Sociology Essay Memo

2 Culture and Society

THE BIG QUESTIONS

What is culture?

Know what culture consists of, and recognize

how it differs from society.

How does human culture develop?

Begin to understand how both biological and

cultural factors influence our behavior. Learn

the ideas of sociobiology and how others have

tried to refute these ideas by emphasizing

cultural differences.

What happened to premodern societies?

Learn how societies have changed over time.

How has industrialization shaped modern society?

Recognize the factors that transformed

premodern societies, particularly how

industrialization and colonialism influenced

global development. Know the differences

among industrialized societies, emerging

economies, and developing societies, and

how these differences developed.

How does globalization affect contemporary culture?

Recognize the effect of globalization on your

life and the lives of people around the world.

Think about the effect of a growing global

culture.

Internet Connectivity

p. 67

During the fall of 2015, students across the United States organized demonstrations against racism on college campuses. Controversy abounded at Yale University when an instructor publicly questioned the validity of an email that had gone out from administrators with proposed guidelines for Halloween costumes. Ultimately, amid protest, the instructor and her husband resigned their posts as faculty-in-residence.

41Culture and Society

In October 2015, the campus of Yale University broke out in controversy over a

series of emails written by administrators about Halloween. The uproar began when

an initial email went out from an Intercultural Affairs Committee representing Native

American, black, Jewish, Latino, Asian American, and international students: “The

end of October is quickly approaching, and along with the falling leaves and cooler nights come

the Halloween celebrations on our campus and our community,” the memo began. “These

celebrations provide opportunities for students to socialize as well as to make positive con-

tributions to our community. . . . However, Halloween is also unfortunately a time when the

normal thoughtfulness and sensitivity of most Yale students can sometimes be forgotten and

some poor decisions can be made, including wearing feathered headdresses, turbans, wearing

‘war paint’ or modifying skin tone or wearing blackface or redface.”

While acknowledging students’ right to free expression, the administrators asked students

to consider how “culturally unaware or insensitive choices” might affect other groups. The

42 CHAPTER 2 Culture and Society

memo proposed that students ask themselves a series of questions before deciding on their

costumes:

1. For a funny costume, is the humor based on “making fun” of real people, human traits,

or cultures?

2. For a historical costume, does it further historical inaccuracies or misinformation?

3. For a cultural costume, does it reduce cultural differences to stereotypes or jokes?

4. For a religious costume, does it mock or belittle someone’s deeply held faith tradition?

A few days after the Intercultural Affairs Committee sent out this advice to students,

the deputy director of one of the Yale dormitories wrote a pointed response that questioned

whether it was appropriate for college administrators to police the costumes of young adults.

In an email to the dorm residents, she asked, “Is there no room anymore for a child or young

person to be a little bit obnoxious, a little bit inappropriate or provocative, or yes, offensive?

American universities were once a safe space not only for maturation but also for a certain

regressive, or even transgressive, experience; increasingly, it seems, they have become places

of censure and prohibition.”

This email set in motion a series of protests, with many students calling for her resignation

(and that of her husband, who defended her email in his capacity as the dorm’s director). Many

felt that she was dismissing the power of harmful stereotypes to further degrade marginalized

groups by encouraging those who take offense to a person’s costume to “look away.” Although

the president of Yale and the Yale College dean came out in support of the dorm director and

his wife keeping their jobs, she ultimately decided to resign from teaching at the college.

So why were the Yale students so upset? At the heart of this controversy over Halloween

costumes is a concept that sociologists refer to as cultural appropriation, which occurs when

members of one cultural group borrow elements of another’s culture, such as when a non-

Indian person dons a sari or a non-Japanese person wears a kimono. Is it always offensive

to take on elements of a culture to which you don’t belong? Even the most well-intentioned

and seemingly benign decisions to borrow the cultural style of another group can be under-

stood quite differently by those who come from that culture. There are no hard and fast rules

that can resolve such conflicts. One thing we can do is be aware of what is at stake here.

Sometimes cultural appropriation can reduce an entire way of life to a demeaning stereotype

that exacerbates historically unequal power relations. For this

reason, many schools have banned the use of Native American

mascots. Similarly, it was this sociological insight that led the

Intercultural Affairs Committee to urge students to be particu-

larly thoughtful and sensitive to others’ feelings on Halloween.

As the protests at Yale demonstrate, issues related to cultural

appropriation often come to a head at Halloween and at other

campus parties. But culture is more than just how we dress. In

this chapter, we will look at what culture is and its role in encour-

aging conformity to shared ways of thinking and acting. We then

consider the early development of human culture, emphasiz-

ing features that distinguish human behavior from that of other

species. After assessing the role of biology in shaping human

behavior, we examine the aspects of culture that are essential for

cultural appropriation When members of one cultural group borrow elements of another group’s culture.

“We’re a culture, not a costume” was a poster campaign launched by Ohio University that sparked a national conversation about racially insensitive Halloween costumes.

43What Is Culture?

human society. This leads to a discussion of cultural diversity, examining the cultural variations

not only across different societies but also within a single society such as the United States.

Cultural variations among human beings are linked to different types of society, and we

will compare and contrast the main forms of society found in history. The point of doing this

is to tie together closely the two aspects of human social existence: the different cultural

values and products that human beings have developed and the contrasting types of society in

which such cultural development has occurred. Too often, culture is discussed separately from

society, as though the two were disconnected, whereas in fact, they are closely intertwined.

Throughout the chapter, we concentrate on how social change has affected cultural develop-

ment. One instance of this is the effect of technology and globalization on the many cultures

of the world.

What Is Culture? The sociological study of culture began with Émile Durkheim in the nineteenth century

and soon became the basis of anthropology, a social science specifically focused on the

study of cultural differences and similarities among the world’s peoples. Early social scien-

tists assumed that “primitive” cultures were inferior, lagging far behind modern European

“civilization.” Sociologists and anthropologists now recognize that different cultures each

have their own distinctive characteristics. The task of social science is to understand this

cultural diversity, which is best done by avoiding value judgments.

Defining “Culture” Culture consists of the values held by members of a particular group, the languages they speak, the symbols they revere, the norms they follow, and the material goods they create,

from tools to clothing. Some elements of culture, especially the beliefs and expectations peo-

ple have about one another and the world they inhabit, are a component of all social relations.

Values are abstract ideals. For example, monogamy— being faithful to one’s sole romantic partner—is a prominent value in most Western societies. In other cultures, on the other hand,

a person may be permitted to have several wives or husbands simultaneously. Likewise, free-

dom of expression is a cherished value in the United States and many other nations. The Yale

Halloween incident vividly highlights an instance when the competing values of freedom

of expression and sensitivity to the feelings of minority group members came into conflict.

Norms are widely agreed-upon principles or rules people are expected to observe; they repre- sent the dos and don’ts of social life. Norms of behavior in marriage include, for example, how

husbands and wives are supposed to behave toward their in-laws. In some societies, they are

expected to develop a close relationship; in others, they keep a clear distance from each other.

Norms, like the values they reflect, vary widely both across and within cultures.

Among most Americans, for example, one norm calls for direct eye contact between per-

sons engaged in conversation; completely averting one’s eyes is usually interpreted as a

sign of weakness or rudeness. Yet, among the Navajo, a cultural norm calls for averting

one’s eyes as a sign of respect. Direct eye contact, particularly between strangers, is con-

sidered rude because it violates a norm of politeness. When a Navajo and a Western tourist

encounter each other for the first time, the Navajo’s cultural norm calls for averting the

culture The values, norms, and material goods character- istic of a given group. The notion of culture is widely used in sociology and the other social sciences (particularly anthropology). Culture is one of the most distinctive properties of human social association.

Know what culture consists of, and recognize how it differs from society.

values Ideas held by individuals or groups about what is desirable, proper, good, and bad. What individuals value is strongly influenced by the specific culture in which they happen to live.

norms Rules of conduct that specify appropriate behavior in a given range of social situations. A norm either prescribes a given type of behavior or forbids it. All human groups follow definite norms, which are always backed by sanctions of one kind or another—varying from informal disapproval to physical punishment.

44 CHAPTER 2 Culture and Society

eyes, while the tourist’s cultural norm calls for direct eye contact. The result is likely to

be a misunderstanding: The Navajo may see the tourist as impolite and vulgar, while the

tourist may see the Navajo as disrespectful or deceptive. Such cultural misunderstandings

may lead to unfair generalizations and stereotypes and even promote outright hostility.

Values and norms work together to shape how members of a culture behave within their

surroundings. Even within a single culture, the norms of conduct differ by age, gender, and

other important social subgroups. Gender norms are particularly powerful; women are

expected to be more docile, caring, and even more moral than men.

Finally, material goods refer to the physical objects that individuals in society create. These objects, in turn, influence how we live. They include the food we eat, the clothes

we wear, the cars we drive to the homes we live in; the tools and technologies we use to

make those goods, from sewing machines to computerized factories; and the towns and

cities that we build as places in which to live and work. As we saw in the case of the Yale

Halloween incident, material goods such as costumes can communicate very powerful

social meaning. While dressing up like a Native American might be deeply offensive on

a college campus, the response might be different at a Chicago Blackhawks hockey game

where there is no expectation that students will be in a “safe space.”

