Culture, Society, Sociology - Andrew J. Perrinperrin.socsci.unc.edu/stuff/culture-slides.pdf ·...
Transcript of Culture, Society, Sociology - Andrew J. Perrinperrin.socsci.unc.edu/stuff/culture-slides.pdf ·...
Recap: The Problem of Sorting
Remember the most-to-least-similar problem
UNC-CH Rankings:
“Contribution to the Public Good”:http://www.washingtonmonthly.com/college_guide/
rankings-2014/national-universities-rank.php
“Happiest Freshmen”: http://www.collegechoice.net/posts/
colleges-with-happiest-freshman/
“Absolutely Everything that Matters”:http://dailycaller.com/2014/08/25/
the-best-52-colleges-in-america-period-when-you-consider-absolutely-everything-that-matters/
Culture, Society, Sociology September 2, 2014 2 / 22
What are Americans Like?
Alexis de Tocqueville, Democracy in America
American Exceptionalism
Individualistic
“A Nation of Joiners”
Americans’ “habits of the heart”
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Persistent TrendsAmericans remain more likely than others to. . .
Go to church
Volunteer in social services agencies
Mistrust government
Resent taxation
Believe wealth is distributed fairly
Have opinions
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Culture
“What are Americans Like” is an invitation to discuss Americanculture
What do we mean by culture?
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The Sociology of Culture
Older conception: the Values of a population
Example: Americans value freedom, success, wealth, opportunity
Problems:1 Nobody was ever able to measure these values2 Very little variation
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The Sociology of Culture (cont.)
• New conception: Repertoire of InterpretiveStrategies
Repertoire: A list of dramas, operas, pieces, parts, etc., which a companyor a person has rehearsed and is prepared to perform
Interpret: To explain or tell the meaning of; to expound; to translateorally into intelligible or familiar language or terms; todecipher; to define; to apprehend and represent by means ofart; to show by illustrative representation; as, an actorinterprets the character of Hamlet; a musician interprets asonata; an artist interprets a landscape
Strategy: an elaborate and systematic plan of action
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The Sociology of Culture (Cont.)
Ann Swidler (1986): “Culture in Action”
Drawing on Tocqueville: Styles, Skills, Habits
Culture as Toolbox
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The Sociology of Culture (cont.)
Cultures are cross-cutting and overlapping
Cultural membership can be partial
Cultures “produce” their members
Cultures provide members with the ways they understand their livesand the tools they choose to apply to problems
Culture is both constraining and enabling
People know more culture than they use (Vaisey)
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Collective Memory
One thing that holds cultures together is what they know in common
Obvious, taken for granted, remembered
Culture in mind vs. Culture in the world
Collected vs. Collective memories
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The Unbuilt EnvironmentPerrin, Perrin, Caren, Skinner
Does physical environment affect obesity risk?
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The Nacirema: Cultural Objects
“The daily body ritual performed by everyone includes a mouth-rite.Despite the fact that these people are so punctilious [6] about care of themouth, this rite involves a practice which strikes the uninitiated stranger asrevolting. It was reported to me that the ritual consists of inserting a smallbundle of hog hairs into the mouth, along with certain magical powders,and then moving the bundle in a highly formalized series of gestures.”
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Example: Watergate
Michael Schudson, Watergate in American Memory: How weRemember, Forget, and Reconstruct the Past
Americans “think with” Watergate
What other tools does American culture provide?
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Example: Hiroshima
1945 atomic bombing
Not commemorated as “Mecca of Peace” until after 1954
Saito H. “Reiterated Commemoration: Hiroshima as National Trauma.”Sociological Theory 24:4 (December 2006)
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Generations
Karl Mannheim (1893–1947): generations are defined throughcommon experiences
e.g, Great Depression, WWII, Kennedy Assassination, Vietnam, BerlinWall, 9/11
Survey questions: what do people remember when asked?
Southern whites of a particular age (born 1929–1956) mention theCivil Rights Movement more than other regions or ages
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