CULTURE DIVERSITY AND IDEOLOGY

CULTURAL INTEGRATION:
Definition: “The bringing together of conflicting cultural elements, resulting in harmonious, cohesive whole.”
In a well-integrated culture, various norms, values, and customs will support one another and fit together. Even relatively minor aspects of a culture can
play a role in cultural integration. Cultural integration is not always the result of agreement by all members of a culture. Often this process is enforced from the top;
less powerful members of the society have little choice but to accept the dictates and values of those in control. Conflict theorists emphasize that while cultural
integration may exist in certain societies, the norms and values perpetuated are those favorable to the elites and the powerful.

CULTURAL VARIATION:
Each culture has a unique character. Cultures adapt to meet specific sets of circumstances, such as:
· Climate,
· Level of technology,
· Population,
· Geography etc.

This adaptation is evident in differences in all elements of culture, including norms, sanctions, values, and language. Thus, despite the presence of cultural
universals such as courtship and religion, there is still great diversity among the world’s many cultures. Even within a single nation, certain segments of the population
will develop cultural patterns which differ from those of the dominant society.

ASPECTS OF CULTURAL VARIATION:

SUBCULTURES: A segment of society which shares a distinctive pattern of mores, folkways, and values which differ from the pattern of larger society. It is a culture
within a culture. For example, in December in the United States,
· Christians celebrate Christmas, the dominant cultural festival of the US
· Jewish observe Hanukkah
· African-Americans celebrate Kwanzaa
· Some atheists join in on rituals to celebrate the winter solstice.

Subcultures develop in a number of ways. Sometimes it emerges due to the fact that a segment in society faces problems or even privileges unique to its
position. Conflict theorists argue that subcultures rise because the dominant society has unsuccessfully attempted to suppress a practice regarded as improper, such
as using illegal drugs.

They may be based on:

· Common age (teenagers, old people)
· Region (Pathan, Muhajir)
· Ethnic heritage (Bengali, American or East Indian)
· Occupations (police officers, people working for the mass media)
· Political beliefs (union workers or campaigners)
· Religious beliefs (Islamic, Jewish, Hindu, Christian)
· Hobbies (computer hackers, music, movies, art)
· Exclusion from society (prison inmates, ex-convicts, drug addicts, alcoholics).

COUNTERCULTURES:
Definition:“A subculture that rejects societal norms and values and seeks alternative lifestyles” (Yinger, 1960, 1982).
Countercultures are typically popular among the young, who have the least investment in the existing culture. In most cases, a person who is 20 years old
can adjust to new cultural standards more easily than someone who has spent 60 years following the same patterns of dominating culture.

Cultural Shock:
When in a different culture, a person may feel strangely disoriented, uncertain, out of place, even fearful. These are all indications that individuals may be
experiencing ‘cultural shock’.
For example, when visiting areas of China, if you ask for ‘local meat’ for dinner, you may be surprised to find out that the specialty in meat there is ‘dog meat’.
Cultural shock may even be experienced in our own society.
For example, when an elderly person may be exposed to heavy metal music or if someone may see a woman giving a martial arts class.

Attitudes towards Cultural Variation:

ETHNOCENTRISM:
Definition: The tendency to assume that one’s culture and way of life are superior to all others.
Every culture believes that their culture is the best. We use terms such as ‘underdeveloped’ ‘backward’ and ‘primitive’ to refer to other societies. What
‘we’ believe is religion, and what ‘they’ believe is superstition and mythology (Spradley and McCurdy, 1980).
Sociologist William Graham Summer (1906) coined the term ethnocentrism.
An ethnocentric person views his culture or group as the center or defining point of vulture and views all other cultures as deviations from what is normal.
The conflict approach to social behavior points out that ethnocentric value judgments serve to devalue groups and contribute to the denial of equal
opportunities (ref: case study).
Functionalists note that ethnocentrism helps in maintaining a sense of solidarity by promoting group pride.
It happens at the expense of degrading other nations and groups. It enhances our own patriotic feelings and belief that our way of life is superior.

