SOCL 1101 Lecture Notes - Lecture 5: Child Beauty Pageant, Subculture, Material Design
6 Jun 2018
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What is Culture?
● Concept of culture has evolved throughout history
○ Earliest understandings on distinction between natural world and man-made stuff
○ Later became associated with intellectual refinement
○ Contemporary view: system of meanings, beliefs, and practices that enables
members of a group or society to adapt
Why Study Culture?
● Culture → identity
○ Shapes what we think, feel, do, emphasis on individuality
○ Self as repository of cultural norms
● Culture → social mobility
○ Goals and chances of achieving them depend on the norms and ideals to which
we are exposed
○ Cultural capital (knowledge, tastes, personal style) affect chances of inclusion in
high status groups
Four Axioms
● Culture touches and defines everything
● Reflects an interplay between material and nonmaterial
● Never static
● Human cultures are almost infinitely variable
Culture Touches Everything
● Concepts of health, sexuality, race, time, space all influenced by culture
○ Childhood
■ Treated differently before industrialization
■ Modern conceptions of childhood hold that children need protection;
separate places
What Constitutes Culture?
● Language, beliefs, norms, behaviors, material objects
● Material → inventions, tools, physical
● Nonmaterial → ways of thinking, patterns of behavior
Culture Shapes the Material World
● Political beliefs and biases can unconsciously build into material design
○ Typical mobility
Values, Norms, and Sanctions
● Values → set of beliefs we share
● Norms → behaviors
● Sanctions → consequences for violating those norms
Values
● American values
Types of Norms
find more resources at oneclass.com
find more resources at oneclass.com
Document Summary
Concept of culture has evolved throughout history. Earliest understandings on distinction between natural world and man-made stuff. Contemporary view: system of meanings, beliefs, and practices that enables members of a group or society to adapt. Shapes what we think, feel, do, emphasis on individuality. Goals and chances of achieving them depend on the norms and ideals to which we are exposed. Cultural capital (knowledge, tastes, personal style) affect chances of inclusion in high status groups. Reflects an interplay between material and nonmaterial. Concepts of health, sexuality, race, time, space all influenced by culture. Modern conceptions of childhood hold that children need protection; Nonmaterial ways of thinking, patterns of behavior. Political beliefs and biases can unconsciously build into material design. Values set of beliefs we share. Sanctions consequences for violating those norms. Folkways norms that are not strictly enforced. Mores norms that are believed to be essential to core values and we insist on conformity.
