Culture 25042022 122641pm

Culture
Definitions
• Definition by Garry Ferraro
• Culture is every thing that people think, do and have as members of society”
.
• Definition by Edward B. Tylor (1871)

• “Culture is that complex whole which includes knowledge,
belief, art, morals, law, custom, and any other capabilities and
habits acquired by man as a member of society”.
• Culture (from the Latin cultura stemming from colere, meaning

"to cultivate")
• Definition by Ralph Linton “Culture is the sum total of your
knowledge, attitude, habitual behavior patterns which are
shared, learned and transmitted by members of a particular
society” .
Two Types of Cultures
• Material Culture------Tangible (food, clothes, buildings, the

layout of fields and farms etc.)
• Non-material Culture----beliefs, norms, customs, values,
wedding ceremonies , systems of education, government, law,
religion etc.
• Strongest element of culture is religion
Difference between “culture” and “society”.
• Society generally refers to the social world with all its structures,
institutions, organizations, etc around us
• interdependent group of people who live together in a particular region and are
associated with one another.
• Culture is the common way of life shared by a group of people is termed as

culture (Stockard, 1997).
• Culture refers to the set of beliefs, practices, learned behavior and moral values
that are passed on, from one generation to another.
Characteristics of Culture
1. Culture is socially learned

• Culture is a natural outgrowth of the social interactions that constitute human groups whether
in societies or
organizations. Whenever and wherever people come to gather over time, culture develops.
• The essence of culture is that it is learned, shared, interrelated, and adaptive.
• It focuses on beliefs and behavior that people acquire not through biological heredity but
by growing up in a particular society and social group where they are exposed to a
specific cultural tradition
•
• Culture is learned through social interaction. And the learned behavior is communicated in the
group through forms of socialization such as observation, instruction, reward, punishment
and experience.
Three different ways of learning are:
• Individual situation learning: this means an individual animal or person learns
something by himself as specific situations lead him.
• Social situational learning: this involves learning from other members of a group, through
imitation. Even animals can learn this way.
• Cultural learning: this is uniquely human. It is possible only through the utilization of
intelligence and the ability to communicate through attaching . meanings to words,
objects or things. This is called symbolic communication. People learn culture directly
and through observation and social interaction.
2. Culture is general and specific
• Generally, all human societies of the world have a

culture. It distinguishes them from other nonhuman
beings. (eat, drink, live in groups, get married, have homes,
ritual, ceremonies etc.)
• Specifically, there are as specific cultures as
there are diverse peoples in the world.
• Humanity shares a capacity for culture (general), but people
live in particular cultures where they are encultured.
• It is through the socialization process that a person acquires a

cultural knowledge.
• In anthropology, this process is called enculturation.
• Enculturation is specifically defined as the process by which
an individual learns the rules and values of one’s culture.
3. Culture is Symbolic
• Symbols-------Signs, Sounds, emblems, objects
• .
• Symbols refer to anything to which people attach meaning
and which they use to communicate with others.
• More specifically, symbols are words, objects, gestures, sounds
or images that represent something else rather than
themselves.
• Things, actions, behaviors, etc, always stand for something else than merely, the thing itself.
• Symbols may be linguistic or nonverbal
• Symbols enter every aspect of culture

