SOCI 1010 Lecture Notes - Lecture 3: Ethnocentrism, Cultural Studies, Cultural Relativism
Document Summary
Culture: a system involving behaviour, beliefs, knowledge, practices, values, material. Culture is contested, there is no total agreement. Authenticity: culture involves tradition but is not confined by it, it"s dynamic, it changes overtime, High culture vs. popular culture and mass culture. From a feminists" position: canada"s dominant culture is male. Popular culture: the culture of the majority of people who do not have power. Cultural studies: the academic study of popular culture. Norms: rules or standards of behavior that are expected of a group, society, or culture. Symbols: symbols are aspects of a culture that come to take on tremendous meaning. The veil as a symbol of muslim culture. Values: the standards used by a culture to describe abstract qualities such as goodness, beauty, justice. Ethnocentrism: when someone holds up one culture as the standard by which all cultures are to be judged.
