Transcript Chapter 1 What is Anthropology?

Chapter 2
Culture and Culture Change
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Defining Culture
What kinds of things come to mind when you
think about Culture?
What is Culture?
 A set of learned behaviors and ideas that
are characteristic of a particular society or
social group
 non-material Culture

Include products such as tools, houses,
clothes, or anything that humans use in the
experience of their daily lives
 material culture

Includes beliefs, values, norms, attitudes and
ideas
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 Culture is Commonly
Learned Shared and
transmitted
 By what mechanism?
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Defining Culture
Where does culture come from?
While customs are not genetically
inherited, cultural adaptation may be
somewhat similar to biological adaptation.
Studying and Learning about Culture
 If you met a tourist who is having a hard time
understanding some aspects of American Culture,
what would you do?
Studying and Learning about Culture
Ethnocentrism
Judging another culture solely in terms
of one’s own culture
So what is problematic about Ethnocentrism?
Cultural Relativism
The anthropological attitude that a
society’s customs and ideas should be
described objectively and understood
in the context of that society’s
problems and opportunities
What if people practice slavery, torture, Violence against women,
or genocide?
Culture is Patterned
Culture is integrated
The elements or traits that make up
that culture are not just a random
assortment of customs but are mostly
adjusted to or consistent (patterned)
with one another.
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Describing a Culture
Ideal Versus Actual Cultural Patterns.
 Ideal cultural patterns refer to a society’s ideas (values
and norms) about how people should feel and behave
in certain situations

These are not always in tune….. Can you think of some examples
of this conflict in our own culture?
Culture is Patterned
Maladaptive Customs are those that diminish the
chances of survival and reproduction
 Where would you place China’s one baby policy?
 What about the Tapirape?
Adaptive Customs enhance survival and reproductive
success.
 Magic and religion
 Hunting and gathering
How and Why Cultures Change
If culture is generally adaptive to its
environment, then culture change should also be
generally adaptive.
Discovery and Invention
Diffusion
Acculturation
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How and Why Cultures Change
 Diffusion is a process by which cultural
elements are borrowed from another
society and incorporated into the culture
of the recipient group.
How and Why Cultures Change
Acculturation refers to the changes
that occur when different cultural
groups come into intensive contact.
Typically, a situation in which one of the societies in
contact is much more powerful than the other.
Ethnogenesis:
The Emergence of New Cultures
Ethnogenesis is a process
whereby new cultures
are created usually in
the aftermath of violent
events such as
depopulation,
relocation,
enslavement, and
genocide.
San Bacilio de Palenke….
Globalization:
Problems and Opportunities
Globalization is the spread of cultural
features around the world.
The diffusion of a cultural trait does
not mean that it is incorporated in
exactly the same way.
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rights reserved.