When we use the term culture in daily conversation, we often think of “high culture”—

like fine art, literature, classical music, ballet. From a sociological perspective, the concept

includes these activities, but also many more. Culture refers to the ways of life of the indi-

vidual members or groups within a society: their apparel, marriage customs and family

life, patterns of work, religious ceremonies, and leisure pursuits. The concept also covers

the goods they create and the goods that become meaningful for them—bows and arrows,

plows, factories and machines, computers, books, dwellings. We should think of culture

as a “design for living” or “tool kit” of practices, knowledge, and symbols acquired—as we

shall see later—through learning rather than by instinct (Kluckhohn 1949; Swidler 1986).

Is it possible to describe an “American” culture? Although the United States is cultur-

ally diverse, we can identify several characteristics of a uniquely American culture. First, it

reflects a particular range of values shared by many, if not all, Americans, such as the belief

in the merits of individual achievement or in equality of opportunity. Second, these values

are connected to specific norms: For example, it is usually expected that people will work

hard to achieve occupational success (Bellah et al. 1985; Parsons 1964). Third, it involves

the use of material artifacts created mostly through modern industrial technology, such as

cars, mass-produced food, clothing, and so forth.

Values and norms vary enormously across and even within cultures. Some cultures

value individualism highly, whereas others place great emphasis on collectivism. A simple

example makes this clear. Most pupils in the United States would be outraged to find another

student cheating on an examination. In the United States, copying from someone else’s paper

goes against core values of individual achievement, equality of opportunity, hard work, and

respect for the rules. Russian students, however, might be puzzled by this sense of outrage

among their American peers. Helping one another pass an examination reflects the value

Russians place on equality and on collective problem solving in the face of authority. Think of

your own reaction to this example. What does it say about the values of your society?

Within a single society or community, values may also conflict: Some groups or indi-

viduals may value traditional religious beliefs, whereas others may favor freedom of

expression, individual rights, and gender-based equality. Some people may prefer material

material goods The physical objects that a society creates; these influence the ways in which people live.

45What Is Culture?

comfort and success, whereas others may favor simplicity and a quiet life. In our changing

age—filled with the global movement of people, ideas, goods, and information—it is not

surprising that we encounter instances of cultural values in conflict.

Norms, like the values they reflect, also change over time. For example, beginning in

1964, with the U.S. surgeon general’s report “Smoking and Health,” which presented defin-

itive medical evidence linking smoking with a large number of serious health problems,

the U.S. government waged a highly effective campaign to discourage people from smok-

ing. A social norm favoring smoking—once associated with independence, sex appeal, and

glamour—has given way to an equally strong antismoking social norm that depicts smok-

ing as unhealthful, unattractive, and selfish. In 2014, the proportion of American adults

who smoked was 17 percent, compared to 42 percent in 1964, when the surgeon general’s

report was issued (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention 2015a).

Many of our everyday behaviors and habits are grounded in cultural norms.

Movements, gestures, and expressions are strongly influenced by cultural factors. A clear

example can be seen in the way people smile—particularly in public contexts—across

different cultures. Among the Inuit (Eskimos) of Greenland, for example, one does not find

the strong tradition of public smiling that exists in many areas of Western Europe and

North America. This does not mean that the Inuit are cold or unfriendly; it is simply not

their common practice to smile at or exchange pleasantries with strangers. As the ser-

vice industry has expanded in Greenland in recent years, however, some employers have

made efforts to instill smiling as a cultural value in the belief that smiling and expressing

“polite” attitudes toward customers are essential to competitive business practices. Clients

who are met with smiles and told “Have a nice day” are more likely to become repeat

customers. In many supermarkets in Greenland, shop assistants are now shown train-

ing videos on friendly service techniques; the staff at some have even been sent abroad

Smoking was portrayed as sophisticated and elegant in the 1950s. Today, smokers are vilified for harming themselves and their children. What has contributed to these drastic changes in our perceptions of smokers?

46 CHAPTER 2 Culture and Society

for training courses. Initially these requirements were met with discomfort by some

staff, who found the style insincere and artificial. Over time, however, the idea of public

smiling—at least in the workplace—has become more accepted.

Culture and Society “Culture” can be distinguished from “society,” but these notions are closely connected. A

society is a system of interrelationships that connects individuals together. No culture could exist without a society; equally, no society could exist without culture. Without cul-

ture, we would not be human at all, in the sense in which we usually understand that term.

We would have no language in which to express ourselves, we would have no sense of

self-consciousness, and our ability to think or reason would be severely limited.

Culture also serves as a society’s glue because culture is an important source of con-

formity, providing its members with readymade ways of thinking and acting. For example,

when you say that you subscribe to a particular value, such as formal learning, you are

probably voicing beliefs that conform to those of your family members, friends, teachers,

or others who are significant in your life.

Cultures differ, however, in how much they value conformity. Research based on sur-

veys of more than 100,000 adults in over sixty countries shows that Japanese culture lies

at one extreme in terms of valuing conformity (Hofstede 1997), while at the other extreme

lies American culture, one of the least conformist, ranking among the world’s highest in

cherishing individualism (Hamamura 2012).

American high school and college students often see themselves as especially

nonconformist. The hipsters of today, like the hippies of the 1960s and the punks of the

1980s, sport distinctive clothing styles, haircuts, and other forms of bodily adornment.

Yet how individualistic are they? Are young people with piercings or tattoos really acting

independently? Or are their styles perhaps as much the “uniforms” of their group as navy

blue suits are among middle-aged business people? There is an aspect of conformity to their

behavior—conformity to their own group.

society A group of people who live in a particular territory, are subject to a common sys- tem of political authority, and are aware of having a distinct identity from other groups. Some societies, like hunting-and-gather- ing societies, are small, numbering no more than a few dozen people. Others are large, numbering millions—modern Chinese society, for instance, has a population of more than a billion people.

In the photo on the right, members of a 1970s commune relax outdoors. On the left, a Harajuku girl poses for a photograph in Tokyo, Japan. Though their distinctive styles set them apart from mainstream society, these people are not as nonconformist as they may think they are. Both subcultures conform to the norms of their respective social groups.

47How Does Human Culture Develop?

Since some degree of conformity to norms is necessary for any society to exist, one of

the key challenges for all cultures is to instill in people a willingness to conform. This is

accomplished in two ways (Parsons 1964). First, individuals learn the norms of their cul-

ture. While this occurs throughout a person’s life, the most crucial learning occurs during

childhood, and parents play a key role. When learning is successful, the norms are so thor-

oughly internalized that they become unquestioned ways of thinking and acting; they

come to appear “normal.” (Note the similarity between the words norm and normal.)

When a person fails to learn and adequately conform to a culture’s norms, a second

way of instilling cultural conformity comes into play: social control. Social control often

involves the punishment of rule breaking. Administration of punishment includes such

informal behavior as rebuking friends for minor breaches of etiquette, gossiping behind

their backs, or ostracizing them from the group. Official, formal forms of discipline might

range from parking tickets to imprisonment (Foucault 1979). Durkheim, one of the found-

ers of sociology, argued that punishment serves not only to help guarantee conformity

among those who would violate a culture’s norms and values but also to vividly remind

others what the norms and values are.

How Does Human Culture Develop? Human culture and human biology are closely intertwined. Understanding how culture is

related to the physical evolution of the human species can help us better understand the

central role that culture plays in shaping our lives.

Early Human Culture: Adaptation to Physical Environment Scientists believe that the first humans evolved from apelike creatures on the African con-

tinent some 4 million years ago. Their conclusion is based on archaeological evidence and

Begin to understand how both biological and cultural factors influence our behavior. Learn the ideas of sociobiology and how others have tried to refute these ideas by emphasizing cultural differences.

As these pictures of members of a North Pole community (left) and a desert community (right) demonstrate, culture is powerfully influenced by geographic and climate conditions.

CONCEPT CHECKS

1. Describe the main elements of culture.

2. What role does culture play in society?

48 CHAPTER 2 Culture and Society

knowledge of the close similarities in blood chemistry and genetics between chimpanzees

and humans. The first evidence of humanlike culture dates back only 2 million years. In

these early cultures, humans fashioned stone tools, derived sustenance by hunting animals

and gathering nuts and berries, harnessed the use of fire, and established a highly coopera-

tive way of life. Because early humans planned their hunts, they must also have had some

ability for abstract thought.

Culture enabled early humans to compensate for their physical limitations, such as

lack of claws, sharp teeth, and running speed, relative to other animals (Deacon 1998).