Cultural Relativism:
Definition: Cultural relativism views people’s behavior in context of their own culture.
 It is not necessary to view all cultural variations with an assumption that one’s own culture is more humane, more civilized and more advanced than
others. It places a priority on understanding other cultures rather than dismissing them as strange or exotic. Cultural relativism stresses that different social contexts
give rise to different norms and values. Practices such as polygamy, bullfighting and monarchy are examined within the contexts of their own culture in which they
are found.
While cultural relativism does not suggest that we must unquestionably accept every form of behavior as a characteristic of culture, it does require a
serious and unbiased effort to evaluate norms, values and customs in light of the distinctive culture of which they are a part.

Xenocentrism:
Definition:It is the belief that products, styles, or ideas of one’s society are inferior to those that originate elsewhere (Wilson et al, 1976).
In a sense, it is reverse ethnocentrism. Example:
v People may assume that French fashions are superior,
v Japanese electronic devices are superior to their own.
The real question to ask is whether these products are actually superior or is it simply the lure of a fascinating, distant exotic culture that attracts people?
Such fascination with “British china” or “Danish glassware” is a damaging competitor to the United States’ companies. Some companies have responded with creating
products that sound European.

E.g., Haagen-Dasz, the ice-cream (made in Teaneck, New Jersey) or Nike shoes (made in Beaverton, Oregon).
Conflict theorists have observed the economic impact of xenocentrism in the developing world.
Consumers in developing nations frequently turn their backs on locally produced goods and instead purchase items imported from Europe or North
America.

CULTURE
An integral part of society
Culture is defined as: The totality of learned, socially accepted behavior.”
Culture includes:
 Ideas
 Values
 Customs

TYPES OF CULTURE
• There are two main types of culture, according to William F. Ogburn:
1. Material culture:Physical, technological aspects of our daily lives, including food items, houses, factories, and raw materials.
2. Non-material culture: Ways of using material objects, customs, beliefs, philosophies, governments, and patterns of communication.

SIGNIFICANCE OF CULTURE:
1. Preservation and perpetuation of life
 Society is the largest form of human group. It consists of people who share common heritage and culture.
 Members of the society learn this culture and transmit them from one generation to another.
 They preserve their culture through literature, art, video, archives and other forms of expression.
 If it were not for the social transmission of culture, each generation would have to reinvent all technology, norms, values, behavior etc.
 Simplification of day-to-day interactions

2. Things we take for-granted, things we say are ‘understood’ by everyone, are actually parts of our culture which is an important part of social life.
Examples:
 Greeting each other when we meet, shaking hands, embracing, having certain forms of greetings,
 Doctor-patient confidentiality
 Celebration of births, deaths, special occasions.

THE DEVELOPMENT OF CULTURE:

• Culture is almost as old as the beginning of man.
• The first archaeological evidence of culture dates back to thousands of years.
• Archaeologists have discovered :
- Hearths from 700’000 years ago.
- Tools from 90’000 years ago.
- Paintings, jewelry, statues from over 35000 years ago.
The process by which culture develops:
• Culture develops through two basic processes:
• Innovation and diffusion.

INNOVATION:
• The process of introducing an idea or object that is new to a culture is known as innovation.
• There are two forms of innovation: discovery and invention.
• Discovery making known an aspect of reality.
– E.g., discovering gravity, the DNA molecule or a new moon on Saturn.
• Invention comes into being when existing forms of nature are blended together into a form that did not exist before.
– E.g. the car, television, democracy.

