Chapter 2: Culture
Lecture Notes
Roderick Graham
Fashion Institute of Technology
What is culture? (pp. 40 – 44)
Culture is a combination of material things and nonmaterial thoughts. Our culture is not only the materials and what we
do (fashion and technology), but also about our feelings and expectations about the world. Usually people who live in a
defined territory, or society, share a similar culture. Culture orders how we live, and should be seen as repeated
patterns of interaction. In a way, our culture tells us what to do, when to do it, and how to do it.
What are the elements of culture? (pp. 44 – 50)
•
Symbols – anything that carries a particular shared meaning
•
Language – “symbol + symbol”…a system of symbols that allow people to communicate with each other
•
Values – culturally defined standards that people use to decide what is good or bad. Many students on college
campuses value the idea of nonconformity. Because of this value, fashion or technology that is new and unique
is seen as a good thing. Many cultures favor the opposite value of conformity and tradition, and they would find
someone dressing different as being a negative thing.
•
Beliefs – We use values to formulate beliefs. Beliefs are specific statements about how we believe the world
should work. Thus, for people who value nonconformity, they will believe that it is acceptable to buy a new mp3
device even though an older one costs less and still does the same thing.
•
Norms – norms are the expected behaviors in society. There are norms for almost every social situation. There
are dating norms, classroom norms, office norms, etc. When new social situations arise…we create new norms.
For example, now there is an expected blogging behavior and e-mail behavior.
What is the difference between subculture and counterculture? (pp. 52 – 56)
Usually people, who live in a defined territory, or society, share a similar culture. Thus, because we all live in the same
society, we share similar elements of culture (materials symbols, language, values, beliefs, norms). However, clearly
there are differences within a society. We call these differences cultural diversity.
•
Subculture - Most differences between groups can be categorized as subcultures. We do not find many
problems with subcultures. They do not go against the main values of society. For example, your text gives the
example of “Yankees Fans” as a subculture. This group of people may share materials (Yankee jersey), values
(Yankees are the best!) and norms (going to Yankee games). But these cultural patterns are not rejected by
society, thus these are subcultures.
1
•
Multiculturalism – In the US, we accept that people have different subcultures. In fact, we celebrate the idea
that all of use can live in American society, and yet at the same time practice our own subcultures.
•
Counterculture – this is an extreme form of subculture. These are groups that practice cultural patterns that go
against wider society. For example, monogamy is a value we have in American society. Religious groups that
practice polygamy (certain Mormon groups) are a part of the counterculture. People in countercultures are
usually considered deviant.
•
High Culture – this is a particular subculture practiced by the elite in society (horseback riding, attending the
Met, joining country clubs)
•
Popular Culture – not necessarily a subculture…these are cultural patterns practiced by most in society.
How does culture change? (pp. 57 – 58)
Generally, the elements of culture are integrated such that our norms and values (nonmaterial elements of culture) take
advantage of the technology that we have. For example, the norm of using abbreviated words for texting goes along
with the value of saving text space and number of texts, because the technology charges more for longer texts!
Culture can change in three ways:
1) Invention - or creating new technology…the internet is a good example of this
2) Discovery – people find better and more efficient ways to use the materials around them…so the symbol we use
in text messaging are an example of discovery. We have found faster and more efficient ways of communication
3) Diffusion – a subculture or another society may create a new form of culture….this culture then diffuses to other
societies or cultures
How do we theoretically analyze culture (just structural-functional and social-conflict)? (pp. 60 – 62)
•
Structural-Functional Analysis – we need culture to survive as humans. Culture comes from people responding
to their environment. Through a structural-functional approach, we can try and understand how cultures – no
matter how weird or strange to us – helps people be successful in their life.
•
Social conflict analysis – The cultural patterns of some groups are favored over other groups. In a society, the
groups that control the economy tend to transfer that control to their cultural patterns. Thus, high culture is
seen as better than popular culture, not because it is naturally better, but because it is consumed by people with
economic power. Or, country music is seen as not as good as classical music, because country music is
consumed by working class and middle class southerners, while classical music is consumed by upper middle
class and upper class northerners.
2