SOCIETY AND CULTURE
Prepare for your exams
Study with the several resources on Docsity
Earn points to download
Earn points by helping other students or get them with a premium plan
Guidelines and tips
Prepare for your exams
Study with the several resources on Docsity
Earn points to download
Earn points by helping other students or get them with a premium plan
Community
Ask the community
Ask the community for help and clear up your study doubts
University Rankings
Discover the best universities in your country according to Docsity users
Free resources
Our save-the-student-ebooks!
Download our free guides on studying techniques, anxiety management strategies, and thesis advice from Docsity tutors
Society and Culture - Introduction to Sociology - Slides |, Study notes of Introduction to Sociology
Material Type: Notes; Class: Sociology 1 - Introduction; Subject: Sociology; University: Florida Hospital College of Health Sciences; Term: Forever 1989;
Typology: Study notes
Pre 2010
1 / 15
This page cannot be seen from the preview
Don't miss anything!
Related documents
Partial preview of the text
Download Society and Culture - Introduction to Sociology - Slides | and more Study notes Introduction to Sociology in PDF only on Docsity!
SOCIETY AND CULTURE
SOCIETY
People who live in a specific geographic territory, interact with each other, and share many elements of a common culture comprise a society.
TYPES OF SOCIETIES
Hunting-gathering Society: Most
ancient of societies, small groups (50-
150 members related by blood or
marriage), hunting, fishing, collecting
wild vegetation, simple tools (stone
and wood), limited food surplus, very
nomadic.
TYPES OF SOCIETIES
Pastoral (domesticated animals) Society & Horticultural (domesticated crops) Society: Domesticated plants and animals, groups larger than hunting-gathering, less than 10, 000 members. Use of sickles and hoes, seminomadic camps, several months of surplus, chiefdoms and specialized roles such as religious and military.
TYPES OF SOCIETIES
Industrial ( th
- th Century): Millions to over a billion; machine, electric, petroleum, and nuclear power, mass industrial production, majority of population in the cities, sophisticated district and state power.
TYPES OF SOCIETIES
Postindustrial (late 20 th century-present time): Millions to billions of people; computer information technologies, global information, sophisticated scientific and technological institutions, global power structures.
COMPONENTS OF CULTURE
Symbols: Anything to which group members assign meanings. Language (verbal/nonverbal): Complex set of symbols with conventional meanings used for communication. Beliefs: Assertions about the nature of reality; these “truths” are based on social agreement rather than objectivity.
COMPONENTS OF CULTURE
Values: Shared ideas about what is socially desirable. Sociologist Robin Williams’ U.S. Core Values: (1) Individualism and Freedom (2) Equality (3) Achievement (4) Efficiency and Practicality (5) Progress and Technology (6) Material Comfort and Consumerism (7) Work and leisure
ETHNOCENTRISM AND CULTURAL RELATIVISM Ethnocentrism: The tendency to evaluate the customs of others according to one’s own cultural standards. Cultural Relativism: Evaluating the practices of other cultures based on their standards. Relativistic Fallacy: Viewing all cultural practices as being equally valid and worthy of respect.
CULTURAL DIVERSITY
Subcultures: Share many elements of mainstream culture but maintain distinct customs, values, and lifestyles. Countercultures: Reject standard behavior of the mainstream and are perceived as dangerous and threatening to society. Multiculturalism: Encourages respect for cultural differences. Ideal Culture: What people should do according to group norms and values. Real Culture: What people really do in social interactions.