SOC101Y1 Lecture Notes - Lecture 2: Dominant Culture, Nominalism, Ethnocentrism
Document Summary
Culture: refers to the knowledge, language, values, customs and material objects that are passed from person to person and from one generation to the next in a human group. While a society is made up of people, a culture is made up of ideas, behaviour etc. Material culture: refers to the physical creations that members of a society make, use and share. Everything from zippers to our homes and satellites in space. No material culture: consists of the abstract human creations of society that influence peoples behaviour. Language, beliefs, values, rules of behaviour, family patterns and political systems. We must learn about culture through interaction, observation and imitation in order to practice culture. People in different classes, stages of the life course or generations, genders, or ethnic or racialized groups acquire different culture repertoires. No way of life is natural to humanity even though most people around the world view their own behaviour that way.