DIFFUSION:
• The process by which a cultural item is spread from group to group or society to society.
• It can occur through military conquests, missionary work, mass media, tourism etc.
• Examples: McDonald’s is a multinational corporation based in Illinois. It has over 15 thousand restaurants across 9o countries.
• From the hamburger, it has the McHuevo in Uruguay, to Samurai Pork Burger in Thailand, thus responding to each culture it approaches.
ELEMENTS OF CULTURE:
1. Language:
• Language is an abstract system of word meanings and symbols for all aspects of culture.
• It includes speech, written characters, numerals, symbols, gestures of non-verbal communication.
• Language tells us a great deal about a culture.
• It serves as the foundation as well as the medium of expression.
• Language penetrates through all sections of society.
• It may be possible to transmit various simple cultural skills such as cookery, carpentry or even designing.
• But it is impossible to transmit complex cultural skills of legal and religious systems to the next generation without the use of language.
• Language may be a cultural universal but differences in the use of language are evident around the world.

Language, in the light of sociological perspectives:

- Functionalists:Emphasize the importance of language in unifying members of a society.
- Conflict Theorists:Emphasize the use of language to perpetuate the differences between groups and societies.
- Interactionists:Emphasize on how people rely on shared definitions of phrases and expressions in both formal speech and everyday communication.

SIGNIFICANCE OF LANGUAGE:
• Language can shape how we see, taste, smell, feel and hear.
• It influences the way we think about people, ideas, objects around us.
• Our norms, values, sanctions are communicated to the oncoming generation through language.
• Introduction of a particular language or use of a particular language, therefore, can sometimes be of great importance or become a great issue in a society.
2. Norms:
Norms are established standards of behavior maintained by a society.
For example, not harming others, being civil, respectful to elders, talking nicely to little children etc.
In order for a norm to become significant, it must be widely shared and understood
• Sociologists distinguish norms in two ways.

A. Formal norms:
- Written down, involve strict rules for punishment and violators.
- When you ignore these norms, you are punished.
Examples: state laws, rules of a game and even requirements for choosing a college major.
B. Informal norms:
- Not precisely recorded but understood by members of the society.
- When you ignore these norms, you may not be punished but people might make fun of you or consider you an outsider or ‘abnormal’.
- Examples: standards of dress, codes of speech etc.
- Sometimes people evade or escape following norms because they think it is weakly enforced:
- It is illegal in many states to drink alcohol yet drinking by minors is a common social problem throughout the United States.
- Sometimes one norm conflicts with the other.
- You hear a woman screaming in the apartment next door because her husband is beating her. If you decide to intervene, then you are violating the
norm of minding your own business at the same time assisting the norm of assisting violence.
- There are always exceptions to norms.
- Eavesdropping, murder can be legal with respect to difference in situation.
- Some social norms are so widely accepted that they need not be verbalized.
- cannibalism (to eat human flesh).
- Acceptance of norms is subject to change.
- Women in the US were only thought of as homemakers, now their cultural significance in terms of norms has changed.

3. Sanctions:
- Sanctions are penalties and rewards for conduct concerning a social norm.
- Conformity to a norm can lead to positive sanctions.
- Pay raise, medal, word of gratitude.
- Disregard to a norm may lead to negative sanctions.
- Fines, threats, imprisonment, stares of contempt.

 The higher a value is cherished, the more heavily it is sanctioned.

 The lower the critical value of any sanction, the lesser it is sanctioned.

4. Values:
Values are defined as ‘collective conceptions of what is considered good, desirable, and proper – or bad, undesirable or improper – in a culture’.
Values serve as the criteria for placing judgments, evaluating actions of people and placing sanctions upon what should or should not be done.
Some values may be specific,
- such as honoring one’s parents, owning a home.
- Some values may be general,
- such as health, love, democracy. They indicate what people in a given culture prefer as well as what they find morally right or morally wrong.

The values of a culture may change but most remain relatively stable during any one person’s lifetime.
• Values are defined as ‘collective conceptions of what is considered good, desirable, and proper – or bad, undesirable or improper – in a culture’.
• Values serve as the criteria for placing judgments, evaluating actions of people and placing sanctions upon what should or should not be done.
• Some values may be specific, such as honoring one’s parents, owning a home.
• Some values may be general, such as health, love, democracy.
• They indicate what people in a given culture prefer as well as what they find morally right or morally wrong.
• The values of a culture may change but most remain relatively stable during any one person’s lifetime.