U.S. Culture

List as many “American values” that you can think

ofRemember values are the standards by which people define good and bad, beautiful and ugly

Basic Values

According to sociologist Robin Williams, 15 basic values are dominant in US culture:

Success -ScienceHard work -External conformityEfficiency -IndividualismMaterial comfort -In-group superiorityMorality -EqualityHumanitarianism - FreedomProgress - PatriotismDemocracy

Value Clusters

Made up of related core values that come together to form a larger whole

Example: SuccessWe find hard work, education, efficiency, material comfort and individualism all bound together

Value Contractions

Some values conflict with each other

Example: There cannot be full expressions of democracy, equality, racism and sexism at the same time

As society changes some values are challenged and undergo modification

Culture War

Core values do not change without meeting strong resistance

Today’s clash in values is so severe that it is referred to a culture war

Values blind people

Values and their supporting beliefs may blind people to other social circumstances

Example: the emphasis on individualismSo high that many people in the US believe that everyone is free to pursue the goal of success

Blinds them to the consequences of family poverty, lack of education and dead-end jobs

Ideal Culture v. Real Culture

Ideal Culture- refers to the ideal values and norms of people

Most people fall short of this

Real Culture- norms and values that people actually follow

Changing Society

As society changes over time new values emerge that reflect changed social conditions

For example: leisure, physical fitness, self-fulfillment, concern for environment

Culture Changes is 3 waysInvention- creating new cultural elements

Telephone, airplane, internet

Discovery- Recognizing a better understanding of something already in existence

X-Ray, DNA

Diffusion- The spread of cultural traits from one society to another

Jazz music, slang words, etc.

technology

Central to material culture is technology

Refers to tool but can include the skills or procedures to make and use those tools

New technologies refer to the emerging technologies that have a major impact on human life

Culture Lag

Term coined by William Ogburn

Refers to a situation in which not all parts of a culture change at the same pace

A group’s material culture usually changes first

Non-material culture lags behind

Sometimes non-material culture never catches up

Cultural diffusion

The transmission of cultural characteristics

Material culture is more likely to change because of cultural diffusion

One consequence: Cultural levelingThe process in which cultures become similar to one another

Example: Japan adopting western culture

Culture Clash

Differences among cultures can be expected to generate most of the conflict around the worldComing in contact with radically different cultures produces culture shock

Challenging our basic assumptions about life

Ethnocentrism

The attitude that one’s own culture is superior to those of other people

Can serve as the glue to hold society together

Strong sense of unity as a nation

Cultural Relativism

The belief that a culture must be understood on its own terms

Looking at a culture from their own perspective and understand why they do things their way

Can contribute to international peace

Multicultural

US is made up of different culturesI.e. Anglo, Hispanic, African

Multiculturalism- a state in which all subcultures in the same society are equal to one anotherVaries in degree from 1 society to another

Switzerland most multicultural (Fr, Gm, It)Bosnia- minorities are despised and often killedUS somewhere in between

US Multiculturalism

Eurocentrism- view the world from the standpoint of European cultureAfrocentrism- the view of world from the standpoint of African culture

Pop Culture

Popular culture consists of relatively unsophisticated artistic creations that appeal to the mass audience

Movies, tv shows, music

Cultural UniversalsAll human beings have the same needs that must be met in order to survive

Biological needs- food and shelterSocial needs- clothing, complex communication, peaceful coexistence, aesthetic spiritual experiences

These needs are universal

Cultural Universals- practices found in all cultures as the means for meeting the same human needs

Food gathering - art formsBuilding houses - religionDeveloping language

What values do celebrities portray?