Transcript CULTURAL GEOGRAPHY

CULTURE: Definition & Hearth
 Culture: body of
customary beliefs,
material traits, and
social forms that
together constitute
the distinct tradition
or lifestyle of a group
of people or society.
 Culture originates at
the “hearth” or
center of innovation
of a certain place.
Material vs. Non-Material Culture
 There are basically two types of detectable culture: material and non-
material.
 Non-material culture: set of customary ideas, beliefs, and values of a
group of people in a particular place. Especially important, cultural values
derive from a group’s language, religion, and ethnicity (a set of non-
material cultural traits, such as language, religion, customs).
 Material culture: the production of material wealth that humans need in
order to survive and thrive: food, clothing, and shelter.
 People may possess more or less material goods depending on the
part of the world they live in. Geographers usually divide the world
into regions of developed countries and regions of developing
countries.
 People in developed countries tend to possess more material goods and
wealth than those in developing ones. This is due to the fact that the
economies in developed countries are stronger and more stable.
Material vs. Non-Material Culture
Folk vs. Popular Culture
 Folk culture: practiced primarily by small, homogeneous groups living in isolated
rural areas. It could be material and non-material.
 Anonymous hearths, anonymous sources, unknown dates.
 Places dominated by folk culture change relatively little over time.
 Popular culture: found in large, heterogeneous societies that share certain habits
despite differences in other personal characteristics. (Material & non-material too).
 Most often a product of developed countries, especially in N. America and
Europe.
 Typically traceable to a specific person or corporation in a particular place and
arises from a combination of advances in industrial technology and increased
leisure time (i.e., iPods, T-shirts, music genre, pizza, etc.).
 Popular culture is based on rapid simultaneous global connections through
communications systems, transportations networks, and other modern
technology.
 Rapid diffusion facilitates frequent changes in popular culture. Thus, folk culture is
more likely to vary from place to place at a given time, whereas popular culture is
more likely to vary from time to time at a given place.
Folk vs. Popular Culture
Ethnicity vs. Race
 Race can be defined as the physical traits that a group of
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human beings have in common, such as skin, hair, and eyes
color; height, facial traits, complexion, etc.
Ethnicity encompasses a group’s cultural traits only.
Race is not a factor that could determine ethnicity or
culture, but it’s not uncommon for a group of people of the
same race to share the same culture.
Racism exists when certain groups of people of a common
race hold the (erroneous) belief that their race is superior
to others.
Ethnocentrism exists when groups of people of a common
culture or ethnicity hold the (erroneous) belief that their
culture is superior to others.
Ethnicity vs. Race
NORTH AMERICAN
ETHNIC
(WHITE RACE)
RUSSIAN ETHNIC
(WHITE RACE)
Cultural Assimilation vs. Acculturation
 Assimilation: occurs when a person from a certain culture
becomes surrounded by a different culture for quite some time and
s/he decides to forget the original culture and adopt the new
culture completely.
 In most cases these kinds of situations usually happen because the
person acquiring the new culture has been forced to drop their
original culture in favor of the new one—under the premises that
the new culture is “better” or more “valuable” than the original one.
 Acculturation: occurs when people of a certain ethnic group,
which has been instilled a certain original culture, begins to acquire
a different culture due to relocation into a different place—
typically, another country. However, they still manage to keep
their original culture to some degree.
 In some cases people attempt to mix the two cultures forming a
new and different culture altogether—or else, a sub-culture is
created.
Cultural Assimilation vs. Acculturation
Cultural Diffusion
 Cultural diffusion occurs when a group of people
that share the same culture begin to acquire a
different one by being exposed to various media
outlets, such as TV, movies, radio, newspapers,
books, internet, twitter, etc.
 Compared to popular culture, folk culture is
transmitted from one location to another more
slowly and on a smaller scale, primarily through
relocation diffusion (migration). The spread of
popular culture, such as popular music, typically
occurs rapidly and extensively with the help of
modern communications.
Cultural Diffusion
Cultural Diffusion: Soccer
Simple vs. Complex Culture
 Simple Culture: occurs in places where little
technological advancement is present, for example, in
farming villages, fishing towns, etc. In cases where
simple culture is more prevalent, a higher amount of
the original folk culture can be seen—and less popular
culture is present.
 Complex Culture: develops in more advanced
countries or cities where technology usually plays a big
role. In these cases, not a lot of the folk culture may
remain.
Simple vs. Complex Culture
Cultural Universals
Cultural universals are
elements, patterns, traits, or
institutions that are common to
all human cultures, regardless
of historical moment,
geography, or cultural origin.
Some of the cultural universals
may include figurative speech,
color terms, tabooed
utterances, kin groups, gender
roles, rites of passage, incest
prevention or avoidance, and
tool making, among others.
Cultural Relativism
Cultural relativism is the
view that all beliefs, customs,
and ethics are relative to the
individual within his own
social context. In other
words, “right” and “wrong”
are culture-specific; what is
considered moral in one
society may be considered
immoral in another, and,
since no universal standard
of morality exists, no one has
the right to judge another
society’s customs.
Nationalism vs. Globalization
 Nationalism: strong sentiments of pride and loyalty toward
one’s country of origin along with its original cultural and
ethnic values.
 Exaggerated nationalist sentiments might cause national
and/or international conflicts, as it is the case with many
revolts, revolutions, or even civil wars.
 Globalization is the phenomenon of contact and exchange
among diverse cultures and ethnic groups throughout the
world. It takes place in the cultural, economic, and political
arenas.
 In some countries these days, globalization tends to replace
the notion of nationalism, especially among the young.
Nationalism vs. Globalization
Family Structures
 A family is the most basic type of social structure within a group of
organized people or society.
 Most societies in the world are organized into families.
 There are different types of families:
 Nuclear: a typical family where parents share the same space with their
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children (regardless of size).
Extended: a family comprised of parents and their children but with added
relatives (usually grandparents).
Fragmented: a nuclear family that was broken due to the absence of one of
the parents—either temporarily or permanently.
Matriarchal: a family dominated by the mother or grandmother.
Patriarchal: a family dominated by the father or grandfather.
Egalitarian: a family where both the mother and the father rule on equal
terms.
Monogamy: having a single spouse (wife).
Polygamy: having more than one spouse (wife).
Family Structures