SA 150 Lecture Notes - Lecture 3: Conditionality, Cultural Relativism, Sociolinguistics

• School: Simon Fraser University
• Department: Sociology and Anthropology
• Course: SA 150
• Professor: Ann Travers

Document Summary

Introduction: what we mean by culture and why it"s contested. Culture: a system of behavior, beliefs, knowledge, practices, values and concrete materials including buildings, tools, and sacred items. Contested: describing a practice whose moral goodness or badness, normalcy or deviance, or general predominance is disputed by some members of society. In serious cases, aspects of a culture may be contested when they become instruments of oppression. Culture often becomes contested over the question of authenticity: authenticity: the quality of being true to the traditions of a people. Authenticity is often contested by the modern representatives of the people themselves and experts from outside the community. Culture involves traditions but is not confined by them. Authenticity becomes a problem when a colonial society studies a colonized culture and claims to know the secret of its authenticity. All cultures are contested and subject to change.