Cultural Change and
Global Culture
Chapter 3, Pages 76-84
“All things shall pass…”
 Culture is constantly in a state of change

◦ What elements may cause cultural change
Change in one dimension of a culture
usually sparks a change in others
 Cultural Integration

◦ The close relationship among various elements
of a cultural system
Cultural Change
Some elements of culture change faster
than others.
 William Ogburn

◦ Observed that technology moves quickly,
generating new elements of material culture
(like test-tube babies) faster than nonmaterial
culture (such as ideas about parenthood) can
keep up with them.

Ogburn called this delay ‘Cultural Lag’
◦ The fact that some cultural elements change
more quickly than others, disrupting a cultural
system
Examples?
Cultural Lag

Cultural Changes are set in motion in three
ways…
◦ Invention
◦ Discovery
◦ Diffusion
Causes of Cultural Change
◦ Invention- the process of creating new cultural
elements
 Telephone (1876)
 Airplane (1903)
 Computer (1947)
◦ The process of invention goes on constantly
Examples?
HINT: Think of Commercials.
Invention
◦ Discovery- recognizing and better understanding
something already in existence
 Food of another culture, distant star, the athletic ability
of women
 Many discoveries result from painstaking scientific
research
 Others result from a stroke of luck
◦ 1989 Marie Curie left a rock on a piece of photographic
paper, noticed that emissions from the rock had exposed
the paper, and thus discovered radium
Examples?
Discovery

Diffusion- the spread of cultural traits from one
society to another
◦ Because of new means of communication, information
can be sent around the globe in seconds and cultural
diffusion has never been greater
◦ America has contributed many cultural elements to the
world (ex. Computers, jazz, etc.)
◦ Diffusion works the other way too- much of what we
consider to be “American” actually comes from elsewhere
(ex. Clothing, furniture, clocks)
Diffusion

Today more than ever we find many of the
same cultural practices the world over
◦ Jeans, pop music, familiar products can be
found in many of the major cities of the world
◦ English is emerging as the preferred second
language worldwide
◦ Societies now have more contact with one
another than ever before

Are we witnessing the birth of a single
global culture?
Global Culture

The Global economy- the flow of goods:
◦ There has never been more international trade. The
global economy has spread many of the same
consumer goods throughout the world.

Global communication- the flow of information:
◦ Satellite-based communications allow people to
experience the sights and sounds of events taking
place thousands of miles away, often as they happen.

Global migration- the flow of people
◦ Today’s transportation technology, especially air
travel, makes relocating easier than ever
◦ In the United States 33 million people (12 % of the
population) were born elsewhere
Global Contact

The global links previously discussed may
make the world more similar but there are
three major limitations to the global
culture thesis
◦ Global flow of goods, information and people is
uneven (cities vs. rural areas)
◦ Desperate poverty in much of the world deprives
people of even the most basic necessities
◦ Although many cultural practices are now found
throughout the world, people everywhere do not
attach the same meanings to them
Limitations to Global Culture

Would the development of a single global
culture be a positive thing or a negative
thing?
•
•
•
May decrease the number of cultural
misunderstandings between people of different
cultures
May lead to the loss of many existing cultures
Greater economic and military powers in North
American and Europe would have a greater influence
than the rest of the world
Global Culture

Structural-Functional Analysis

Social-Conflict Analysis

Sociobiology
Theoretical Analysis of Culture
The structural-functional paradigm depicts
culture as a complex strategy for meeting
human needs.
 Considers values the core of culture
 Thinking functionally helps us understand
an unfamiliar way of life

◦ Example from the case-study
Structural-Functional Analysis
The social-conflict paradigm stresses the
link between culture and inequality.
 Asks why certain values dominate society
in the first place.

◦ Example: Social-conflict analysis ties our
competitive values to our society’s capitalist
economy, which serves the interests of the
nation’s wealthy elite
Social Conflict Analysis
Sociobiology is a theoretical paradigm
that explores ways in which biology
affects how we create culture.
 Rests on Darwin’s theory of Evolution

◦ All living things live to reproduce themselves
◦ The blueprint for reproduction is in the genes
◦ Random variations in the genes allow a species
to try out new life patterns
◦ Over thousands of generations, the genetic
patterns that promote the continuation of a
species survive and become dominant
Sociobiology

Cultural Universals refer to traits that are part of
every know culture.
◦ George Murdock compared hundreds of cultures and
found dozens of cultural universals
◦ Family
◦ Funeral rites
◦ Child care
◦ Jokes

Sociobiology claims that the large number of
cultural universals reflect the fact that all
humans are members of a single biological
species
Cultural Universal