Culture freed humans from dependence on the instinctual and genetically determined set

of responses to the environment characteristic of other species. The larger, more complex

human brain permitted a greater degree of adaptive learning in dealing with major envi-

ronmental changes such as the Ice Age. For example, humans figured out how to build fires

and sew clothing for warmth. Through greater flexibility, humans were able to survive

unpredictable challenges in their surroundings and shape the world with their ideas and

their tools.

Yet early humans were closely tied to their physical environment, since they still

lacked the technological ability to modify their immediate surroundings significantly

(Bennett 1976; Harris 1975, 1978, 1980). Their ability to secure food and make clothing

and shelter depended largely on the physical resources that were close at hand. Cultures

in different environments varied widely as a result of adaptations by which people fash-

ioned their cultures to be suitable to specific geographic and climatic conditions. For

example, the cultures developed by desert dwellers, where water and food were scarce,

differed significantly from the cultures that developed in rain forests, where such natural

resources abounded. Human inventiveness spawned a rich tapestry of cultures around

the world. As you will see at the conclusion of this chapter, modern technology and

other forces of globalization pose both challenges and opportunities for future global

cultural diversity.

Nature or Nurture? Because humans evolved as a part of the world of nature, it would seem logical to assume

that human thinking and behavior are the result of biology and evolution. In fact, one of

the oldest and most enduring controversies in the social sciences is the “nature/nurture”

debate: Are we shaped by our biology, or are we products of learning through life’s

experiences—that is, of nurture? Biologists and some psychologists emphasize biological

factors in explaining human thinking and behavior. Sociologists, not surprisingly, stress

the role of learning and culture. They are also likely to argue that because human beings

are capable of making conscious choices, neither biology nor culture wholly determines

human behavior.

The nature/nurture debate has raged for more than a century. In the 1930s and

1940s, many social scientists focused on biological factors, with some researchers seek-

ing (unsuccessfully), for example, to prove that a person’s physique determined his or

her personality. In the 1960s and 1970s, scholars in different fields emphasized culture.

For example, social psychologists argued that even the most severe forms of mental ill-

ness were the result of the labels that society attaches to unusual behavior rather than

of biochemical processes (Scheff 1966). Today, partly because of new understandings in

49How Does Human Culture Develop?

genetics and brain neurophysiology, the pendulum is again swinging toward the side

of biology.

The resurgence of biological explanations for human behavior began in the 1970s,

when the evolutionary biologist Edward O. Wilson published Sociobiology: The New

Synthesis (1975). The term sociobiology refers to the application of biological principles to explain the social activities of animals, including human beings. Using studies of insects

and other social creatures, Wilson argued that genes influence not only physical traits but

behavior as well. In most species, for example, males are larger and more aggressive than

females and tend to dominate the “weaker sex.” Some suggest that genetic factors explain

why, in all human societies that we know of, men tend to hold positions of greater author-

ity than women.

One way in which sociobiologists have tried to illuminate the relations between

the sexes is by means of the idea of “reproductive strategy.” A reproductive strategy is

a pattern of behavior, arrived at through evolutionary selection, that favors the chances

of survival of offspring. The female body has a larger investment in its reproductive cells

than the male—a fertilized egg takes nine months to develop. Thus, according to socio-

biologists, women will not squander that investment and are not driven to have sexual

relations with many partners; their overriding aim is the care and protection of children.

Men, on the other hand, tend toward promiscuity. Their wish to have sex with many part-

ners is sound strategy from the point of view of the species; to carry out their mission,

which is to maximize the possibility of impregnation, they move from one partner to the

next. In this way, it has been suggested, we can explain differences in sexual behavior and

attitudes between men and women.

Sociobiologists do not argue that our genes determine 100 percent of our behavior.

For example, they note that depending on the circumstances, men can choose to act in

nonaggressive ways. Even though this argument would seem to open up the field of socio-

biology to culture as an additional explanatory factor in describing human behavior, social

scientists have roundly condemned sociobiology for claiming that a propensity for par-

ticular behaviors, such as violence, is somehow “genetically programmed” into our brains

(Seville Statement on Violence 1990).

How Nature and Nurture Interact Most sociologists today would acknowledge a role for nature in determining attitudes

and behavior, but with strong qualifications. For example, babies are born with the abil-

ity to recognize faces: Babies a few minutes old turn their heads in response to patterns

that resemble human faces but not in response to other patterns (Cosmides and Tooby

1997; Johnson and Morton 1991). But it is a large leap to conclude that because babies are

born with basic reflexes, the behavior of adults is governed by instincts: inborn, biolog- ically fixed patterns of action found in all cultures. Sociologists tend to argue strongly

against biological determinism, or the belief that differences we observe between groups of people, such as men and women, are explained wholly by biological (rather

than social) causes.

Sociologists no longer pose the question as one of nature or nurture. Instead, they

ask how nature and nurture interact to produce human behavior. But their main concern

is with how our different ways of thinking and acting are learned through interactions

sociobiology An approach that attempts to explain the behavior of both animals and human beings in terms of biological principles.

instinct A fixed pattern of behavior that has genetic origins and that appears in all normal animals within a given species.

biological determinism The belief that differences we observe between groups of people, such as men and women, are explained wholly by biological causes.

50 CHAPTER 2 Culture and Society

with family, friends, schools, television, and every other facet of the social environment.

For example, sociologists argue that it’s not an inborn biological disposition that makes

American heterosexual males feel romantically attracted to a particular type of woman.

Rather, it is the exposure they’ve had throughout their lives to tens of thousands of mag-

azine ads, TV commercials, and film stars that emphasize specific cultural standards of

female beauty.

Early child rearing is especially relevant to this kind of learning. Human babies have

a large brain, requiring birth relatively early in their fetal development, before their heads

have grown too large to pass through the birth canal. As a result, human babies are totally

unequipped for survival on their own, compared with the young of other species, and must

spend a number of years in the care of adults. This need, in turn, fosters a lengthy period of

learning, during which the child is taught his or her society’s culture.

Because humans think and act in so many different ways, sociologists do not

believe that “biology is destiny.” If biology were all-important, we would expect all

cultures to be highly similar, if not identical. Yet this is hardly the case. This is not to

say that human cultures have nothing in common. Surveys of thousands of different

cultures have concluded that all known human cultures have such common charac-

teristics as language, forms of emotional expression, rules that tell adults how to raise

children or engage in sexual behavior, and even standards of beauty (Brown 1991). But

there is enormous variety in exactly how these common characteristics play them-

selves out.

All cultures provide for childhood socialization, but what and how children are

taught varies greatly from culture to culture. An American child learns the multiplica-

tion tables from a classroom teacher, while a child born in the forests of Borneo learns

to hunt with older members of the tribe. All cultures have standards of beauty and orna-

mentation, but what is regarded as beautiful in one culture may be seen as ugly in another

(Elias 1987; Elias and Dunning 1987; Foucault 1988). However, some feminist scholars

have argued that with global access to Western images of beauty on the Internet, cul-

tural definitions of beauty throughout the world are growing narrower and increasingly

emphasize the slender physique that is so cherished in many Western cultures (Sepulveda

and Calado 2012).

Sociologists argue that our preferences for particular body types are not biolog- ically ingrained but rather shaped by the cultural norms of beauty communicated through magazine ads, commercials, and movies.

51How Does Human Culture Develop?

Cultural Diversity The study of cultural differences highlights the importance of cultural learning as an influ-

ence on our behavior. Human behavior and practices—as well as beliefs—also vary widely

from culture to culture and often contrast radically with what people from Western societ-

ies consider normal. In the West, we eat oysters but we do not eat kittens or puppies, both

of which are regarded as delicacies in some parts of the world. Westerners regard kissing

as a normal part of sexual behavior, but in other cultures the practice is either unknown or

regarded as disgusting. All these different kinds of behavior are aspects of broad cultural

differences that distinguish societies from one another.

SUBCULTURES

Small societies tend to be culturally uniform, but industrialized societies are themselves

culturally diverse or multicultural, involving numerous subcultures. As you will discover in the discussion of global migration in Chapter 10, practices and social processes such

as slavery, colonialism, war, migration, and contemporary globalization have led to pop-

ulations dispersing across borders and settling in new areas. This, in turn, has led to the

emergence of societies that are cultural composites, meaning that the population is made

up of a number of groups from diverse cultural and linguistic backgrounds. In modern

cities, many subcultural communities live side by side. For example, over ninety different

cultural groups can be found in New York City today. Some experts have estimated that as

many as 800 different languages are regularly

spoken by residents of New York City and its

surrounding boroughs (Roberts 2010).

Most major European cities have become

increasingly diverse in the past two decades,

as large numbers of persons from North Africa

have arrived. As transnational migration has

increased, many European societies have

struggled with how to integrate persons who

bring with them distinct cultural and religious

backgrounds. For example, in 2011, the French

government made it a punishable offense for

Muslim women to wear full-face veils in pub-

lic spaces (except for houses of worship and

private cars). France is a country based on the

values of “liberty and equality” for all, and the

niqab, a full-face veil that covers a woman’s hair

and face, leaving only the eyes clearly visible,

is viewed as a cultural practice that oppresses

women and deprives them of their freedoms

(Erlanger 2011). This controversy over Muslim

women’s veils vividly portrays the challenges

when different subcultural communities live

side by side.

subcultures Cultural groups within a wider society that hold values and norms distinct from those of the majority.

