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Characteristics of Culture

The Concept of Culture

Culture is Learned

Culture is Shared Culture is Based on Symbols

Culture Gives Meaning to Reality

Functions of Culture Culture and Change

Ethnocentrism and Cultural Relativism

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Superstructure: A cultures worldview,including morals and values, oftentimesgrounded in religion

Social structure: The rule-governedrelationshipswith all their rights andobligationsthat hold members of a societytogether. This includes households, families,associations, and power relations, includingpolitics.

Infrastructure: The economicfoundation of a society,including its subsistencepractices and the tools andother material equipment usedto make a living.

The Barrel Model

of Culture

What is Culture?

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What is Culture?

The beliefs and behaviors of a society

Culture consists of abstract ideas, values, andperceptions of the world that inform and arereflected in peoples behavior

Culture is the lens through which we view our world, itinvents our reality

Iceberg example

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Culture is like an

Iceberg

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Culture is Learned Rather than inherited biologically

Enculturation: The transmission of culture from one generation to thenext

Mammals in general display cultural behavior (I.e. we all have the urgeto eat/sleep, but when we do/with whom/in what order is determinedby our social relationships). With humans, our social rules are more

varied and complex.

Ex: Social animalsLions, dogs, chimpanzees

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-VCJ1ybkjnA(Chimp Culture)If animals display cultural behavior as do we, should we also view

animals through an Anthropological perspective? Sub disciplines ofPrimate Behavior and Animal Communication deal with this question.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-VCJ1ybkjnAhttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-VCJ1ybkjnAhttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-VCJ1ybkjnAhttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-VCJ1ybkjnA

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Culture is Shared By members of a society and produces behavior that is

intelligible (able to be understood) to other members ofthat society

Society vs. Culture Society: An organized group or groups of interdependent people

who generally share a common territory, language, and culture andwho act together for collective survival and well-being. There can be no culture without a society, there are no known human

societies that do not exhibit culture.

Cultural Anthropologists focus on the Cultural aspect of society. Thestudy of society itself is Sociology (very closely related discipline toCultural Anthro).

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Subcultures Cultural variation between subgroups in societies that share an overarchingculture. Ex:Ethnic group(A type of subculture).

People who collectively and publicly identify themselves as adistinct group based on various cultural features such as shared

ancestry and common origin, language customs and traditionalbeliefs. Ethnicity: The expression of the set of cultural ideas held by an

ethnic group Pluralistic Society:A society in which two or more ethnic groups or

nationalities are politically organized into one territorial state butmaintain their cultural differences

Sometimes can lead to some pretty nasty misunderstandings Ex: Yearning for Zion Ranch Texas, Warren Jeffs, Polygamy Ex: Branch Davidians, Waco Texas Ex (book pg 33): Shetland pony seller Salt Lake City/Tongan B-day

party