The Meaning of Culture

The Elements of Culture

• Everyone born into a culture

• Culture is learned from parents/grandparents

• Elements are divided into 7 categories-used by anthropologists

Social Organizationsmaller structure-meet needs of people

• Family Patterns-– most important

• nuclear family

• extended family

Social Classes

• Ranking of people in order of status– Based on what

that culture values highly

– Social mobility

Customs and Traditions

• One of the most important elements of culture-rules of behavior– Usually taught by

parents/grandparents

• cultural rules vary in importance

• social pressure to fit in

Language

• The cornerstone of culture

• reflects a culture’s identity

• many societies include large numbers of people who speak different languages

• unify culture (or not)• age

Arts and Literature

• Products of human imagination such as art, music, literature that please and entertain us.

• Folk tales-traditions that help pass on a culture’s basic beliefs and values.

• A and L help to strengthen a culture’s identity

Religion

• Arts often closely linked to people’s religious beliefs

• within a culture, people usually share religious beliefs

• monotheism• polytheism

Forms of Government

• People’s governments provide for their common needs such as order and protection

• people organize governments

• types of governments:

• democracy

• republic

• dictatorship

Economic Systems

• Economics refers to how people use limited resources to satisfy their wants and needs.

• 3 basic questions:– what goods and services should we produce– how should we produce them– for whom should we produce them

Economics cont.

• Traditional economy: people produce most of what they need to survive

• Market economy:buying and selling goods and services.

• Command economy: government controls what goods are produced & what they cost

• Mixed-most nations have mixed economies

The American Dream

Cultural diffusion

• spread of culture and the factors that account for it, such as migration, communications, trade, and commerce

• Generally, culture traits originate in a particular area and spread outward, ultimately to characterize a larger expanse of territory.

• cultural diffusion helps explain how they got there.– What would encourage or discourage this diffusion-

think natural barriers and cultural barriers

Ethnocentrism

• The tendency to look at the world primarily from the perspective of one's own culture. Ethnocentrism often entails the belief that one's own race or ethnic group is the most important and/or that some or all aspects of its culture are superior to those of other groups.

Questions to Ponder

• Describe three elements that help give YOUR culture its identity.

• How are family patterns related to YOUR culture?

• How do the arts in the United States help to unify the nation?

• Which element of culture is most relevant in your life?