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CULTURE
CAN YOU DEFINE IT?
Learning objectives
• Evaluate sociological definitions of culture
• Identify the difference between material culture and non-material culture
What are the essential ingredients of a society’s culture?
• List the important elements of ‘Britishness’– Material things (physical objects:cars,
fashion, food)– Non-material things (knowledge, beliefs etc)
• List the important elements of your culture
• What are the similarities/differences?• What do all cultures have in common?
Sharing, teaching and learning
• The things people value and the usual way they obey and express these values gives us the concept of a culture
• Eg british culture:– A belief that we speak a common language– A belief in love and the right of the
individual to choose their partner– A belief that murder is wrong and people
who murder should be punished
Material and Non-material distinction
• When is a house not a house? •Physical artefacts have cultural meanings, a house is not simply somewhere to live (manifest function)•Houses have cultural meanings –It means different things to different people which may or may not be obvious (latent function)
Answer:When it’s a home
Kidd (2002)The features of culture (language, symbols, history, norms and values) influence the way members of society live their lives
Abbott (1998)Language is the most obvious set of symbols through which members of society share meanings
Marshall (1998)Culture is all that in human society which is socially rather than biologically transmitted
Giddens (1997)No cultures could exists without societies. But equally no societies could exist without culture, no one could human at all
Dahl (2001)A collectively held set of attributes which is dynamic and changing over time
Societies develop mechanisms for the transmission of cultural signs, symbols and meanings from one generation to the next
Mazrui (1996)There are seven functions of culture:CommunicationPerceptionIdentityValue systemsMotivationStratificationProduction and consumption
Jencks (1993)There are four ways to describe culture:1. A state of mind – a ‘quality’ possessed by individuals2. Civilization – some cultures are seen as more civilized than others3. ‘Collective body of arts and intellectual work within any society’4. ‘Whole way of life of a people’
Look at the images how many can you recognise the 5 types of culture
• Subculture
• High culture
• Popular culture
• Consumer culture
• Global culture•Identify at least 4 characteristics of each type of culture•Comment on how each type of culture has developed as a response to the way society is structured•Create a revision card for each type
TYPE OF CULTURE:
DESCRIPTION
CHARACTERISTICS
Examples
Subculture
• A subculture is a culture enjoyed by a small group within a society. • In this sense it is a minority part of a majority culture.• Subcultures have distinct norms and values which make them a subsection of
society– Eg youth groups such as emos, goths, religious groups such as scientologists
• Memberships of subcultures changes over time as do the types of subculture within society. In this sense, subcultures can be seen to reflect the changing nature of society.
High Culture• High culture is linked with the
elite, upper class in society, those families and individuals with an ascribed status position
• They operate a system of social closure – not allowing entry to outsiders
• It is associated with the arts such as opera, ballet and classical music, sports such as polo and Lacrosse
Popular culture• Activities enjoyed and accessed
by the masses.
• Media are largely responsible for creating popular culture in the contemporary UK .
• What people buy and use plays a key role in popular culture.
• It could be argued that popular culture at times borrows an idea from high culture and popularises it making it available to the masses. – Eg Golf, Vanessa Mae ,
Burberry
Consumer culture• Things we consume and use in
society.• Based on cultural and economic
factors • Reflects most of western world.• Shopping is a leisure pursuit• Culturally the society portrays a
sense of its identity through the consumer goods available.
• If the society has a bad economy then a consumer culture is difficult
• But being in debt is the norm• Packaging and promotion is big
business!
Global Culture• Globalisation is the process by
which events in one part of the world come to influence what happens elsewhere in the world.
• The world has become increasingly interconnected: socially politically and economically.
• Economically through the stock markets
• Politically world leaders have interest who they ally themselves with.
• Socially, trends and fashions in the large cities spread quickly to other cities.
EXAM FOCUS
• Define culture [3]• Identify two ways in which material culture
differs from non-material culture [4]• Explain what is meant by ‘folk’ culture [2]• Explain the difference between ‘high’ and
‘low’ culture [4]• Suggest 3 characteristics of the
globalisation of culture [6]• Describe the different types of cultures [6]
Characteristics of POPULAR CULTURE
• Constantly changing• Based in large, heterogeneous groups of people• Based mainly in urban areas• Material goods mass-produced by machines in factories• Weaker family structure• Distinct division of labor with highly specialized
professions and jobs• Contributions to the spread of popular culture
• Industrialization• Urbanization• Rise of formal education• Resultant increase in leisure time
CHARACTERISTICS OF GLOBAL CULTURE
• Increasing connections between various parts of the world
• Global availability of cultural products (KFC, McDonalds, curry)
• Access to diversity of cultural products (food, music, clothing)
• Global media corporations (Sky, Disney, Apple)• Internet access (WWW, Facebook, twitter)• Global advertising campaigns (McDonalds, Pepsi, Nike)• International tourism
Characteristics of SUBCULTURE
• Based around ethnicity, social class or age• Functionalist perspective• People select norms and values and lifestyles
Characteristics of MASSCULTURE
• Culture that is produced for mass consumption• Value laden as information is ‘dumbed down’ superficial
and bland (goodies and baddies stereotypes)• Consumers are seen as passive and easily manipulated• Consumers lack critical judgement of the society in which
they live• Ruling class exploit working class as media represent
capitalist system as normal• create false needs through advertising at same time make
profits
Characteristics of HIGH CULTURE
• The tastes or wealthy and educated people (elite)• The opposite is low culture (mass)• To understand high culture requires access to a
particular kind of education• Ruling class seen more intellectual• Value laden as agencies of socialisation present
some cultural products as more ‘worthy’ than others – Opera or Soap opera?