SOC100 Lecture Notes - Lecture 3: I Am Canadian, Cultural Turn, Post-Structuralism
14 Jun 2018
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CHAPTER 3 - “I AM CANADIAN”: WHAT IS “CANADIAN” CULTURE
Overview:
- What is culture?
- “The sum total of the social environment in which we are raised and continue to be
socialized throughout our lives”
- We had historical turns and cultural turns → the turn is the shift in thinking where culture
becomes very important
- Before, we were thinking more of the structural functionalist point of view (so looking at
people’s function rather than their culture and what they were doing; so what they should
do instead of what they DO do)
- Then there was a cultural turn and there was a 180 in opinion
- Culture becomes important → because functionalist paradigm does not fit people
very well
- Culture
- Foundations of culture is grounded in
- Material culture → physical items that are tangible and interact with our
experience in the world; we are always, as organisms in the world,
interacting with the material culture (so climate, geography) → the
biosphere
- Climate
- If the climate was hot, cultural clothing of a group would
look different than cultural clothing of another cultural
group where the climate is cooler
- Geography
- Matters in the formation of cultures
- Cultures were made so that they could adapt in one
location. How you live in one location you cannot live
the same in another.
- Non-material culture
- Language
- The change in language is centre of post-structuralism
- Norms
- Values
- Current “artifacts”
- So tools and technologies that serve our interests; aids us
in living in the world
- Buildings too are current artifacts
- Does not need to be geographical; can be passed on
between generations (not grounded in the spaces as
much as it was before)
- traditions/histories
- We are shaped by histories, and we live within the
context of histories
- They are evolving over time, however they change
within the circumstances that was passed down to you.
There are no changes in history. Mills with biography
and history → we are changed by history
- We are affected by the consequences of history → the
effects of history ripple through time. History matters!!
→ the basis of culture in the future
- So culture is like an operating system (a software in the background) → you
don’t think about it when you wake up; the moment you took your first breath
you have already bEEN indoctrinated to the cultures of society. The way you
organize yourself is culture
- Importance of culture
- Functionalist
- Culture organizes the smooth and continued operation of a society
- You don’t belong unless you look, speak and act a certain way
- Culture is a framework for moving in a certain direction; framework a
society organizes itself in
- Conflict
- Culture supports conformity and imposes an ideology
- A critique; most of the time, most people are conformers. You
just do the things you do to get along, resulting in conformity
(you don’t fight it)
- Ideology: similar to discourse; deeper view of how things work
→ how one organizes their relationships. We each have a certain
way we should act and behave, which is rooted in an ideology
(that is rooted in socialization and indoctrination since we were
young)
- Dominant cultures impose upon their views on others
- Can suppress other cultures, as we seek conformity
- One culture or many?
- All societies share certain cultural universals: there are certain characteristics
that are the same in societies over time. There is a debate between universals
and particulars. Universals are no good, because makes assumptions of people at
all times (can be used politically) → because believes that EVERYONE is the
same (universal). Particulars think the opposite; that we are unique
- Secure material needs (such as shelter, food, water)
- Marx said this
- Communication and familial structures
- There is always some type of communication between people,
whether it is direct/verbal or indirect/nonverbal
- Familial structures → we have to have some type of structure
and organization in order to organize the raising of children →
organized structure around reproduction
- You must have SOME structure for the raising of
children → something must be in place
- However, said structures are changing over time,
familial structures and the raising of children are now
changing (who raises the children? The interactions
between mother and father)
- Development and use of technologies
- Human beings use technology → can be a stick or a computer.
- Technology is what organizes our thinking (the medium is the
message; the technology or tool is what controls YOU). If you
just had a hammer, everything would look like a nail to you
- Technologies that are developed become a frame of reference (so
the technologies made can reflect present day society)
- Identity formation
- Conformity vs individualism
- To what extent are you, you? → so how do we think about
ourselves? You say that you are free to choose what you think,
but do you really choose?
- Adoption of certain aspects of culture that create identity → you
have claims of independency/self. Except, the thing is, the way
that your identity is formed is made by culture; the culture you
grow up in reflects the socialization of you into the culture. So
the choices you make really might not reflect YOUR OWN
thoughts, but rather the thoughts of your culture.
- Postmodern perspective
- Does Canada have a culture?
- Yes, yet, some people do not think Canada has a culture. They do not
consider subconscious norms, society, pop culture, etc. Eg: when people
go back to their home country from Canada, they have technically
already been immersed in the Canadian culture, so when they go back,
they feel like they no longer truly fit in
- There is no single “Canadian” culture
- Yes, Canada DOES have culture; it is broad → you have
Canadian norms and rules that you must follow. (like in Canada,
if you were to cut in line in front of somebody, it would be
deemed bad. Whereas in Germany, it is no problem → our
culture causes us to believe that cutting is bad)
- Only a multiplicity of diverse cultures → pluralistic society
- And the diverse cultures go under the broad culture of
Canadianism in order to navigate the circumstances in Canada.
Document Summary
Chapter 3 - i am canadian : what is canadian culture. The sum total of the social environment in which we are raised and continue to be socialized throughout our lives . We had historical turns and cultural turns the turn is the shift in thinking where culture becomes very important. Before, we were thinking more of the structural functionalist point of view (so looking at people"s function rather than their culture and what they were doing; so what they should do instead of what they do do) Then there was a cultural turn and there was a 180 in opinion. Culture becomes important because functionalist paradigm does not fit people very well. Material culture physical items that are tangible and interact with our experience in the world; we are always, as organisms in the world, interacting with the material culture (so climate, geography) the biosphere.