The tension between subgroup values and national values came to a head in 2011 when the French government banned Muslim women from wearing full-face veils in public. French policymakers believed that the niqab oppressed women and violated the nation’s values of liberty and equality.

52 CHAPTER 2 Culture and Society

Subculture does not refer only to people from different cultural backgrounds, or who

speak different languages, within a larger society. It can also refer to any segment of the

population that is distinguishable from the rest of society by its cultural patterns. Examples

might include Goths, computer hackers, hipsters, Rastafarians, and fans of hip-hop. Some

people might identify themselves clearly with a particular subculture, whereas others may

move fluidly among a number of different ones.

Culture plays an important role in perpetuating the values and norms of a society,

yet it also offers important opportunities for creativity and change. Subcultures and

countercultures—groups that largely reject the prevailing values and norms of society— can promote views that represent alternatives to the dominant culture. Social movements

or groups of people sharing common lifestyles are powerful forces of change within soci-

eties. In this way, subcultures give people the freedom to express and act on their opin-

ions, hopes, and beliefs. For example, throughout most of the twentieth century, gays and

lesbians formed a distinct counterculture in opposition to dominant cultural norms. In a

few cities such as San Francisco, New York, and Chicago, gays and lesbians lived in distinct

enclaves and even developed political power bases. Over time, their political claims and

lifestyle became more and more acceptable to mainstream Americans, so much so that gay

marriage was legalized nationwide in 2015. Today, gays and lesbians are no longer a coun-

terculture. As the wider society has increasingly embraced their demand to be included in

the institution of marriage, gays and lesbians have embraced one of the most significant

institutions of mainstream society.

U.S. schoolchildren are frequently taught that the United States is a vast melting pot

into which various subcultures are assimilated. Assimilation is the process by which dif- ferent cultures are absorbed into a single mainstream culture. Although it is true that vir-

tually all peoples living in the United States take on many common cultural characteristics,

many groups strive to retain some subcultural identity. In fact, identification based on race

or country of origin in the United States persists today and is particularly strong among

African Americans and immigrants from Asia, Mexico, and Latin America (Totti 1987).

Given the immense cultural diversity and number of subcultures in the United States,

a more appropriate metaphor than the assimilationist “melting pot” might be the cultur-

ally diverse “salad bowl,” in which all the various ingredients, though mixed together,

retain some of their original flavor and integrity, contributing to the richness of the salad

as a whole. This viewpoint, termed multiculturalism, calls for respecting cultural diver- sity and promoting equality of different cultures. Adherents to multiculturalism acknowl-

edge that certain central cultural values are shared by most people in a society but also

that certain important differences deserve to be preserved (Anzaldua 1990).

CULTURAL IDENTITY AND ETHNOCENTRISM

Every culture displays its own unique patterns of behavior, which may seem alien to peo-

ple from other cultural backgrounds. If you have traveled abroad, you are probably familiar

with the sensation that can result when you find yourself in a new culture. Everyday hab-

its, customs, and behaviors that you take for granted in your own culture may not be part

of everyday life in other parts of the world—even in countries that share the same lan-

guage. The expression “culture shock” is an apt one! Often people feel disoriented when they

become immersed in a new culture. This is because they have lost the familiar reference

countercultures Cultural groups within a wider society that largely reject the values and norms of the majority.

assimilation The acceptance of a minority group by a majority population, in which the new group takes on the values and norms of the dominant culture.

multiculturalism The viewpoint according to which ethnic groups can exist separately and share equally in economic and political life.

53How Does Human Culture Develop?

points that help them understand the world around them and have not yet learned how to

navigate the new culture.

A culture must be studied in terms of its own meanings and values—a key presup-

position of sociology. Sociologists endeavor as far as possible to avoid ethnocentrism, or judging other cultures in terms of the standards of one’s own. Because human cultures

vary so widely, it is not surprising that people belonging to one culture frequently find it

difficult to understand the ideas or behavior of people from a different culture. In studying

and practicing sociology, we must remove our own cultural blinders in order to see the

ways of life of different peoples in an unbiased light. The practice of judging a society by its

own standards is called cultural relativism. Applying cultural relativism—that is, suspending your own deeply held cultural

beliefs and examining a situation according to the standards of another culture—can

be fraught with uncertainty and challenge. Not only can it be hard to see things from

a completely different point of view but cultural relativism sometimes raises trou-

bling issues. Consider, for example, the ritual of female genital cutting, or what oppo-

nents have called “genital mutilation.” This is a painful ritual in which the clitoris and

sometimes all or part of the vaginal labia of young girls are removed with a knife or a

sharpened stone and the two sides of the vulva are partly sewn together as a means of

controlling the young woman’s sexual activity and increasing the sexual pleasure of her

male partner.

In cultures where clitoridectomies have been practiced for generations, they are

regarded as a normal, even expected, practice. A study of 2,000 men and women in two

Nigerian communities found that nine out of ten women interviewed had undergone cli-

toridectomies in childhood and that the large majority favored the procedure for their own

daughters, primarily for cultural reasons; they would be viewed as social outcasts if they

did not have the procedure. Yet a significant minority believed that the practice should be

stopped (Ebomoyi 1987). Clitoridectomies are regarded with abhorrence by most people

from other cultures and by a growing number of women in the cultures in which they are

practiced (El Dareer 1982; Johnson-Odim 1991; Lightfoot-Klein 1989).

These differences in views can result in a clash of cultural values, especially when

people from cultures where clitoridectomies are common migrate to countries where

the practice is actually illegal. In France, many mothers in the North African immi-

grant community arrange for traditional clitoridectomies to be performed on their

daughters. Some of these women have been tried and convicted under French law for

mutilating their daughters. These African mothers have argued that they were only

engaging in the same cultural practice that their own mothers had performed on them,

that their grandmothers had performed on their mothers, and so on. They complain

that the French are ethnocentric, judging traditional African rituals by French cus-

toms. Feminists from Africa and the Middle East, while themselves strongly opposed

to clitoridectomies, have been critical of Europeans and Americans who sensationalize

the practice by calling it backward or primitive without seeking any understanding of

the cultural and economic circumstances that sustain it (Accad 1991; Johnson-Odim

1991; Mohanty 1991). In this instance, globalization has led to a fundamental clash

of cultural norms and values that has forced members of both cultures to confront

some of their most deeply held beliefs. The role of the sociologist is to avoid knee-jerk

ethnocentrism The tendency to look at other cultures through the eyes of one’s own culture, and thereby misrepresent them.

cultural relativism The practice of judging a society by its own standards.

54 CHAPTER 2 Culture and Society

responses and to examine complex questions carefully

from as many different angles as possible.

Cultural Universals Amid the diversity of human behavior, several cultural universals prevail. For example, there is no known cul- ture without a grammatically complex language. All cul- tures possess some recognizable form of family system,

in which there are values and norms associated with the

care of children. The institution of marriage is a cultural universal, as are religious rituals and property rights. All

cultures also practice some form of incest prohibition—

the banning of sexual relations between close relatives,

such as father and daughter, mother and son, and brother

and sister. A variety of other cultural universals have

been identified by anthropologists, including art, danc-

ing, bodily adornment, games, gift giving, joking, and

rules of hygiene.

Yet there are variations within each category.

Consider, for example, the prohibition against incest.

Incest is typically defined as sexual relations between

members of the immediate family, but in some cultures “the family” has been expanded to

include cousins and others bearing the same family name. There have also been societies

in which a small proportion of the population has been permitted to engage in incestuous

practices. Within the ruling class of ancient Egypt, for instance, brothers and sisters were

permitted to have sex with each other.

Among the cultural characteristics shared by all societies, two stand out in particular.

All cultures incorporate ways of communicating and expressing meaning. All cultures also

depend on material objects in daily life.

LANGUAGE

Language is one of the best examples for demonstrating both the unity and the diversity of

human culture because there are no cultures without language, yet there are thousands of

different languages spoken in the world. Anyone who has visited a foreign country armed

with only a dictionary knows how difficult it is either to understand anything or to be

understood. Although languages that have similar origins have words in common with

one another—as do, for example, German and English—most of the world’s major lan-

guage groups have no words in common at all.

Language is involved in virtually all of our activities. In the form of ordinary talk or

speech, it is the means by which we organize most of what we do. (We discuss the impor-

tance of talk and conversation in social life at some length in Chapter 4.) However, lan-

guage is involved not just in mundane, everyday activities but also in ceremony, religion,

poetry, and many other spheres. One of the most distinctive features of human language

is that it allows us to vastly extend the scope of our thought and experience. Using lan-

guage, we can convey information about events remote in time or space and can discuss

cultural universals Values or modes of behavior shared by all human cultures.

language A system of symbols that represent objects and abstract thoughts; the pri- mary vehicle of meaning and communication in a society.

marriage A socially approved sexual relationship between two individuals. Marriage normally forms the basis of a family of procreation— that is, it is expected that the married couple will produce and raise children.

