ISS 210 1st Edition Lecture 18 Outline of Last Lecture I II III IV V VI VII VIII IX X XI XII XIII XIV XV XVI XVII Ritual Functions Situation Definitions Social control Key terms Cultural Remission Time Out Ethanol Equivalents Blood Alcohol Level BAL Calculating BAC Stages of Intoxication Harris and the sacred cows Materialist interpretation Why sacred Criticism of Harris Cows gif Stuarts theory of cultural change The concept of integration Limitations of prior structure Outline of Current Lecture I II III IV V VI VII VIII IX X XI Participation in Cultural Communities Industrialization Cultural Process Change and Variation Culture Shock Linear Cultural Evolution Defining Intelligence Preparation for Life Insider Outsider Perspective Emics and Etics When is the same situation Current Lecture I II III IV V Participation in Cultural Communities People develop as participants in cultural communities their development can only be understood in the cultural practices and circumstances of their communities Avoid overly general terms the child does such and so rather than these children did such and so Time tables vary by cultural context what sources of support and danger are nearby Caring for other children 10 or older in the idle class US 5 7 in other societies Social Context Autonomy handling knives and fire For 8 10 month old infants US middle class 5 or older Industrialization Specialized institutions to deliver human services education and medical care led to age segregation Age grading segregated children from full range of community activities Schools isolated children from adults teaching lessons out of context for skills being learned Industrialization separated the work place from home where children might learn from keen observation as on farms in the US Isolates children from older generation and the older generation from children Cultural Process Culture isn t just what other people do People don t recognize that they have culture and take cultural practices for granted Understanding ones own cultural heritage requires taking the perspective of people form other cultural backgrounds Need contrast to see unique features of taken for granted ways of doing things Cultural practices fit together and are connected Not just a collection of practices coherence cannot reduce differences between communities for one or two variables Similar practices may have different ends Similar ends may be accomplished by different practices Change and Variation Cultural communities change as do individual social and physical environments change including new ways of making a living Variation exists within communities because peoples connection with communities differ Variation within and between communities as resource for humanity allowing us to be prepared for varied and unknowable futures There is not likely to be one best way This does not mean all ways are fine Requires one to suspend judgment about a practice to understand its function Cultural relativism Culture Shock Unlikely fish would discover existence of water The experience of others absence from ones own can make us aware of our cultural practices Unsettling to reflect on ones own cultural ways as an option rather than the natural way Comparison of diverse ways is not to judgmental but can be perceived as a threat Understanding of the patterns of cultural requires we suspend judgment of their values Interpreting the activity of other people without regard to their meaning system and goals emic renders observations meaningless Value judgments at times must be made but they should be well informed VI Linear Cultural Evolution Linear cultural evolution paces cultures on a single progression from primitive to us Henry Louis Morgan defined stages linking technological progress with social process Savage the lowest stage hunting and gathering societies subsistence on wild plants Barbaric starting to use agriculture Neolithic domestication of animals and pottery Civilized begins with the art of writing which binds together the past and the future The model was incorporated in many disciplines and the popular culture Western education was viewed as the means to boost backward cultures along the path Formal compulsory education used the 19th century to bring immigrant children to American values and reject old ways Led to creation of residential schools for Native American children that undermined their communities Post WWII UN model for modernization was to introduce European and North American style education in former colonies to raise people out of poverty and ignorance and bring them to modern ways VII Defining Intelligence Criteria for intelligence based on the professional activities of scholars thus biased toward the scholarly skill set Early childhood literacy where it serves important religious functions School like ways of speaking in sharing time African American children develop themes in connect episodes European American children use tightly structured narratives focused on a single topic that closely resemble the literate styles teachers aim to foster Different goals for different communities VIII Preparation for Life Adults prioritize learning goals according to adult roles and practices in their communities and the personal characteristics these require to fit in France Immigrants West African mothers viewed the use of toys as tiring for babies and often structures their infants interaction around other people emphasizing social intelligence over technical intelligence France mothers focused their infants attentions on toys and in animate objects to accomplish the opposite Appalachia helping the family takes precedence over attending school IX Insider Outsider Perspective Which is the true version of the culture or can we even know what is true post modernism Insiders people differ within communities so who can speak for the whole community Goes beyond membership to participation Outsiders viewed with suspicion evil eye with interest and hospitality but always subject to interpretation by natives Their presence effects behavior as does the natives concept of public and private behavior Hausa mothers do not show affection for their children in public Self transformation learning grounded in sense of genuine humility that what s going on with the other has lessons for me X Emics and Etics Emic ethnographical approach attempts to represent cultural insiders perspective on a particular community Etic ethnological perspective