Pranay K.

Swain
NISER, BBSR
  That complex whole which
includes knowledge, belief,
art, morals, law, custom,
and any other capabilities
and habits acquired by man
as a member of society.
What is -Edward B. Tylor
Culture ?
 Learnt
Super-
organic & Social
Ideational

Varies
from
Shared
Soc to
Soc

Culture

Transm-
Gratifying
issive

Dynamic Cont. &

and cumulativ
Adaptive Consistent e
&
Integrated
Culture consists
of all the
shared products
of human
groups
-Includes
physical and
non physical
objects
Physical objects that
people create and use.
-cars
-books
-buildings
-anything that is
tangible
Abstract human creations.
Anything non-material.
Intangible –cannot touch.
-beliefs
-language
-ideas
-political systems
-rules
-religion
If
Society = group of interdependent
people who get organized to
share a common culture and
feeling of unity.
then
Culture = the entire basket of
material and non-material
products.
  Treasury of knowledge
 Defines situations
 Defines attitudes, values and
goals
 Defines our career
 Provides/prescribes behaviour
pattern
 Moulds personality
No child can develop human qualities in the absence of cultural environment
 Social organization
 Customs and traditions
 Language
 Art and Entertainment
 Religion
 Forms of govt.
 Economic systems

Popularly known as ‘seven elements of

culture’
The 7 Elements of Culture
 Creates social
structure by
organizing its
members into small
units to meet basic
needs
 The family is the most
important unit.
 Family Patterns:
 Through the family children learn how
they are expected to act and what to
believe
 Nuclear family: wife, husband, children
 Extended family: Several generations
living in one household, working and
living together: grandparents, aunts and
uncles, cousins

 Social classes: rank people in order of

status, depending on what is important to
the culture (money, job, education,
ancestry, etc.)
 Rules of Behaviour
 handshakes, hugs, making eye
contact, eating with a fork,
holding a door for someone,
wearing “good clothes”.
 Social Pressure
enforces the rules of
behavior. (Our family
and friends let us
know if we are doing
the right thing or
not.)
 How people communicate.
Organization of
written or spoken
words.

Most important
component of
culture!!!
 Cornerstone of culture
 All cultures have a spoken language
(even if there are no developed forms
of writing)
 People who speak the same language
often share the same culture
 Many societies include a large number
of people who speak different
languages
 Each language can have several
different dialects
 Products of the human
imagination
 Help us pass on the
culture’s basic beliefs
▪ Examples: art, music
literature, folk tales
 People form governments to
provide for their common
needs, keep order within
society, and protect their
society from outside threats
 Some countries elect people
to lead them…other leaders
force their way into power.
 Answers basic questions
about the meaning of life
 Supports values that groups
of people feel are important
 Cements cultural ethos and
practices
 Religion is often a source of
conflict between cultures
 Monotheism: worship
of one god.

 Polytheism: worship
of many gods.
 How people use limited
resources to satisfy
their needs.

 What goods should we produce?

 How should we produce them?
 Who should get the things we
make?
Using items of
material culture –
tools…but also
including non-
material culture –
knowledge.

Computers
The very basis of
human culture

Anything that
represents
something else.
-gesture
-image
-sound
-physical object
Shared beliefs about what
is good or bad, right or
wrong, desirable and
undesirable.

Values held by a group

help determine the
character of its people.
Shared rules of conduct
that tell people how to act
in certain situations.

Expectations for behavior,

not the behavior itself.

Norms vary in the

strictness in which they
are enforced.
Describe socially
acceptable behavior. No
great moral significance
tied to them.
Common customs of
everyday life.
Cover your mouth when
you yawn.
Use a fork when you eat.
Great moral
significance attached
to them.

Violations can
endanger society.

Cheating on a test,
fraud, dishonesty.