DOC PREVIEW
UB SOC 101 - Subcultures and Countercultures

This preview shows page 1 out of 3 pages.

Save
View full document
View full document
Premium Document
Do you want full access? Go Premium and unlock all 3 pages.
Access to all documents
Download any document
Ad free experience
Premium Document
Do you want full access? Go Premium and unlock all 3 pages.
Access to all documents
Download any document
Ad free experience

Unformatted text preview:

SOC101 1nd Edition Lecture 5Outline of Current Lecture from the Professor Hatton I. [Continuation of discussion of types of norms: Folkways, Mores, and then…]II. Taboos [5]A. These are norms that so strongly engrained in a culture that even the thought of violating the norm is met with revulsion and collective cultural horror.a) DQ: Can you think of examples of taboos? [cannibalism and incest]B. Ok, so those are the different types of norms that govern social behavior within a particular culture.C. But it’s also important to note that cultures aren’t monolithic; they aren’t totally uniform.D. Indeed, within cultures you will likely find both Subcultures and Countercultures. PP#12III. Subcultures are groups of people whose values and behaviors are distinct from dominant culture.A. There are thousands of subcultures in American society today• Some are connected to occupations—for instance, police officers in a city might have a particular subculture • Other subcultures are based on:• Social interests and activities (such as fraternities and sororities)• Religious affiliations (such as Jews, Muslims, Baptists), • Ethnic and racial groups (such as Irish Americans or Native Americans),• Political beliefs (such gun rights advocates or environmentalists).IV. Countercultures: which are groups of people whose values and norms place them in opposition to the dominant cultureA. Countercultures generally resist dominant culture in some way and, as a result, countercultures often encounter resistance or negative sanctions from the dominant culture for their norm violations.B. Oftentimes, we think of “countercultures” in a kind of negative way—prominent examples include gangs, or Satanists, or scary cults—groups which can cause real harm to individuals or society more broadly.C. But not all countercultures are negative in this way.• On Thursday, for instance, we are going to watch a documentary about the Amish—who are a true counterculture, since they seek to live in opposition to dominant American culture, These notes represent a detailed interpretation of the professor’s lecture. GradeBuddy is best used as a supplement to your own notes, not as a substitute.• But they are not trying to undermine dominant culture, so they are seen as beingmuch less harmful to society in general.D. It’s also worth noting that, in some cases, countercultures have contributed to changing dominant culture—so much so that they are no longer as considered so counter-cultural.• For example, the hippies of the late 1960s and early 1970s were originally part ofan oppositional counterculture movement• their actions contributed—at least to some degree—to the Civil Rights Movement, women’s liberation movement, anti-war movement, and environmental movement, all of which prompted broad social change.• but the counterculture hippie movement was later mainstreamed, so they were no longer much of a countercultureV. Sociologists have long been intrigued by subcultures.- Historically, sociologists studied subcultures from one of 2 main theoretical paradigms [1].- The first is the Chicago School. This was an approach developed in the early 20th century at the University of Chicago. In this view, subcultures are linked to deviance. They are a violation of conformity—a troubling violation of norms—and, therefore can promote delinquency & crime.VI. In contrast, the Birmingham School approach, which was developed in the 1960s at the University of Birmingham (UK).A. In this view, rather than being deviant, subcultures are seen as engaging the dominant culture in some way; B. They may challenge, resist, reinvent, or even contribute to the dominant culture, even as they are also distinct from dominant culture.C. In particular, researchers from this Birmingham approach examined youth subcultures, or what they called “youth formations.”D. Remember, this approach emerged in the 1960s, so researchers at this time were studying 1960s youth culture in England.• They studied the music, the way they dressed, their language and gestures, and their hairstyles. • And they argued that the youth weren’t necessarily deviant or delinquent; • Rather, they were creating their own subcultural style and identity, instead of simply adopting mainstream cultural styles. So this approach focused on the creative elements of consumption – how meaning & identity may be manipulated through style.E. In doing so, this Birmingham school notes, subcultures may engage in a process of bricolage – which is from the French verb bricoler, which means "to tinker" or "to fiddle."- So bricolage refers to the processes by which people use objects—or material culture—to create new cultural identities. - A good example of this is the safety pin. In dominant culture, safety pins are practical devices that carry little cultural meaning. - But in punk culture, safety pins became a form of decoration, a symbol of difference from mainstream culture.Thus, rather than seeing subcultures as threateningly deviating from the norm, as did the Chicago School, the Birmingham school sees subcultures as engaging in dominant culture in new and creative ways, ways that may even change dominant culture for the positive, rather than the


View Full Document

UB SOC 101 - Subcultures and Countercultures

Documents in this Course
Load more
Download Subcultures and Countercultures
Our administrator received your request to download this document. We will send you the file to your email shortly.
Loading Unlocking...
Login

Join to view Subcultures and Countercultures and access 3M+ class-specific study document.

or
We will never post anything without your permission.
Don't have an account?
Sign Up

Join to view Subcultures and Countercultures 2 2 and access 3M+ class-specific study document.

or

By creating an account you agree to our Privacy Policy and Terms Of Use

Already a member?