What is culture?

Definition of Culture

• Culture – all the features of a society’s way of life. Culture informs our behavior and allows us to interpret the behavior of others and the world around us.

• People learn cultureo Systems of meaning – language is primaryo Ways of organizing societyo Distinctive techniques of a group and their

characteristic products

Culture• If culture is learned, then someone must

teach or share it, which inevitably means that culture is in a constant state of change and evolution

• Culture is naturalized- it feels natural, other ways feel weird

• Culture is integrated- links together different parts of our lives and creates patterns- ex: American individualism

Material and Nonmaterial Culture

• Material culture of a group of people includes things they construct, such as art, houses, clothing, sports, dance, and food.

• Nonmaterial culture includes beliefs, practices, aesthetics (what they see as attractive), and values of a group of people.

Culture Traits• Definition: activities and behaviors that people

repeatedly practice, distinctive techniques• Encompasses all aspects of culture, material

and nonmaterial• Social organization- class, gender, race,

ethnicity, government structure…• Food: U.S.- fork & knife, China – chopsticks,

India– which hand?• Reference the ABCs of Culture for a list of

culture traits

Local Culture and Popular Culture

• A local culture is a group of people in a particular place who see themselves as a collective or a community, who share experiences, customs, and traits, and who work to preserve those traits and customs in order to claim uniqueness and to distinguish themselves from others.

• Popular culture is large, incorporates heterogeneous populations, is typically urban, and experiences quickly changing cultural traits.

• Think of local and popular culture being on the same plane

Change Within a Culture- Cultures and their cultural traits may change

through time.

- 2 concepts to understand cultural change: Innovation and Diffusion

Innovation

• New way of doing something

• New ideas that are useful and valuable will last.

Diffusion• Definition – The process of knowledge,

skills, and technology being spread from one culture to another.

• Culture Hearth – central location where ideas, inventions, and/or culture traits originate

Diffusion can occur in different ways: examples – contagious diffusion, hierarchical diffusion, relocation diffusion Ex: Harlem Shake, Dave Matthews Band, Zen Buddhism

Acculturation

• Definition – the process of one culture changing a great deal through its meeting with another culture yet remaining distinct. Adopting cultural innovations or culture traits into its own culture

• Two-Way Street• Convergence and divergence, ex. pidgin

language; dialects

Cultural assimilation is when an individual or individuals adopts some or all aspects of a dominant culture (such as its religion, language, norms, values etc.). - Could be forced or voluntary- Resistance to assimilation

Culture Regions/Ethnic Groups

• Definition: Culture region – an area that has many shared culture traits

• One country could be a single culture region, or a political boundary may cut across a culture region- North vs. South

• A culture region may also be made up of several countries such as in Latin America

• Definition: Ethnic Group – a population that shares a common cultural background

Ethnicity

• Who in this room belongs to an ethnic group?• We all do!• Why do we think of some people as pertaining to

ethnic groups and not others?• White, protestant, middle-class is the normalized

standard against which all others are judged “different” and therefore “ethnic” (stores may have “ethnic food” section; people wearing “ethnic” jewelry)

Politics of recognition

What are the “markers” of ethnic identity?language? dress?what else?phenotype? (hair, etc.)

These men are readily identifiable as Sikhs. But what about Mexican Americans?

Who imagines you as part of this group?

• Identification:• Internal (yours)• Internal (to

group)• External (non-

group members)• External (state)

Problematizing ethnic identification

• All of these forms of identification are structured by, and structure, cultural understandings of ethnicity

• Cultures imagine and create ethnicities

• Let’s look at this through the lens of one group:

Indigenous people

• In Mexico, to be indigenous you must speak an indigenous language (at a minimum)

• Even if you spoke it as a child and no longer do, you are not now indigenous

• What is problematic about this criteria?

Ethnic group identification

• What is US criteria for indigenous group identification?o Descento Self recognitiono Tribal recognitiono Federal recognition

• Not:o Language or dress, not “looking Indian”

• However, external members may question your identification – why?

Ethnicities and StatesStates approach ethnic diversity with

different strategies...

• Segregationism• Assimilationism • Multiculturalism • Colorblind society?

What happens when states don’t/can’t manage ethnic diversity?

• Can result in “ethnic conflict”: outbreaks of violence between groups

• Majority of conflict in the world post-WWII has been defined as “ethnic conflict”

• However, be aware that this does not mean people just fighting amongst themselves

• States and state power are often heavily involved

Example: post-colonial states

• Europeans divided states according to administrative needs and desires.

• Resulting states often ungrounded in local political realities.

• States created with superimposed boundaries; lumped together unrelated groups; divided communities.

• Changed networks with informal boundaries into Western idea of nation-states.

Is Race Real?

• YES

- it can determine how one is treated

- what kind of job one has

- what kind of school one attends

- where one lives

Is Race Real?

• NO

- it has no biological basis

- it was created along with racism as a

way to separate groups and discriminate