Sociology Chapter 3 Section 5 Cultural Diversity and

Sociology Chapter 3 Section 5: Cultural Diversity and Similarity

Cultural Change • All cultures experience change. • Norms, values, and beliefs are relatively stable, but they do change over time.

Why does culture change? • 1. Discovery – the process of finding something that already exists. • Generally unrecognized athletic abilities of females.

• 2. Invention – creation of something new. • Steam engines to cellular phones.

• 3. Diffusion – borrowing of aspects of culture from other cultures. • Food, Christmas trees, and piñatas. • Adoption of democracy and capitalism after WWII.

Cultural Diversity • Social Categories – groups that share a social characteristic such as age, gender, or religion. • Also includes behaviors – devout Catholics are expected to attend Mass regularly.

What are subcultures and countercultures? • Despite sharing in the broader culture, these groups have some ways of thinking, feeling, and behaving that set them apart. • Subcultures- part of the dominant culture but differs from it in some important respects – San Francisco’s Chinatown.

• Counterculture – subculture deliberately and consciously opposed to certain central beliefs or attitudes of the dominant culture. • Example: goth and punk scenes

Ethnocentrism • Once people learn their culture, they tend to become strongly committed to it. • Ethnocentrism – judging others in terms of one’s own cultural standards.

What are some examples of ethnocentrism? • The Olympic Games • Ranking is frequently taken as a reflection of the country’s worth and status on the world stage.

• Boston is said to be the hub of the universe. • Texans often claim to have the biggest and best of everything. • New Yorkers bemoan (express sorrow) the lack of culture in Los Angeles.

Does ethnocentrism help or hurt society? • Ethnocentrism has two faces • It offers both advantages and disadvantages. • People feel good about themselves and about others in their group when they believe that what they are doing is right and superior to what other groups do.

• Societies whose members are firmly convinced of their superiority tend not to create anything new. • The ancient Chinese built a wall to keep both invaders and new ideas out.

• The civil rights movement was born to combat racial ethnocentrism.

• Hitler’s Final Solution was ethnocentrism at its worst.

How are cultural universals expressed? • Cultural universals- general cultural traits that exist in all cultures, are not always carried out in the same way. • Cultures have developed different ways to express universals.

• Cultural particulars- ways in which a culture expresses universal traits. • Example: Caring for children: women have traditionally worked within the home caring for children. • Among the Manus of New Guinea, the man is completely in charge of child rearing. • Navajo and Iroquois Native Americans share equally in domestic and economic tasks.

Why do cultural universals exist? • Biological similarities • There must be some type of care, meal preparation, medical treatment, funeral rites, and inheritance to rules. • Environmental factors – constructing a shelter. • Armies were formed to settle disputes over boundaries and important waterways.

• Cultural universals exist because societies face many of the same social problems. • If society is to survive, new members must be taught the culture.