Marriage is an example of a cultural universal, a value shared by all human cultures.

55How Does Human Culture Develop?

things we have never seen. We can develop abstract concepts, tell stories, make jokes, and

express sarcasm.

In the 1930s, the anthropological linguist Edward Sapir and his student Benjamin

Lee Whorf advanced the linguistic relativity hypothesis, or the Sapir-Whorf hypothesis, which argues that the language we use influences our perceptions of the world. That is

because we are much more likely to be aware of things in the world if we have words for

them (Haugen 1977; Malotki 1983; Witkowski and Brown 1982). Expert skiers or snow-

boarders, for example, use terms such as black ice, corn, powder, and packed powder to describe

different snow and ice conditions. Such terms enable them to more readily perceive poten-

tially life-threatening situations that would escape the notice of a novice. In a sense, then,

experienced winter athletes have a different perception of the world—or at least, a differ-

ent perception of the alpine slopes—than novices do.

Language also helps give permanence to a culture and an identity to a people.

Language outlives any particular speaker or writer, affording a sense of history and

cultural continuity, a feeling of “who we are.” One of the central paradoxes of our time

is that despite the globalization of the English language through the Internet and other

forms of global media, local attachments to language persist, often out of cultural pride.

For example, the French-speaking residents of the Canadian province of Quebec are so

passionate about their linguistic heritage that they often refuse to speak English, the

dominant language of Canada, and periodically seek political independence from the

rest of Canada.

Languages—indeed, all symbols—are representations of reality. The symbols we

use may signify things we imagine, such as mathematical formulas or fictitious crea-

tures, or they may represent (that is, “re-present,” or make present again in our minds)

things initially experienced through our senses. Symbols even represent emotions,

as the common emoticons of :) (happy) and ;) (good-natured winking) reveal. Human

behavior is oriented toward the symbols we use to represent reality, rather than to the

reality itself—and these symbols are determined within a particular culture. Because

symbols are representations, their cultural meanings must be interpreted when they

are used. When you see a four-footed furry animal, for example, you must determine

which cultural symbol to attach to it. Do you decide to call it a dog, a wolf, or some-

thing else? If you determine it is a dog, what cultural meaning does that convey? In

American culture, dogs are typically regarded as household pets and lavished with

affection. Among the Akha of northern Thailand, dogs are seen as food and treated

accordingly. The diversity of cultural meanings attached to the word dog thus requires

an act of interpretation. In this way, we are freed, in a sense, from being directly tied to

the physical world around us.

SPEECH AND WRITING

All societies use speech as a vehicle of language. However, there are other ways of “carry-

ing,” or expressing, language—most notably, writing. The invention of writing marked a

major transition in human history. Writing first began as the drawing up of lists. Marks

would be made on wood, clay, or stone to keep records about significant events, objects,

or people. For example, a mark, or sometimes a picture, might be drawn to represent each

tract of land possessed by a particular family or set of families (Gelb 1952). Writing began

linguistic relativity hypothesis A hypothesis, based on the theories of Edward Sapir and Benjamin Lee Whorf, that perceptions are relative to language; also referred to as the Sapir-Whorf hypothesis.

56 CHAPTER 2 Culture and Society

as a means of storing information and as such was closely linked to the administrative

needs of early civilizations. A society that possesses writing can locate itself in time and

space. Documents can be accumulated that record the past, and information can be gath-

ered about present-day events and activities.

Writing is not just the transfer of speech to paper or some other durable material. It

is a phenomenon of interest in its own right. Written documents or texts have qualities in

some ways quite distinct from the spoken word. The impact of speech is always by defini-

tion limited to the particular contexts in which words are uttered. Ideas and experiences

can be passed down through generations in cultures without writing, but only if they are

regularly repeated and passed on by word of mouth. Written texts, on the other hand, can

endure for thousands of years, and through them people from past ages can in a certain

sense address us directly. This is, of course, why documentary research is so important to

historians. By interpreting the texts that are left behind by past generations, historians can

reconstruct what their lives were like.

MATERIAL CULTURE

The symbols expressed in speech and writing are the chief ways in which cultural mean-

ings are formed and expressed. But they are not the only ways. As we saw earlier in this

chapter, both material objects and aspects of behavior can be used to generate meanings.

A signifier is any vehicle of meaning—any set of elements used to communicate. The sounds made in speech are signifiers, as are the marks made on paper or other materials

in writing. Other signifiers, however, include dress, pictures or visual signs, modes of

eating, forms of building or architecture, and many other material features of culture

(Hawkes 1977).

Styles of dress, for example, normally help signify differences between the sexes. Even

colors can signify important aspects of culture. In contemporary society, young girls are

typically dressed in pink while boys are dressed in blue—but this wasn’t always the case

(Paoletti 2012). In the nineteenth century, both boys and girls wore frilly white clothing.

A June 1918 article in Ladies’ Home Journal stated, “The generally accepted rule is pink for

the boys, and blue for the girls. The reason is that pink, being a more decided and stronger

color, is more suitable for the boy, while blue, which is more delicate and dainty, is prettier

for the girl” (Paoletti 2012).

Material culture is not simply symbolic; it is also vital for catering to physical needs—

in the tools or technology used to acquire food, make weaponry, construct dwellings, man-

ufacture our clothing, and so forth. We have to study both the practical and the symbolic

aspects of material culture in order to understand it completely.

Culture and Social Development Cultural traits are closely related to overall patterns in the development of society. The

level of material culture reached in a given society influences, although by no means

completely determines, other aspects of cultural development. This is easy to see, for

example, in the level of technology. Many aspects of culture characteristic of our lives

today—cars, smartphones, laptops and tablets, Wi-Fi, running water, electric light—

depend on technological innovations that have been made only very recently in human

history.

signifier Any vehicle of meaning and communication.

Our secrets powerfully reveal the social norms

that govern our behavior. Postcards submitted to

PostSecret, an ongoing community art project,

highlight how certain behaviors like theft, eating

disorders, and infidelity are stigmatized.

DIGITAL LIFE

The Secret Power of Cultural Norms and Values

Norms are widely agreed-upon principles or rules that people

are expected to observe; they represent the dos and don’ts of

social life. One way to illustrate the power of a social norm

is to examine reactions to norm violations. Those who vio-

late norms are often subject to the overt or subtle disapproval

of others. Common reactions might include being scolded or

mocked by friends for minor breaches of etiquette, being gos-

siped about behind our backs, or being ostracized from the

social group. Yet norms are so powerful that violators often feel

shame or self-criticism even in the absence of others’ words

or actions.

A vivid display of the power of norms is PostSecret, an on-

going community art project where people mail in their secrets

anonymously on one side of a homemade postcard. The post-

cards are then posted online for others to view or comment on.

What does it tell us about social norms when a young woman

confesses, “He found my vomit in the sink. . . . I said I was fine.

I LIED”? In American society, eating disorders like bulimia vio-

late a social norm that says we shouldn’t hurt ourselves. Yet it

also subtly conveys another norm: Young women are expected

to be thin in order to live up to our cultural ideals of “beauty.”

Using means other than the socially approved strategies of

healthy diet and exercise, however, is a source of shame.

Other postcards make claims like “I’ve been stealing $$$

from the piggy banks of the kids I babysit to buy groceries and

weed.” This postcard reveals the violations of several important

norms and values (and laws): that we should not steal (espe-

cially from children), that we should not do drugs, and that

poverty is a stigmatized status—and one that people are often

ashamed of.

A simple scroll through the postcards on the PostSecret

website reveals the many social norms at play in our culture

and the deep shame or fear of reprisal that comes from vio-

lating these behavioral expectations. Yet the fact that peo-

ple throughout the world are willing to anonymously share

their transgressions with others shows just how common

norm violations are. It also shows just how powerful and

even oppressive norms can be, given how many seek ref-

uge by silently and anonymously “confessing” their wrongs

on PostSecret.

A quick look at the site also reveals that the vast majority

of participants are women. As we noted earlier in the chap-

ter, some scholars have argued that norms regarding women’s

behavior are more rigid than those guiding men’s behavior.

Can you think of secrets that men may post, and how they

might differ from those posted by women? How might sites

like PostSecret reinforce or challenge social norms, espe-

cially gender norms? Do you think a forum like PostSecret

would work in a venue other than the anonymous world of the

Internet?

58 CHAPTER 2 Culture and Society

The same is true at earlier phases of social development. Before the invention of the

smelting of metal, for example, goods had to be made of organic or naturally occurring

materials like wood or stone—a basic limitation on the artifacts that could be constructed.

