |
|Key Values of U.S. Culture | |
|Values: Inconsistency and Conflict | |
|Values in Action: The Games People Play | |
|Norms | |
|Mores and Folkways | |
|Social Control | |
|"Ideal" and "Real" Culture | |
|Material Culture and Technology | |
|New Information Technology and Culture | |
|Cultural Diversity: Many Ways of Life In One World | |
|High Culture and Popular Culture | |
|Subculture | |
|Multiculturalism | |
|Counterculture | |
|Cultural Change | |
|Cultural Lag | |
|Causes of Cultural Change | |
|Ethnocentrism and Cultural Relativity | |
|A Global Culture? | |
|Theoretical Analysis of Culture | |
|Structural-Functional Analysis | |
|Social-Conflict Analysis | |
|Sociobiology | |
|Culture and Human Freedom | |
|Culture As Constraint | |
|Culture As Freedom | |
|Summary | |
|Key Concepts | |
|Critical-Thinking Questions | |
|Applications and Exercises | |
|Sites to See | |
|PART II: LEARNING OBJECTIVES | |
|To begin to understand the sociological meaning of the concept of culture | |
|To consider the relationship between human intelligence and culture | |
|To know the components of culture and to be able to provide examples of each | |
|To consider the current state of knowledge about whether language is uniquely human | |
|To consider the significance of symbols in the construction and maintenance of social | |
|reality | |
|To identify the dominant values in our society and to recognize their interrelationships | |
|with one another and with other aspects of our culture | |
|To be abe to provide examples of the different types of norms operative in a culture, and | |
|how these are related to the process of social control | |
|To be able to explain how subcultures and countercultures contribute to cultural diversity| |
|To begin to develop your understanding of multiculturalism | |
|To be able to differentiate between ethnocentrism and cultural relativism | |
|To be able to compare and contrast analyses of culture using structural-functional, | |
|social-conflict, and sociobiological paradigms | |
|To be able to identify the consequences of culture for human freedom and constraint | |
|PART III: CHAPTER REVIEW: KEY POINTS | |
|There are 6.0 billion people on earth. While we are part of a single biological | |
|species, Homo sapiens, we are distributed around the globe in many different cultures. | |
|WHAT IS CULTURE? | |
|Cultureis defined as the beliefs, values, behavior, and material objects that constitute a| |
|people's way of life. Sociologists differentiate between nonmaterial culture,or the | |
|intangible creations of human society, and material culture, or the tangible products of | |
|human society. Society refers to people interacting within a limited territory guided by | |
|their culture. | |
|Sociologically, culture is viewed in the broadest possible sense -- referring to | |
|everything that is part of a people's way of life. Out lifestyles are not determined | |
|byinstincts, or biological programming over which animals have no control. The fierce and | |
|warlike Yanomamo, the peace-loving Semai of Malaysia, the achievement-oriented and | |
|cooperative Japanese, and the achievement-oriented and individualistic people of the | |
|United States, all attest to the influence of culture on personality and everyday life | |
|experiences. Culture shock, or the personal disorientation accompanying exposure to an | |
|unfamiliar way of life is illustrated by anthropologist Napoleon Chagnon's first visit to | |
|the territory of the Yanomamo culture in the tropical rain forest of southern Venezuela. | |
|We are the only species whose survival depends on what we learn through culture, rather | |
|than by what we are naturally given through biology. For a few animal species, most | |
|notably chimpanzees, a limited cultural capacity exists. | |
|Culture and Human Intelligence The primate order among mammals, of which our species is a | |
|part, emerged some 65 million years ago. Humans diverged from our closest primate | |
|relatives -- the great apes -- some 12 million years ago. However, our common lineage | |
|remains apparent -- grasping hands, ability to walk upright, great sociability, and | |
|affectionate and long-lasting bonds for child rearing and protection. | |
|Fossil records indicate the first creatures with clearly human characteristics lived about| |
|3 million years ago. Our species homo sapiens (meaning thinking person) evolved a mere | |
|250,000 years ago. Civilization -- based on permanent settlements -- has existed only for | |
|the last 12,000 years. Human culture and biological evolution are linked. Over | |
|evolutionary time, instincts have been gradually replaced by culture and our ability | |
|to fashion the natural environment. | |
|Culture, Nation, and Society Culture refers to a shared way of life. A nation is a | |
|political entity. A society is the organized interaction of people in a nation or within | |
|some other boundary. Many societies, including the United States, | |
|are multicultural, meaning that they include various ways of life. | |
|THE COMPONENTS OF CULTURE | |
|Even though considerable variation exists, all cultures share five components: symbols, | |
|language, values, norms, and material culture. | |
|Symbols This component underlies the other four. A symbol is anything that carries a | |
|particular meaning recognized by people who share culture. Symbols serve as the basis for | |
|everyday reality. Symbols vary within cultures, cross-culturally, and change over time. We| |
|take much of our culture's symbols for granted. Culture shock, a two way process | |
|(both experienced and inflicted), is really the inability to "read" meaning in new | |
|surroundings. | |
|Language The significance of language for human communication is vividly illustrated by | |
|the story of Helen Keller recounting the moment she acquired language and symbolic | |
