Transcript What is Culture?

“Non-Kin” Organizing
Principles
 Age
Sets
 Special
Interest Groups
 Ethnicity
Types of Sociocultural
Integration
 Band
 Tribe
 Chiefdom
 State
 Empire
Culture, Race and Ethnicity

Culture = the abstract, learned, shared
rules/standards/patterns that people
use to understand the world and to
generate behavior acceptable to their
group.

Race = a social category used for
purposes of discrimination, usually
based on ancestry.

Ethnicity = a group with which
individuals choose to identify on the
basis of shared ancestry and/or
heritage.
Theoretical Approaches to
Ethnicity as a Component of
Identity

Primordialism

Instrumentalism

Neo Primordialism

Constructionist
 Cultural
Constructionist
 Political
constructionist

Radical Historicism

Relationalism
Primordialism
 Ethnicity
is a group into which one is born.
 Ethnicity
as a group that includes others with
the same or similar heritage and ancestry.
 Ethnicity
is a relatively permanent,
unchanging group identity.
 People
can be from the same ethnic group
even though they have never met.
 Ethnicity
is used in place of family, lineage
and/or clan as a way of organizing for
political and economic solidarity.
Instrumentalism
 Ethnic
groups form to pursue
common goals or interests.
 Ethnic
groups only exist in the
face of the need for solidarity in
pursuing goals.
Neo-Primordialism

Ethnicity replaces
weakened primordial ties
used to maintain
collective control of
economic, geographic or
cultural resources.

Ethnicity replaces
weakened primordial ties
in opposing government
or colonial control.
Constructivism

Ethnicity is constructed situationally and changes
constantly, based on the nature of the present
situation.

Ethnicity is not a permanent part of identity, but a
label and group membership that can shift with
shifting conditins.
Cultural Constructivism

Ethnicity is based entirely on shared culture as the
basis of group membership and solidarity.

The sense of belonging that comes from shared cultural
symbols, values and behavior patterns creates a sense
of community.
Political Constructivism

Dominant culture members designate
certain ideologies, practices, symbols,
language usage, etc. as desirable, and
relegate all others to a lower status.

Ethnic groups form around the
discrimination caused by dominant
ethnocentrism and elitism.
Definitions of Love


Schneider

Love is “enduring, diffuse
solidarity”

Enduring = long lasting

Diffuse = pertains to a wide
variety of things

Solidarity = loyalty and group
affiliation - support network

Personal

Spiritual

Is a natural part of family

An intense sexual or romantic
attachment to another person.

What is attachment? Strong
feelings of loyalty, affection
toward someone or something. A
bond with someone or something.

What does attach mean? To
fasten or bind something to
something else.
An intense feeling of deep
affection

What is affection? A feeling of
liking or caring for someone or
something.
Radical Historicism
Ethnicity
is created over long periods
of time and emerges from class
differences in the division of labor.
Ethnicity
is a result of class
consciousness and the struggle for
control over resources and the modes
of production in the society.
Marxist
based approach.
Relationalism

Ethnicity is based on relationships between
individuals and groups that are unequal to one
another.

Ethnic identity is an emotionally charged aspect of
personal identity.

Ethnicity begins with primordial ties, however it
may eventually move to other criteria for
membership in the group.
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What are the things that show you are a member of a
particular Ethnic Group?
Do the labels that you use to describe your ethnic
identity change from one situation to another?
Are there symbols that characterize the ethnic group
with which you identify?
Are there behavior patterns that characterize the
ethnic group with which you identify?
Is there a difference between WHY ethnic groups and
ethic identity exist and what people base
membership on?
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