What is Culture ?

Culture

The values ,beliefs ,behavior and material objects that form a people's way of life.In other words it is the shared way of living.

Culture is everything that is socially learned and shared by members of society.The individual receive culture as a social heritage and in return he may reshape the culture and bring innovations which then become part of heritage of successive generations.

How culture develops ?

People when start living together they identify the challenges they came across.Hence they strive to address those challenges through ideas and innovations.They invent tools ,devices ,objects and artifacts.

Characteristics of a Culture

Culture socially evolves.It is shared ,mostly adaptive,variable and dynamic.It saves members from trials ,errors through defining a situation ,guiding acceptable behavior pattern that act as a time saving device.

Types of Culture

1-Material Culture
2-Non-material Culture

Material Culture

The inventions by the members of society constitute material culture.For instance automobiles ,building ,roads and bridges etc.

Non Material Culture

Ideas ,values,beliefs and norms created by the members of a society in order to address the challenges they face in a particular area.

Example:

In the game of Baseball,gloves ,uniform ,bats are few elements of material culture and values of game ,skills involved and behavior of players are non-material culture.

Material and Non-material aspects of culture are interlinked.

Cultural Universals

Patterns and traits that are globally common to all societies e.g Family,Education,Religion,Food and Shelter etc.

Factors responsible in Development of a Culture

1- Georgraphy

Culture varies from area to area depending upon the location people are living in.The people of cold area have different culture than that of hot weathered region.The dresses ,behavior ,art ,building styles depends on the geographical conditions people are living in.

2-Religion

Religion is the product of culture.In primitive times there was no religion.People worship things from which they were fed.They used to worship water.Some of the groups would worship sun that had become their culture which later morphed into religion.

3- Diffusion

It is the transfer of culture from enriched culture -culture that adequately address the challenges- to low enriched culture e.g Wearing of Jeans is adopted from western culture in Asian countries.

4-Xeno-Centrism

It is the preference for foreign culture.Culture develops when people start adopting other cultures and their associated attributes.

5-Human Evolution and Culture

Initially man was living in caves.He started hunting for living and food.Therefore hunting became culture.Culture evloves with human evolution.

Elements of Culture

1-Language

It includes everything which conveys a definite meaning in a particular culture like symbol ,sign ,signal ,gesture etc.Language is a symbolic system through which people communicate.

It is the foundation of every culture.It draws a line between human and non-human culture.Language constantly evolves.The journey towards email ,internet ,texting and blogging is the way of transmiting message that is infact language.Without language it is impossible to transfer complex ideas ,thoughts to next generations.

2-Values/Beliefs

Beliefs are convictions and tenets people hold them to be true.Values shape the society by suggesting what is good and bad.

Individual values define individual behavior while collective values define patterns of collective behavior.

Values get legitimacy from the belief system of a particular society.Initially an individual has to surrender his personal values and adopt common values of society that results in mutual behavioural patterns.

3-Norms

It is established and approved behavior patterns of society.They define how to behave in accordance with what a society has good and right.

Formal Norms

They are established ,written rules specific and clearly stated and strictly enforced e.g Law

Informal Norms

Causual behavior that are generally and widely conformed to or by the members of society without any fear of punishment.

4-Folkways

They are simply the customary ,normal habitual ways of a group does things.They are direct appropriate behavior in the day to day practices and expressions of a culture.Society doesn't force you to practice folkways.

Folkways include shaking of hand ,eating with knives and forks,wearing tie etc.

5- Mores (Moral Values)

Mores are norms that represent moral values and principles of a group.Violating them can have serious consequences.The strongest moves are legally protected with laws.

Murder is considered immoral punishable by law.It is a formal relations norm but a more.People who violate moves are considered shameful.They might be shunned by some groups e.g Cannibalism

6-Customs/Traditions

A custom is a belief that has been practiced by an individual or a group for a long time.When a custom is transfered from generation to generation it takes the form of tradition.

7-Institutions

An institution is the organized system of social relationship which embodies certain common values ,procedures and meet certain basic needs of society.

Basic institutions are family ,religion and education etc.