• social life------- wedding rings, ornaments ,dresses
• religious---------Crescent, cross, Jewish star, cow, clothes, objects, ornaments,
rituals, holy water, praying mat, rosary etc
• politics ----------Flags,
• Economics----------------------------------
• Pakistan’s flag is a symbol of freedom, patriotism, or Muslim majority in Pakistan for
most of the people.
4. Culture is Shared
• We learn our culture by observing, listening, talking, and
interacting with many other people.
• Culture is an attribute of individuals as members of a group.
• Culturally distinct ways of thinking, behaving, feeling, and
responding become habitual very early in life through
sharing.
• We share our opinions and beliefs with many other people
• We agree with and feel comfortable with people who are
socially, economically, and culturally similar to ourselves.
• Pakistanis abroad like interact with other Pakistanis.
• Birds of a feather flock together.
5. Culture is all-Encompassing
• Culture encompasses all aspects, which affect people in
their everyday of their lives.
• Culture comprises countless material and non-material aspects
of human lives.
• The concept is an all-encompassing term that identifies not only the
whole tangible lifestyles of people, but also the prevailing values
and beliefs
• Culture is the sum total of human creation: intellectual,
technical, artistic, physical, and moral; it is the complex pattern of
living that directs human social life, the things each new generation
must learn and to which they eventually add.
6. Culture and Nature
• Culture teaches us how to express our biological urges.
• Culture teaches us what to eat, how to eat and when to eat.
• What to wear and when to wear.
• Cultural habits, perceptions and interventions mold “human nature” in
many directions.
• Culture imposes itself on nature. It suppresses the natural, biological
instincts in us and expresses it in particular ways. For example, we as
biological beings feel the desire for food; but what type of food to eat,
how many times per day to eat, with whom to eat, how much to eat, how
fast or slow to eat, etc, are all determined by the cultural values and norms
of a particular group of people.
• In most parts of the world people may have 3 meals and others may
have 2 meals.
• North Americans pour cold milk in their tea
• Pakistanis pour hot milk
• How we sleep ,the kind of beds we use.
• Bathroom habits, dental care, waste elimination
7. Culture is Dynamic
• Culture responds to motion and actions within and around them.
• Culture must be flexible enough to allow adjustments when necessary.
• When a culture remains rigid or static for a long time it is not likely to continue.
• When cultures are so fluid and open to change they may lose their distinctive
character.
• Culture is stable and yet changing: Culture is stable when we consider what
people hold valuable and are handing over to the next generation in order to
maintain their norms and values.
• However, when culture comes into contact with other cultures, it can change.
That is, cultural diffusion, the spread of cultural traits from one are to the other,
may cause cultural change
• However, culture changes not only because of direct or indirect contact between
cultures, but also through innovation and adaptation to new circumstances. That
is, the forces of culture change are not only external, but they are also
internal.
•
Iceberg Theory of Culture
Ethnocentrism
• Ethnocentrism is judging another culture based upon the values and standards set in
one's own culture.
• Ethnocentrism often entails the belief that one’s own race or ethnic group is the
most important or that some or all aspects of its culture are superior to those of other
groups
• All of us often tend to judge the behavior of other people
in other groups by the standards of our own culture.
•
• Examples
• Judging Other Countries’ Diets
• Chopsticks Vs Western Cutlery
• Judging Women’s Cultural Outfits
• Superior race /country
• Delegitimizing Others’ Religious Celebrations (For example, in 2014, China attempted to crack down on the celebration of Ramadan in the Muslim
region of Xinjiang.This is an example of the dominant culture believing a minority culture’s beliefs and practices are a threat or inferior within the
space of the nation.)
Cultural Relativism
• Cultural relativism is the practice of assessing

a culture by its own standards rather than
viewing it through the lens of one's
own culture.
• Cultural relativism describes a situation
where there is an attitude of respect for
cultural differences rather than condemning
other people's culture as uncivilized or
backward
• Enculturation is specifically defined as the
process by which an individual learns the
rules and values of one’s own culture.
Factors responsible for the movement of culture
1. Trade –----The culture that is more powerful will leave its marks behind eg Burger
Culture (KFC, McDonalds, Pepsi)
2. Migration-----it becomes compulsory for people migrating to a new land to accept

the new culture but the locals may or may not accept new comer’s cultural traits.
• Eg.UK(whites) Pakistanis in UK
( Lenders) (receivers)
3.War -----People to people contact will bring about some changes(reciprocal)

British invaded in India
4. Media------foreign media
5. Communication technology

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Culture

• Definition by Edward B. Tylor (1871)

• Culture (from the Latin cultura stemming from colere, meaning

• Material Culture------Tangible (food, clothes, buildings, the

• Culture is the common way of life shared by a group of people is termed as

1. Culture is socially learned

• Generally, all human societies of the world have a

• It is through the socialization process that a person acquires a

• Symbols may be linguistic or nonverbal

• Symbols enter every aspect of culture

• Cultural relativism is the practice of assessing

2. Migration-----it becomes compulsory for people migrating to a new land to accept

3.War -----People to people contact will bring about some changes(reciprocal)

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