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Theme 5 Summary APY1501 - Anthropology In A Diverse World (APY1501)
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Concise summary of key concepts and definitions in theme 5
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APY1501 Learning Theme 5 NotesCulture and Sociocultural systems:
Introduction:
Culture is still often popularly perceived as referring to refinement
or even civilised behaviour.
There is a perception that “cultured people” appreciate and
participate in the finer arts of life – poetry, prose, painting,
sculpture, symphony, opera etcetera.
An important phrase in Tylor’s concept is “acquired by man as a
member of society”.
o This emphasises the fact that culture is not obtained
biologically, but by growing up in the context of a particular
group, community or society and learning those particular
cultural ways or style of life.
Recent definitions tend to specifically differentiate between the
actual behaviour of people and the ideas, values and perceptions
that lead to or result inn that behaviour.
o Therefore, culture, in an anthropological sense, refers to
socially learned and shared patterns of thought, behaviour
and material production.
Eriksen claims that there are 4 basic objections as far as the
concept of culture is concerned:
o Culture unites people; all human beings are cultured and all
have a language, religion, political and economic system and
social organisation – this is what makes us uniquely human.
o Culture encourages delineation and the identification of
differences between groups – yet there are often significant
differences within a group.
o The political use of the concept of culture.
The anthropological concept of cultural relativism has
been used (and abused) to promote the claims of a
particular group, to discriminate against others and to
justify exclusion by means of aggressive nationalism.
o The whole concept of culture is rather general and vague,
and is used to refer to a conglomerate of various things.
, Anthropologist, George Murdock, termed these common elements,
patterns, traits or institutions, “cultural universals”.
o Cultural universals revolve around basic human survival,
such as finding food, clothing and shelter, and around shared
human experiences such as birth, aging and health.
o He further recognised “cultural particulars” as specific
practices that distinguish one culture from another.
The frequently relevant, systematic and sometimes striking
differences between persons and groups, are caused by the fact
that the people who belong to various groups have grown up in
different sociocultural environments.
5.1.1 Sociocultural groups:
People who share similar ideas and values and behaviour patterns
– a sociocultural system – are recognised as belonging to the
same group.
A group is 2 or more people regularly interacting on the basis of
shared expectations of others’ behaviour, interrelated statuses and
roles.
Culture – a way of referring to a group, such as a society or
community, which shares similar sociocultural characteristics.
Subculture – a distinctive set of standards and behaviour patterns
by which a smaller group of people functions, while still sharing
some common practices with the larger culture, society or
community.
Society – an organised group of interdependent people, who
generally share a common territory, language and sociocultural
system and who acts together for their wellbeing and survival.
Community – a community is at a lower systemic level than a
society, more localised, self-perpetuating and has more easily
identifiable boundaries.
5.2 Sociocultural systems:
By means of natural selection, organisms adapt biologically as
more favourable anatomical and physiological features develop to
cope with the environment.
Humans have a combination of intellectual and physical attributes,
abilities and skills that enables them to adjust and change their
environment rather than adapt to it.
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