|understanding of the world, through the help of her teacher Ann Sullivan. Language is a | |
|system of symbols that allows members of a society to communicate with one another. All | |
|cultures have a spoken language, though not all have a written language. | |
|Language and Cultural Transmission | |
|Cultural transmission is the process by which one generation passes culture on to the | |
|next. Oral cultural tradition has been critical throughout human history. | |
|Is Language Uniquely Human? Among other species, communication is based on signals that | |
|are primarily instinctual. But some animals, like chimpanzees, do have rudimentary ability| |
|to use symbols to communicate. Research with the chimp Kanzi is used to illustrate. | |
|Does Language Shape Reality? Two anthropologists of the early twentieth century, Edward | |
|Sapir and Benjamin Whorf, argued that language is more than simply attaching labels to the| |
|"real world." The Sapir-Whorf thesis holds that people perceive the world through the | |
|cultural lens of language. | |
|Values and Beliefs Values are defined as culturally defined standards of desirability, | |
|goodness, and beauty, which serve as broad guidelines for social living. They | |
|support beliefs, or specific statements that people hold to be true. | |
|Key Values of U.S. Culture There are several central values which are widely accepted in | |
|U.S. society. These include: equal opportunity, achievement and success, activity and | |
|work, material comfort, practicality and efficiency, progress, science, democracy and free| |
|enterprise, freedom, and racism and group superiority. | |
|Values: Inconsistency and Conflict The values people hold vary to some degree by age, sex,| |
|race, ethnicity, religion, and social class. Individuals are likely to experience some | |
|inconsistency and conflict with their personal values. Further, the dominant values | |
|identified above contain certain basic contradictions. Finally, values change over time. | |
|Values In Action: The Games People Play Sociologist James Spates has studied how | |
|children's games, like King of the Mountain and Tag, provide experiences for children | |
|which stress basic U.S. values. Lessons are learned about what our culture defines as | |
|important, like competition. | |
|Norms Norms are rules and expectations by which a society guides the behavior of its | |
|members. Norms can change over time, as illustrated by norms regarding sexual behavior. | |
|Mores and Folkways Norms vary in terms of their degree of importance. Mores refer to a | |
|society's standards of proper moral conduct. Folkways are a society's customs for routine,| |
|casual interaction. | |
|Social Control Norms are reinforced through sanctions, which take the form of either | |
|rewards or punishments. Through socialization we internalize cultural norms and impose | |
|constraints on our own behavior. We may then experience guilt -- the negative judgment we | |
|make of ourselves for having violated a norm -- and shame -- the disturbing | |
|acknowledgement of others' disapproval. | |
|"Ideal" and "Real" Culture Values and norms are not descriptions of actual behavior, but | |
|rather reflect how we believe members of a culture should behave. Therefore, it becomes | |
|necessary to distinguish between ideal culture, or social patterns mandated by cultural | |
|values and norms, and real culture, designated byactual social patterns that only | |
|approximate cultural expectations. | |
|Material Culture and Technology | |
|Material and nonmaterial culture are closely related. Artifacts, or material objects that | |
|society creates, express the values of a culture. For instance, the Yanomamo value | |
|militaristic skill, and devote great care to making weapons. In the U.S. we value | |
|independence and individuality, and express this in part with our love affair with the | |
|automobile. Material culture also reflects a culture's technology, which is knowledge that| |
|a society applies to the task of living in a physical environment. | |
|New Information Technology and Culture The U.S., along with some other societies, has | |
|entered a postindustrial phase of economic development. The information economy being | |
|created changes the skills that dominate our way of life. | |
|CULTURAL DIVERSITY: MANY WAYS OF LIFE IN ONE WORLD | |
|We are a land of many peoples, given the many immigrants who have come to the United | |
|States over the past 150 years. Today, the majority of newcomers are from Latin America or| |
|Asia. | |
|High Culture and Popular Culture Not all cultural patterns are equally accessible to all | |
|members of society. High culture refers to cultural patterns that distinguish a society's | |
|elite, while popular culture designates cultural patterns widespread among a society's | |
|people. | |
|Subculture Sociologists define subculture as cultural patterns that set apart some segment| |
|of a society's population. Subcultures can be based on age, ethnicity, residence, sexual | |
|preference, occupation, and many other factors. | |
|Globally, ethnicity is perhaps the most recognized dimension with which to identify | |
|cultural diversity. While the United States is considered by many to be a melting | |
|pot,great diversity still exists, and is perhaps increasing. However, hierarchy, not | |
|merely variety is typically involved. | |
|Multiculturalism Multiculturalism is an educational program recognizing the cultural | |
|diversity of the United States and promoting equality of all cultural traditions.The | |
|"singular pattern" focus in our culture is called Eurocentrism, the dominance of European | |
|(particularly English) cultural patterns. An alternative pattern currently being developed| |
|by some multiculturalists to counter these biases is called Afrocentrism, or dominance of | |