Variations in material culture provide the main means of distinguishing different forms

of human society, but other factors are also influential. Writing is an example. As has

been mentioned, not all human cultures have possessed writing—in fact, for most of

human history, writing was unknown. The development of writing altered the scope

of human cultural potentialities, making possible different forms of social organization

than those that had previously existed. Yet writing continues to evolve even today. Think

about the language you use when you send texts to your friends. If you sent your grand-

parents a text with acronyms like FOMO, YOLO, and ROFL, would they understand

what you were saying?

We now turn to analyzing the main types of society that existed in the past and that

are still found in the world. In the present day, we are accustomed to societies that contain

millions of people, many of them living crowded together in urban areas. But for most of

human history, the Earth was much less densely populated than it is now, and it is only

over the past hundred years or so that any societies have existed in which the majority of

the population were city dwellers. To understand the forms of society that existed before

modern industrialism, we have to call on the historical dimension of the sociological

imagination.

What Happened to Premodern Societies? Premodern societies can actually be grouped into three main categories: hunters and gath-

erers, larger agrarian or pastoral societies (involving agriculture or the tending of domes-

ticated animals), and nonindustrial civilizations or traditional states. We shall look at the

main characteristics of these societies in turn.

The Earliest Societies: Hunters and Gatherers For all but a tiny part of our existence on this planet, human beings have lived in

hunting-and-gathering societies, small groups or tribes often numbering no more than

thirty or forty people. Hunters and gatherers gain their livelihood from hunting, fishing,

and gathering edible plants growing in the wild. Hunting-and-gathering cultures con-

tinue to exist in some parts of the world, such as in a few arid parts of Africa and the

jungles of Brazil and New Guinea. Most such cultures, however, have been destroyed

or absorbed by the spread of Western culture, and those that remain are unlikely to stay

intact for much longer. Currently, fewer than a quarter of a million people in the world

support themselves through hunting and gathering—only 0.004 percent of the world’s

population.

CONCEPT CHECKS

1. Explain the nature/ nurture debate.

2. Why do sociologists disagree with the claim that biology is destiny?

3. Give examples of sub- cultures that are typical of American society.

4. What is the difference between cultural ethnocentrism and cultural relativism?

5. Why is language considered to be a cultural universal?

6. What is the linguistic relativity hypothesis?

Learn how societies have changed over time.

59What Happened to Premodern Societies?

Compared with larger societies—particularly modern societies such as the United

States—most hunting-and-gathering groups were egalitarian. Thus, there was little

difference among members of the society in the number or kinds of material posses-

sions; there were no divisions of rich and poor. The material goods they needed were

limited to weapons for hunting, tools for digging and building, traps, and cooking uten-

sils. Differences of position or rank tended to be limited to age and gender; men were

almost always the hunters, while women gathered wild crops, cooked, and brought up

the children.

Hunters and gatherers moved about a good deal, but not in a completely erratic way.

They had fixed territories, around which they migrated regularly from year to year. Because

they were without animal or mechanical means of transport, they could only take a few

goods or possessions with them. Many hunting-and-gathering communities did not have

a stable membership; people often moved among different camps, or groups split up and

joined others within the same overall territory.

Hunters and gatherers had little interest in developing material wealth beyond what

was needed for their basic needs. Their main concerns were with religious values and

ritual activities. Members participated regularly in elaborate ceremonials and often spent

a great deal of time preparing the dress, masks, paintings, or other sacred objects used in

such rituals.

Hunters and gatherers are not merely primitive peoples whose ways of life no longer

hold any interest for us. Studying their cultures allows us to see more clearly that some of

our institutions are far from being natural features of human life. While we shouldn’t ide-

alize the circumstances in which hunters and gatherers lived, the lack of major inequalities

of wealth and power and the emphasis on cooperation rather than competition are instruc-

tive reminders that the world created by modern industrial civilization is not necessarily

to be equated with progress.

Pastoral and Agrarian Societies About 15,000 years ago, some hunting-and-gathering groups turned to the raising of

domesticated animals and the cultivation of fixed plots of land as their means of live-

lihood. Pastoral societies relied mainly on domesticated livestock, while agrarian societies grew crops (practiced agriculture). Some societies had mixed pastoral and agrarian economies.

Depending on the environment in which they lived, pastoralists reared animals such

as cattle, sheep, goats, camels, or horses. Some pastoral societies still exist in the modern

world, concentrated especially in areas of Africa, the Middle East, and Central Asia. They

are usually found in regions of dense grasslands or in deserts or mountains, which are too

poor in arable land for agriculture to be profitable.

At some point, hunting-and-gathering groups began to sow their own crops rather

than simply collect those growing in the wild. This practice first developed as what is

usually called horticulture, in which small gardens were cultivated by the use of simple

hoes or digging instruments. Like pastoralism, horticulture provided for a more reliable

supply of food than was possible from hunting and gathering and therefore could sup-

port larger communities. Because they were not on the move, people whose livelihood

pastoral societies Societies whose subsis- tence derives from the rearing of domesticated animals.

agrarian societies Societies whose means of subsistence are based on agricultural production (crop growing).

60 CHAPTER 2 Culture and Society

was horticulture could develop larger stocks of material possessions than people in either

hunting-and-gathering or pastoral communities. Some peoples in the world still rely pri-

marily on horticulture for their livelihood.

Traditional Societies or Civilizations From about 6000 bce onward, we find evidence of societies larger than any that existed

before and that contrast in distinct ways with earlier types. These societies were based

on the development of cities, led to pronounced inequalities of wealth and power, and

were ruled by kings or emperors. Because writing was used and science and art flour-

ished, these societies are often called “civilizations.” The earliest civilizations developed

in the Middle East, usually in fertile river areas. The Chinese Empire originated in about

1800 bce, at which time powerful states were also in existence in what are now India

and Pakistan.

Most traditional (premodern) civilizations were also empires: They achieved their

size through the conquest and incorporation of other peoples (Kautsky 1982). This was

true, for instance, of traditional Rome and China. At its height, in the first century ce, the

Roman Empire stretched from Britain in northwest Europe to beyond the Middle East.

The Chinese Empire, which lasted for more than 2,000 years, up to the threshold of the

twentieth century, covered most of the massive region of eastern Asia now occupied by

modern China.

Basotho shepherds stand with their flock in Lesotho, Africa. Pastoral societies, which rely on domesticated livestock as their means of livelihood, still exist in certain areas of Africa, the Middle East, and Central Asia.

CONCEPT CHECKS

1. Compare the two main types of premodern societies.

2. Contrast pastoral and agrarian societies.

61How Has Industrialization Shaped Modern Society?

How Has Industrialization Shaped Modern Society? What happened to destroy the forms of society that dominated the whole of history up to

two centuries ago? The answer, in a word, is industrialization—the emergence of machine production, based on the use of inanimate power resources (such as steam or electricity).

The industrialized, or modern, societies differ in several key respects from any previous

type of social order, and their development has had consequences stretching far beyond

their European origins.

The Industrialized Societies Industrialization originated in eighteenth-century Britain as a result of the Industrial

Revolution, a complex set of technological changes that affected the means by which peo-

ple gained their livelihood. These changes included the invention of new machines (such

as the spinning jenny for weaving yarn), the harnessing of power resources (especially

water and steam) for production, and the use of science to improve production methods.

Because discoveries and inventions in one field lead to more in others, the pace of techno-

logical innovation in industrialized societies is extremely rapid compared with that of traditional social systems.

In even the most advanced of traditional civilizations, the majority of people were

engaged in working on the land. The relatively low level of technological development

did not permit more than a small minority to be freed from the chores of agricultural

production. By contrast, a prime feature of industrialized societies today is that the large

majority of the employed population work in factories, offices, or shops rather than in

agriculture. And over 90 percent of people live in towns and cities, where most jobs are

to be found and new job opportunities created. The largest cities are vastly greater in size

than the urban settlements found in traditional civilizations. In cities, social life becomes

more impersonal and anonymous than before, and many of our day-to-day encounters are

with strangers. Large-scale organizations, such as business corporations or government

agencies, come to influence the lives of virtually everyone.

A further feature of modern societies concerns their political systems, which are more

developed and intensive than forms of government in traditional states. In traditional civ-

ilizations, the political authorities (monarchs and emperors) had little direct influence on

the customs and habits of most of their subjects, who lived in fairly self-contained local

villages. With industrialization, transportation and communications became much more

rapid, making for a more integrated “national” community.

The industrialized societies were the first nation-states to come into existence. Nation-states are political communities with clearly delimited borders dividing them from

one another, rather than the vague frontier areas that used to separate traditional states.

Nation-state governments have extensive powers over many aspects of citizens’ lives,

framing laws that apply to all those living within their borders. The United States is a

nation-state, as are virtually all other societies in the world today.

Recognize the factors that transformed premodern societies, particularly how industrialization and colonialism influenced global development. Know the differences among industrialized societies, emerging economies, and developing societies, and how these differences developed.

industrialization The emergence of machine production, based on the use of inanimate power resources (such as steam or electricity).

industrialized societies Highly developed nation- states in which the majority of the population work in factories or offices rather than in agriculture, and most people live in urban areas.

nation-state A particular type of state, characteristic of the modern world, in which a government has sovereign power within a defined territorial area, and the population are citizens who know themselves to be part of a single nation.

