CHAPTER 4 CULTURE AND SOCIALIZATION
NOTES
• Culture is learnt and developed through social interaction with others in
society.
• According to Tylor - "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."
• According to Bronislaw Manilowsky, "Culture comprises inherited
artifacts, goods, technical process, ideas, habits and values".
• According to Clifford Geertz, "...Man is an animal suspended in webs of
significance he himself has spun. I take culture to be those webs"
• Leslie White placed a comparable emphasis on culture as a means of
adding meaning to objective reality, using the example of people
regarding water from a particular source as holy.
Culture is:-
(i) a way of thinking, feeling, and believing.
(ii) total way of life of people.
(iii) an abstraction from behavior.
(iv) learnt behaviour.
(v) a storehouse of pooled learning
(vi) social legacy the individual acquires from his group
(vii) set of standardised orientations to recurrent problems.
(viii) normative regulation of behaviour.
• Emergence of diverse ways of life or culture is because of different settings.
,• Having access to modern science and technology does not make modern
cultures superior to the tribal cultures.
• a) Material Culture- Achievements of man which are concrete. It can be touched or seen
.e.g. - Pen, table, phone etc.
• b) Non-material Culture- Cognitive and normative aspects are non-material. It includes
abstract elements of society, transmitted to us by our ancestors. Eg -
beliefs, customs, morals etc.
Cultural Lag:- Material culture changes at a faster pace whereas the non-
material culture like beliefs and values changes at a slower pace. The gap
which emerges between material and non-material culture is called as cultural
lag.
The concepts of Great Tradition & Little Tradition was given by Robert Redfield
Great Tradition:- It comprises of the cultural traits or traditions which are
written and widely accepted by the elites of a society who are educated and
learned. These are in forms of epics and books.
Little Tradition:- It comprises of the cultural traits or traditions which is oral
and operates at the village level. It is a tradition of common masses and is
passed orally from generation to generation.
Dimensions of culture
(i) Cognitive aspect of culture: refers to understanding, how we make
sense of all the information coming to us from our environment.
(ii) Normative aspects: consists of folkways, mores, customs,
conventions and laws. Some values guide social behaviour in
different contexts. Social norms are accompanied by sanctions that
promote conformity.
(iii) Material aspects of culture: refer to tools, technologies, machines,
buildings and modes of transportation as well as instruments of
production and communication.
Difference between law and norms
(i) Norms are implicit rules, laws are explicit rules.
(ii) Law is a formal sanction defined by the government as a rule.
(iii)Laws apply to the whole society and violating the law attracts
penalties and punishment.
(iv) Laws are universally accepted while norms vary according to status.
Identity and Culture
• Identities are not inherited but fashioned both by the individual and the
, group through their relationship with others.
• Every person in modern society plays multiple roles.
• In culture, there are many sub-cultures, for e.g. elite, working-class youth.
Subcultures are marked by style, taste and association.
• Ethnocentrism: It is the application of one's own cultural values in evaluating
the behaviour and beliefs of people from other cultures. Ethnocentrism is
the opposite of cosmopolitanism, which values other cultures for their
difference.
(i) Cosmopolitanism celebrates and accommodates different cultural
propensities within its fold and promotes cultural exchange.
(ii) A modern society appreciates cultural differences.
(iii) In a global world, communication is shrinking distances between
cultures.
(iv) Cosmopolitan outlook allows diverse influences to enrich between
cultures.
Cultural Change
• Cultural change is how societies change their patterns of culture.
• Sources of change can be internal and external.
(a) Internal: New methods of farming boosting agricultural production.
(b) External : Intervention in the form of conquest or colonisation.
• Cultural change can occur through changes in the natural environment,
contact with other cultures or processes of adaptation.
• Culture is also transformed by revolutionary change
Radical changes can be initiated through political intervention
technological innovation or ecological transformation, for e.g. French
Revolution abolishing monarchy, expansion of media both print and
electronic.
Socialisation
• A process by which we learn and internalise socially acceptable behaviour.
• It is a lifelong process.
• Every individual performs multiple roles simultaneously. The process of
learning the norms, attitudes, values or behavioural patterns of different
groups begins early in life and continues throughout one's life. Norms and
values may differ within a society in different families belonging to different
castes, regions, social classes etc.
The two types of socialisation are :-
, (i) Primary Socialisation and
(ii) Secondary Socialisation.
• Agencies of socilaisation
Agencies of Socialisation
+
(I) (II) (111) (IV) (V)
Family Peer Group School Mass Media Other Agencies
like work
NOTES
• Culture is learnt and developed through social interaction with others in
society.