|African cultural patterns. | |
|Multiculturalists suggest that their perspective will help us develop a more meaningful | |
|understanding of our own past, the ethnic diversity of our present, and strengthen the | |
|academic achievements of African American children. | |
|Critics argue that multiculturalism fuels "politics of difference." They question whether | |
|such an orientation benefits minorities, and are concerned about its potential for | |
|limiting political and economic freedom. | |
|Should our nation stress cultural diversity or the common elements of our people? How do | |
|we strike a balance within the Latin phrase E Pluribus Unum (out of many, one)? For | |
|example, should English be designated as the official language of the United States? | |
|Counterculture A counterculture is defined as cultural patterns that strongly oppose | |
|conventional culture. Members of countercultures are likely to question the morality of | |
|the majority group and engage in some form of protest activities. The Ku Klux Klan is an | |
|example of a counterculture in our society. | |
|Cultural Change Cultural change is continuous, though its rate may vary greatly. Cultural | |
|integration, or the close relationship among various elements of a cultural system, is a | |
|concept relating to the connections between dimensions of culture. | |
|Cultural Lag | |
|Cultural lag describes the fact that cultural elements change at different rates, which | |
|may disrupt a cultural system. | |
|Causes of Cultural Change Cultural change is set into motion by three different | |
|causes, invention, discovery, and diffusion. There are illustrations for each presented. | |
|Ethnocentrism and Cultural Relativity Ethnocentrism is the practice of judging another | |
|culture by the standards of one's own culture. It creates a biased evaluation of | |
|unfamiliar practices. Cultural relativity refers to the practice of evaluating any culture| |
|by its own standards. The issue of cultural sensitivity related to U.S. business ventures | |
|overseas is discussed. | |
|A Global Culture? Are we witnessing the birth of a global culture? Global connections | |
|involve the flow of goods, information, and people. However, this global culture thesis | |
|has limitations, including: the flow of goods, information, and people is uneven, it | |
|cannot be assumed that people everywhere want and can afford various goods and services, | |
|and while certain cultural traits are found universally around the world, it should not be| |
|assumed that the meanings attached to them are the same. | |
|THEORETICAL ANALYSIS OF CULTURE | |
|Structural-Functional Analysis Research using this approach draws on the philosophical | |
|doctrine of idealism, which holds that ideas are the basis of human reality. Cultures are | |
|understood as organized systems devised to meet human needs. Therefore, cultural | |
|universals, or traits found in every culture of the world, are looked for and studied. One| |
|example of a cultural universal is the family. This approach operates at the macro-level, | |
|holding that cultural traits are to be understood in terms of how they function to | |
|maintain the overall cultural system. George Peter Murdock has identified dozens of | |
|universal traits. | |
|A critical analysis of this approach reveals that while providing significant insights | |
|into how cultures are organized systems which attempt to meet human needs, it perhaps | |
|underestimates the extent of cultural diversity within and between cultures, and downplays| |
|the extent to which societies change. | |
|Social-Conflict Analysis The focus among researchers using this paradigm is the social | |
|conflict generated by inequality among different categories of people in a culture. Karl | |
|Marx, using the philosophical doctrine of materialism, argued that the way we deal with | |
|the material world (in our case through capitalism) powerfully affects all other | |
|dimensions of our culture, for example, our values. Theorists using this approach ask: Why| |
|are certain values dominant in a given culture? | |
|A critical evaluation of this approach suggests that while it provides insights into | |
|structural inequalities and processes of social change within a cultural system, it | |
|minimizes a sense about the integrative properties found within these same systems. | |
|Sociobiology Sociobiology is a theoretical paradigm that explores ways in which human | |
|biology affects how we create culture. Sociologists argue that Charles Darwin's theory | |
|of natural selection, which is based on a four stage process, applies to human evolution | |
|as it does to all other species. The four stages include reproduction within the natural | |
|environment, random variability in genes within the species, different survival odds for | |
|an organism based on its individual genetic characteristics, and changes in the | |
|frequencies of particular genes within a species over time. In this way a | |
|species adapts to its environment. | |
|This approach has been criticized, based on historical patterns, of supporting racism and | |
|sexism. Further, to date, there is lack of scientific proof of their assertions. | |
|CULTURE AND HUMAN FREEDOM | |
|Culture As Constraint While being dependent on culture and constrained by our particular | |
|way of life, the capacity for creating change, or shaping and reshaping our existence, | |
|appears limitless. Culture is a liberating force to the extent we develop an understanding| |
|of its complexity and the opportunities available within it for change and autonomy. | |
|Culture As Freedom The burden of culture is freedom. Through evolution, culture has become| |
|our means of survival. Cultural diversity in our society is significant, and is | |
|ever-changing. | |

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