62 CHAPTER 2 Culture and Society

The application of industrial technology has been by no means limited to peaceful

processes of economic development. From the earliest phases of industrialization, modern

production processes have been put to military use, and this has radically altered ways of

waging war, creating weaponry and modes of military organization much more advanced

than those of nonindustrial cultures. Together, superior economic strength, political cohe-

sion, and military superiority account for the seemingly irresistible spread of Western

ways of life across the world over the past two centuries.

Global Development From the seventeenth to the early twentieth century, the Western countries established

colonies in numerous areas previously occupied by traditional societies, using their supe-

rior military strength where necessary. Although virtually all these colonies have now

attained their independence, colonialism was central to shaping the social map of the globe as we know it today. In some regions, such as North America, Australia, and New

Zealand, which were only thinly populated by hunting-and-gathering or pastoral commu-

nities, Europeans became the majority population. In other areas, including much of Asia,

Africa, and South America, the local populations remained in the majority.

Societies of the first of these two types, including the United States, have become

industrialized. Those in the second category are mostly at a much lower level of indus-

trial development and are often referred to as less-developed societies, or the developing world. Such societies include China, India, most African countries (such as Nigeria, Ghana, and Algeria), and those in South America (such as Brazil, Peru, and Venezuela).

Because many of these societies are situated south of the United States and Europe, they

are sometimes referred to collectively as the Global South, and contrasted to the wealth-

ier, industrialized Global North.

People crowd the streets of Tokyo’s entertainment district. Japan is an exemplar of an industrialized society. It is the third-largest economy, measured by GDP, lagging behind only the United States and China.

colonialism The process whereby Western nations established their rule in parts of the world away from their home territories.

developing world The less-developed societies, in which industrial production is either virtually nonexistent or only developed to a limited degree. The majority of the world’s population live in less- developed countries.

63How Has Industrialization Shaped Modern Society?

THE DEVELOPING WORLD

The large majority of less-developed societies are in areas that underwent colonial rule in

Asia, Africa, and South America. A few colonized areas gained independence early, such as

Haiti, which became the first autonomous black republic in January 1804. The Spanish col-

onies in South America acquired their freedom in 1810; Brazil broke away from Portuguese

rule in 1822.

Some countries that were never ruled from Europe were nonetheless strongly influ-

enced by colonial relationships, the most notable example being China. By force of arms,

China was compelled from the seventeenth century on to enter into trading agreements

with European powers, by which the Europeans were allocated the government of cer-

tain areas, including major seaports. Hong Kong was the last of these. Most nations in the

developing world have become independent states only since World War II—often follow-

ing bloody anticolonial struggles. Examples include India, which shortly after achieving

self-rule split into India and Pakistan; a range of other Asian countries (like Myanmar,

Malaysia, and Singapore); and countries in Africa (including Kenya, Nigeria, the Democratic

Republic of Congo, Tanzania, and Algeria).

Although they may include peoples living in traditional fashion, developing coun-

tries are very different from earlier forms of traditional society. Their political systems are

modeled on systems first established in the societies of the West—that is to say, they are

nation-states. Most of the population still live in rural areas, but many of these societies are

experiencing a rapid process of city development. Although agriculture remains the main

economic activity, crops are now often produced for sale in world markets rather than for

local consumption. Developing countries are not merely societies that have “lagged behind”

the more industrialized areas. They have in large part been created by contact with Western

industrialism, which has undermined the earlier, more traditional systems that were in place.

THE EMERGING ECONOMIES

Although the majority of developing countries lag well behind societies of the West,

some have now successfully embarked on a process of industrialization. These emerging economies, which were previously referred to as newly industrializing economies (NIEs), include Brazil, Mexico, Hong Kong, South Korea, Singapore, and Taiwan. Emerging econ-

omies are characterized by a great deal of industry and/or international trade. The rates

of economic growth of the most successful emerging economies, such as those in East

Asia, are several times those of the Western industrial economies. No developing country

figured among the top thirty exporters in the world in 1968, but today South Korea and

Hong Kong are ranked in the top ten (Central Intelligence Agency 2016a).

The emerging economies of East Asia have shown the most sustained levels of eco-

nomic prosperity. They are investing abroad as well as promoting growth at home. South

Korea’s production of steel has doubled in the last decade, and its shipbuilding and elec-

tronics industries are among the world’s leaders. Singapore is becoming the major financial

and commercial center of Southeast Asia. Taiwan is an important player in the manu-

facturing and electronics industries. All these changes in the emerging economies have

directly affected the United States, whose share of global steel production, for example, has

dropped significantly since the 1970s.

emerging economies Developing countries that over the past two or three decades have begun to develop a strong industrial base, such as Singapore and Hong Kong.

CONCEPT CHECKS

1. What does the concept of industrialization mean?

2. How has industrialization hurt traditional social systems?

3. Why are many African and South American societies classified as part of the developing world?

64 CHAPTER 2 Culture and Society

How Does Globalization Affect Contemporary Culture? In Chapter 1 we noted that the chief focus of sociology historically has been the study of

industrialized societies. As sociologists, can we thus safely ignore the developing world,

leaving this as the domain of anthropology? We certainly cannot. The industrialized and

the developing societies have developed in interconnection with one another and are today

more closely related than ever before. Those of us living in industrialized societies depend

on many raw materials and manufactured products coming from developing countries to

sustain our lives. Conversely, the economies of most developing states depend on trading

networks that bind them to industrialized countries. We can fully understand the indus-

trialized order only against the backdrop of societies in the developing world—in which,

in fact, by far the greater proportion of the world’s population lives.

As the world rapidly moves toward a single, unified economy, businesses and peo-

ple move about the globe in increasing numbers in search of new markets and economic

opportunities. As a result, the cultural map of the world changes: Networks of peoples

span national borders and even continents, providing cultural connections between their

birthplaces and their adoptive countries (Appadurai 1986). A handful of languages come to

dominate, and in some cases replace, the thousands of different languages that were once

spoken on the planet.

It is increasingly impossible for cultures to exist as islands. There are few, if any, places

on earth so remote as to escape radio, television, air travel (and the throngs of tourists this

technology brings) or the computer. A generation ago, there were still tribes whose way of

life was completely untouched by the rest of the world. Today, these peoples use machetes

and other tools made in the United States or Japan, wear T-shirts and shorts manufac-

tured in garment factories in the Dominican Republic or Guatemala, and take medicine

manufactured in Germany or Switzerland to combat diseases contracted through contact

with outsiders. These people also have their stories broadcast to people around the world

through satellite television and the Internet. Within a generation or two at the most, all the

world’s once-isolated cultures will be touched and transformed by global culture, despite

their persistent efforts to preserve their age-old ways of life.

The forces that produce a global culture are discussed throughout this book. These include:

■■ Television, which brings U.S. culture (through networks such as MTV and

shows such as The Big Bang Theory) into homes throughout the world daily

■■ The emergence of a unified global economy, with businesses whose factories,

management structures, and markets often span continents and countries

■■ “Global citizens,” such as managers of large corporations, who may spend as

much time crisscrossing the globe as they do at home, identifying with a global,

cosmopolitan culture rather than with their own nation’s culture

Recognize the effect of globalization on your life and the lives of people around the world. Think about the effect of a growing global culture.

65How Does Globalization Affect Contemporary Culture?

■■ A host of international organizations,

including United Nations agencies, regional

trade and mutual defense associations,

multinational banks and other global financial

institutions, international labor and health

organizations, and global tariff and trade

agreements, that are creating a global political,

legal, and military framework

■■ Electronic communications (via cell phone,

Skype, fax, email, text message, Facebook,

Twitter, and other communications on

the Internet), which make instantaneous

communication with almost any part of the

planet an integral part of daily life in the

business world

The world has become a single social system as a

result of the growing interdependence, both social and

economic, that now affects virtually everyone. But it

would be a mistake to think of this increasing interde-

pendence, or globalization, of the world’s societies simply

as the growth of world unity. The globalizing of social

relations should be understood primarily as the reorder-

ing of time and distance in social life. Our lives, in other

words, are increasingly and quickly influenced by events

happening far away from our everyday activities.

Does the Internet Promote a Global Culture? Many believe that the rapid growth of the Internet around

the world will hasten the spread of a global culture—one

resembling the cultures of Europe and North America,

currently home to nearly three-quarters of all Internet

users. Although the Internet is a truly global space, several languages prevail among

Internet users. For example, 26 percent of Internet users speak English as their main

language, compared with 21 percent who speak Chinese and 8 percent who speak Spanish.

In fact, ten languages alone account for more than three-quarters (78 percent) of all Internet

users (Internet World Stats 2016b).