• According to Tylor - "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."
• According to Bronislaw Manilowsky, "Culture comprises inherited
artifacts, goods, technical process, ideas, habits and values".
• According to Clifford Geertz, "...Man is an animal suspended in webs of
significance he himself has spun. I take culture to be those webs"
• Leslie White placed a comparable emphasis on culture as a means of
adding meaning to objective reality, using the example of people
regarding water from a particular source as holy.
Culture is:-
(i) a way of thinking, feeling, and believing.
(ii) total way of life of people.
(iii) an abstraction from behavior.
(iv) learnt behaviour.
(v) a storehouse of pooled learning
(vi) social legacy the individual acquires from his group
(vii) set of standardised orientations to recurrent problems.
(viii) normative regulation of behaviour.
• Emergence of diverse ways of life or culture is because of different settings.
,• Having access to modern science and technology does not make modern
cultures superior to the tribal cultures.
• a) Material Culture- Achievements of man which are concrete. It can be touched or seen
.e.g. - Pen, table, phone etc.
• b) Non-material Culture- Cognitive and normative aspects are non-material. It includes
abstract elements of society, transmitted to us by our ancestors. Eg -
beliefs, customs, morals etc.
Cultural Lag:- Material culture changes at a faster pace whereas the non-
material culture like beliefs and values changes at a slower pace. The gap
which emerges between material and non-material culture is called as cultural
lag.
The concepts of Great Tradition & Little Tradition was given by Robert Redfield
Great Tradition:- It comprises of the cultural traits or traditions which are
written and widely accepted by the elites of a society who are educated and
learned. These are in forms of epics and books.
Little Tradition:- It comprises of the cultural traits or traditions which is oral
and operates at the village level. It is a tradition of common masses and is
passed orally from generation to generation.
Dimensions of culture
(i) Cognitive aspect of culture: refers to understanding, how we make
sense of all the information coming to us from our environment.
(ii) Normative aspects: consists of folkways, mores, customs,
conventions and laws. Some values guide social behaviour in
different contexts. Social norms are accompanied by sanctions that
promote conformity.
(iii) Material aspects of culture: refer to tools, technologies, machines,
buildings and modes of transportation as well as instruments of
production and communication.
Difference between law and norms
(i) Norms are implicit rules, laws are explicit rules.
(ii) Law is a formal sanction defined by the government as a rule.
(iii)Laws apply to the whole society and violating the law attracts
penalties and punishment.
(iv) Laws are universally accepted while norms vary according to status.
Identity and Culture
• Identities are not inherited but fashioned both by the individual and the
, group through their relationship with others.
• Every person in modern society plays multiple roles.
• In culture, there are many sub-cultures, for e.g. elite, working-class youth.
Subcultures are marked by style, taste and association.
• Ethnocentrism: It is the application of one's own cultural values in evaluating
the behaviour and beliefs of people from other cultures. Ethnocentrism is
the opposite of cosmopolitanism, which values other cultures for their
difference.
(i) Cosmopolitanism celebrates and accommodates different cultural
propensities within its fold and promotes cultural exchange.
(ii) A modern society appreciates cultural differences.
(iii) In a global world, communication is shrinking distances between
cultures.
(iv) Cosmopolitan outlook allows diverse influences to enrich between
cultures.
Cultural Change
• Cultural change is how societies change their patterns of culture.
• Sources of change can be internal and external.
(a) Internal: New methods of farming boosting agricultural production.
(b) External : Intervention in the form of conquest or colonisation.
• Cultural change can occur through changes in the natural environment,
contact with other cultures or processes of adaptation.
• Culture is also transformed by revolutionary change
Radical changes can be initiated through political intervention
technological innovation or ecological transformation, for e.g. French
Revolution abolishing monarchy, expansion of media both print and
electronic.
Socialisation
• A process by which we learn and internalise socially acceptable behaviour.
• It is a lifelong process.
• Every individual performs multiple roles simultaneously. The process of
learning the norms, attitudes, values or behavioural patterns of different
groups begins early in life and continues throughout one's life. Norms and
values may differ within a society in different families belonging to different
castes, regions, social classes etc.
The two types of socialisation are :-
, (i) Primary Socialisation and
(ii) Secondary Socialisation.
• Agencies of socilaisation
Agencies of Socialisation
+
(I) (II) (111) (IV) (V)
Family Peer Group School Mass Media Other Agencies
like work
