Culture

Recall:• We are social beings• We live in groups • We interact with each other in

groups• Groups have an impact on us

Culture

• Culture is everything that is learned and shared by members of a social group. This includes the values or ideas about what is important to the people in the group.

CULTURE-LearnedShared

Passed onFOLKWAYS

manners

BELIEFSideas

NORMSbehaviour

LAWSrules

MORESFormal

behaviour

VALUESwhat is good/bad

Suppose

• You were asked to pack a suitcase with items that best describe your culture, what would you include????

• Clothes• Music• Pictures• Games• Etc

The contents of your suitcase would reveal your cultural baggage

Culture

Material• Things that are

created by humans

• Buildings• Autos• Computers

Non-material• Behaviours• Symbols• Attitudes• Values of the

culture

Causes of Cultural Variation

1) Environment / Geography2) Invention and Discovery3) Isolation or Integration4) Basic Values / Goals

Environment / Geography

• The area in which a group of people live will determine, to some extent the type of culture they develop.

Climate: type and style of clothing, physical features

Natural Resources: development of economic base, housing styles

Topography: settlement patterns

Invention and Discovery

• One group of people will not necessarily invent or discover the same things as another group; or they may use the same discovery but in unique ways.

Europeans had advantages in warfare over the First Nations due to the discovery of gunpowder

Central American First Nations discovered the wheel but only used it on toys.

Charter of Rights and Freedoms

Isolation or Integration

• A culture may develop without interacting with other cultures, it may develop in isolation and will therefore develop in a different way than other cultures.

Certain tribal cultures, Mennonites, Amish Cultural Diffusion- when one culture is spread from one

location to another ie: American Culture of TV, Internet, tea (orginally from

China), globalization, Disney in Japan

Basic Values / Goals

• Those things which are considered worthwhile and good to any group of people are that group’s basic values.

North America—technology is progress First Nations---harmony with the land Canadian-equality and fairness in a democratic

society Japan---work ethic

Culture Terms

• Cultural relativism is the belief that it is important to respect the diversity of other cultures; behaviours and customs of any culture must be viewed and analyzed by the culture’s own standards.

• Ethnocentrism is the belief that one’s culture is standard and thus, superior to others.

Culture TermsMulticulturalism is the practice

of maintaining the unique characteristics of each cultural group in a society that includes one or more different cultures.

New ideas and art forms are among the benefits of a multicultural society. Being exposed to different cultures can enrich the lives of individuals and benefit society as a whole.

Cultural Terms

• Subcultures are a group of people that share certain values and beliefs with the larger culture, but have characteristics that members share only with each other.

o First Nationso Acadianso Militaryo Teenagers

Culture Terms

• Acculturation is the process by which members of subordinate racial and ethnic groups become absorbed into the dominant culture (Also known as cultural assimilation). The members of an ethnic group adopt the dominant group traits, such as language, dress, values, religion and food preferences.

“melting pot”