Given the dominance of the English language and Western values on the Internet,

belief in such values as equality between men and women, the right to speak freely, dem-

ocratic participation in government, and the pursuit of pleasure through consumption

may be readily diffused throughout the world over the Internet. Moreover, Internet

technology itself would seem to foster such values: Global communication, seemingly

unlimited (and uncensored) information, and instant gratification are all characteristics

of the new technology. Yet it may be premature to conclude that the Internet will sweep

Transnational corporations such as Starbucks and McDonald’s are one force contributing to the creation of a global culture.

66 CHAPTER 2 Culture and Society

aside traditional cultures, replacing them with radically new cultural values. Consider,

for example, that the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria, or ISIS, rose to power through the

Internet, using the web to recruit new members and disseminate its anti-Western mes-

sage across the globe.

As cyberspace becomes increasingly global, scholars continue to debate whether it

will be used to perpetuate traditional cultural values or forge new cultural and politi-

cal pathways. Consider the Middle Eastern country of Kuwait, a traditional Islamic cul-

ture that has recently experienced strong American and European influences. An oil-rich

country on the Persian Gulf, Kuwait has one of the highest average per-person incomes

in the world (United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Western Asia 2011).

The government provides free public education through the university level, result-

ing in high rates of literacy and education for both men and women. Kuwaiti television

frequently carries NFL football and other U.S. programming, although broadcasts are

regularly interrupted for the traditional Muslim calls to prayer. Half of Kuwait’s approxi-

mately 2.7 million people are under thirty years old, and like their youthful counterparts

in Europe and North America, many surf the Internet for new ideas, information, and

consumer products.

Although Kuwait is in many respects a modern country, Kuwaiti law treats men and

women differently. Legally, women have equal access to education and employment, yet

they are barred from voting or running for political office. Cultural norms treating men

and women differently have just as powerful an influence on daily life as formal laws.

Women are generally expected to wear traditional clothing that leaves only the face and

hands visible and are forbidden to leave home at night or be seen in public at any time with

a man who is not a spouse or relative.

Deborah Wheeler and her colleagues (2006) have investigated the effect of the Internet

on Kuwaiti culture. Although the Internet is highly popular in Kuwait, Wheeler found that

Kuwaitis were extremely reluctant to voice strong opinions or political views online. With

the exception of discussing conservative Islamic religious beliefs, which are freely dissem-

inated over the Internet, Kuwaitis were remarkably inhibited online. Wheeler concluded

that Kuwaiti culture, which is hundreds of years old, is not likely to be easily transformed

by simple exposure to different beliefs and values on the Internet.

Did Wheeler’s predictions prove true? Not necessarily, as the events of the Arab

Spring reveal. Some scholars say that the political protests that erupted throughout

major urban centers of North Africa and the Middle East during the spring of 2011

were fueled, in part, by communication on the Internet, including Facebook postings,

chat room communications, and tweets (Howard 2011). According to Howard (2011),

one activist who participated in the Cairo, Egypt, protests boasted, “We use Facebook to

schedule the protests, Twitter to coordinate, and YouTube to tell the world.” Although

the protests in Kuwait were smaller and shorter-lived than those in Egypt, Tunisia,

and Bahrain, young people’s use of the Internet played an important role (Al-Haqhaq

2011). However, young people may still feel constrained by their traditional culture, and

thus find protection behind the anonymous nature of the Internet. As Kuwaiti tech-

nology expert Mustapha Said pointed out, “The feature of social media that allows you

to become anonymous has encouraged many people to use them and become actively

involved” (Al-Haqhaq 2011).

While cyberspace is becoming increasingly global, there remains a digital divide between individuals with access to the Internet and those without. While 88 percent of the population of North America is using the Internet, only 29 percent of the population of Africa is online.

68 CHAPTER 2 Culture and Society

Globalization and Local Cultures The influence of a growing global culture has provoked numerous reactions at the local level.

Many local cultures remain strong or are experiencing rejuvenation, partly as a response

to the diffusion of global culture. Such a response grows out of the concern that a global

culture, dominated by North American and European cultural values, will corrupt the local

culture. For example, the Taliban, an Islamic movement that controlled most of Afghanistan

until 2001, historically has sought to impose traditional, tribal values throughout the coun-

try. Through its governmental “Ministry for Ordering What Is Right and Forbidding What

Is Wrong,” the Taliban banned music, closed movie theaters, prohibited the consumption of

alcohol, and required men to grow full beards. Women were ordered to cover their entire

bodies with burkas, tentlike garments with a woven screen over the eyes; they were forbid-

den to work outside their homes or even be seen in public with men who were not their

spouses or relations. Violations of these rules resulted in severe punishment, sometimes

death. The rise of the Taliban, and, more recently, ISIS, can be understood at least partly as a

rejection of the spread of Western culture.

The resurgence of local cultures is sometimes seen throughout the world in the rise

of nationalism, a sense of identification with one’s country that is expressed through a common set of strongly held beliefs. Sometimes these include the belief that the people

of a particular nation have historical or God-given rights that supersede those of other

people. Nationalism can be strongly political, involving attempts to assert the power of

a nation based on a shared ethnic or racial identity over people of a different ethnicity or

race. The world of the twenty-first century may well witness responses to globalization

that celebrate ethnocentric nationalist beliefs, promoting intolerance and hatred rather

than celebrating diversity.

New nationalisms, cultural identities, and religious practices are constantly being

forged throughout the world. When you socialize with students from the same cultural

nationalism A set of beliefs and symbols expressing identification with a national community.

Protesters recharge their cell phones and computers at a charging center in Tahrir Square during the Arab Spring protests. Technology helped the movement take off and enabled participants to organize and communicate effectively.

69How Does Globalization Affect Contemporary Culture?

background or celebrate traditional holidays with your friends and family, you are sustain-

ing your culture. The very technology that helps foster globalization also supports local

cultures: The Internet enables you to communicate with others who share your cultural

identity, even when they are dispersed around the world. Those who share a passion for

a particular type of music might spend hours playing SongPop on their smartphone with

competitors (whom they’ve never met in person) from around the globe. A casual search

reveals thousands of websites and apps devoted to different cultures and subcultures.

Although sociologists do not yet fully understand these processes, they often conclude

that despite the powerful forces of globalization operating in the world today, local cultures

remain strong and indeed flourish. Yet, local cultural and social movements can thrive and

flourish only if they are allowed to do so. Given the rapid social changes in recent decades,

it is still too soon to tell whether and how globalization will transform our world, whether

it will result in the homogenization of the world’s diverse cultures, the flourishing of many

individual cultures, or both.

CONCEPT CHECKS

1. How does global culture influence local cultures?

2. What is nationalism?

Learning Objectives

How Has Industrialization Shaped Modern Society?

Recognize the factors that transformed premodern societies, particularly how industrialization and colonialism influenced global development. Know the differences among industrialized societies, emerging economies, and developing societies, and how these differences developed.p. 61

What Happened to Premodern Societies?

Learn how societies have changed over time.

p. 58

How Does Human Culture Develop?

Begin to understand how both biological and cultural factors influence our behavior. Learn the ideas of sociobiology and how others have tried to refute these ideas by emphasizing cultural differences.

p. 47

Culture and Socie�

1. Mention at least two cultural traits that you would claim are universals; mention two others you would claim are culturally specific traits. Locate and use case study materials from different societies you are familiar with to show the differences between universal and specific cultural traits. Are the cultural universals you have discussed derivatives of human instincts? Explain your answer fully.

2. What does it mean to be ethnocentric? How is ethnocentrism dangerous in conducting social research? How is ethnocentrism problematic among nonresearchers in their everyday lives?

3. Think about a favorite article of clothing of yours. What values does it convey, and what messages about you or your subculture does it communicate to others?

What Is Culture?

Know what culture consists of, and recognize how it differs from society.

p. 43

How Does Globalization Affect Contemporary Culture?

Recognize the effect of globalization on your life and the lives of people around the world. Think about the effect of a growing global culture.p. 64

CHAPTER 2

Thinking Sociologically

The Big Picture

Concept ChecksTerms to Know

industrialization • industrialized societies • nation-state • colonialism • developing world • emerging economies

1. What does the concept of industrialization mean? 2. How has industrialization hurt traditional social systems? 3. Why are many African and South American societies classified as part of the developing world?

pastoral societies • agrarian societies 1. Compare the two main types of premodern societies. 2. Contrast pastoral and agrarian societies.

sociobiology • instinct • biological determinism subcultures • assimilation • multiculturalism • ethnocentrism • cultural relativism • cultural universals • language • marriage • linguistic relativity hypothesis • signifier

1. Explain the nature/nurture debate. 2. Why do sociologists disagree with the claim that biology is destiny? 3. Give examples of subcultures that are typical of American society. 4. What is the difference between cultural ethnocentrism and cultural relativism? 5. Why is language considered to be a cultural universal? 6. What is the linguistic relativity hypothesis?

culture • values • norms • material goods • society

1. Describe the main elements of culture. 2. What role does culture play in society?

1. How does global culture influence local cultures? 2. What is nationalism?

nationalism

cultural appropriation