9/5/2013Thinking About Culture--Or What’s the Big Deal? (Chapter 1)1. Sort of introductiona. What is culture? The symbolic and material repertoirei. it is who we are and what we doii. with and through which people make sense of their world -- how it ought to be, notions of what is right or wrong, proper or improper, just or unjustiii. that allows people to claim and assert a certain distinctiveness or sense of identityiv. and that provides people with the symbolic and material tools with which to adapt to and cope with changing circumstancesb. Biology vs. Culture? (Nature vs. Nurture Debate)i. debate if human behavior is by biology determinism or culture structuralismii. nature side1. who and why societies act the ways they do based on their genetic make upa. how we eatingb. how we reproducec. how we breathed. men more oppressive than women???e. human genome project- sexual behavior, alcoholism, aggression...i. to establish correlations between genes, genetic make up, and hu-man behavior1. e.g constructing genes that alter behaviors = BAD (people might not want it)iii. Nurture side1. recognize biological influence but believe behavior and potential are influ-enced by culture contact --> cultural differencesc. General Propositiond. Cultural Relativism and Ethnocentralismi. Ethnocentralism: view every other culture from your own cultures P.O.Vii. Cultural Relativism: not judge other societies and don’t take own perspectives as normal or “right”1. understanding why others do what they do based on their different cultureiii. Critical Cultural Relativism1. a practice that would NOT be acceptable9/5/20132. e.g genocides, mass killings - questions if this is the norm that anthropolo-gists should study2. Major Characteristics of Culturea. learnedb. sharedi. has consequences of cultural identity, sharing understandings and expecta-tionsii. knowing what to do in certain situationsiii. not shared equally- complexity makes inequality (e.g social classes)c. symbolici. what you do conveys many messages with hidden meaningsd. unconsciousi. take for granted and internalize most of what we do on a normal basise. constantly changingf. holisticg. adaptivei. find common solutions and life experiences1.
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