"Culture encompasses the social behavior, institutions, and norms found in human societies, as well as the knowledge, beliefs, arts, laws, customs, capabilities, and habits of the individuals in these groups."
The customs, traditions, values, beliefs, and behaviors shared by a group of people.
Cultural Relativism: The idea that one must suspend their own cultural biases when studying another culture.
Ethnocentrism: The belief that one's own culture is superior to all others.
Cultural Diffusion: The spread of cultural traits and practices from one culture to another.
Cultural Adaptation: The process by which a culture adjusts and responds to changes in their environment.
Cultural Diversity: The existence of multiple cultures within a given geographic area.
Cultural Hybridity: The blending of two or more distinct cultures to create a new cultural identity.
Cultural Evolution: The changes that occur within cultures over time.
Cultural Materialism: The belief that a culture's economic and technological systems are the primary drivers of social and cultural change.
Kinship and Family Structures: The study of the ways in which families and kinship networks influence a culture.
Race and Ethnicity: The cultural constructions of race and ethnicity and their impact on society.
Rituals and Symbolism: The study of how cultural practices and symbols shape cultural beliefs and values.
Gender and Sexuality: The social and cultural construction of gender and sexuality and how they impact individuals and society.
Language and Communication: The role of language in shaping culture and communication across cultures.
Power and Politics: The study of how power and politics are embedded within cultural practices and social structures.
Religion and Mythology: The study of religious beliefs and practices, as well as the myths and symbols that shape them.
Cultural Persistence and Change: The processes that enable or hinder cultural continuity and change.
Globalization and Transnationalism: The ways in which globalization and transnationalism impact cultures and cultural norms.
Environmental Anthropology: The study of how cultures interact with and shape their environment.
Cultural Preservation and Revitalization: The efforts to preserve, revive, and promote traditional or endangered cultures.
Anthropology of Art: The study of the social and cultural meaning of art in various cultures.
Material culture: This refers to the physical objects that people create and use, such as tools, clothing, and art.
Non-material culture: This refers to the intangible aspects of culture, such as beliefs, values, norms, and language.
Symbolic culture: This refers to the shared meanings and values that people attach to objects, actions, and events. Symbols can include gestures, religious icons, and flags.
Ethnocentrism: This refers to the perspective that one's own culture is superior to others. It can lead to stereotypes and prejudice.
Cultural relativism: This refers to the perspective that all cultures are valid and should be understood in their own context. It can lead to greater tolerance and understanding of diversity.
Historical particularism: This view emphasizes the uniqueness of each culture and the importance of studying it in its own historical and social context.
Structural functionalism: This view emphasizes the ways in which different parts of a culture work together to create a functioning society. It focuses on the roles and functions of different cultural components such as institutions, customs, and social norms.
Cultural materialism: This view emphasizes the role of economic and material factors in shaping culture. It suggests that the way humans adapt to their environment shapes their culture.
Cultural evolutionism: This view suggests that cultures evolve over time, with more complex societies developing from simpler ones.
Postmodernism: This view critiques the idea of an objective truth and emphasizes the subjective nature of culture. It suggests that cultures are always changing, and there is no one correct way to interpret them.
"Humans acquire culture through the learning processes of enculturation and socialization."
"A cultural norm codifies acceptable conduct in society; it serves as a guideline for behavior, dress, language, and demeanor in a situation, which serves as a template for expectations in a social group."
"Accepting only a monoculture in a social group can bear risks, just as a single species can wither in the face of environmental change, for lack of functional responses to the change."
"In military culture, valor is counted a typical behavior for an individual, and duty, honor, and loyalty to the social group are counted as virtues or functional responses in the continuum of conflict."
"In the practice of religion, analogous attributes can be identified in a social group."
"Cultural change, or repositioning, is the reconstruction of a cultural concept of a society."
"Cultures are internally affected by both forces encouraging change and forces resisting change."
"Cultures are externally affected via contact between societies."
"Organizations like UNESCO attempt to preserve culture and cultural heritage."
"Humans acquire culture through the learning processes of enculturation and socialization."
"A cultural norm serves as a guideline for behavior, dress, language, and demeanor in a situation, which serves as a template for expectations in a social group."
"In military culture, duty, honor, and loyalty to the social group are counted as virtues or functional responses in the continuum of conflict."
"In the practice of religion, analogous attributes can be identified in a social group."
"Cultures are externally affected via contact between societies."
"Organizations like UNESCO attempt to preserve culture and cultural heritage."
"Accepting only a monoculture in a social group can bear risks, just as a single species can wither in the face of environmental change, for lack of functional responses to the change."
"Cultural change, or repositioning, is the reconstruction of a cultural concept of a society."
"Cultures are internally affected by both forces encouraging change and forces resisting change."
"Culture encompasses the social behavior, institutions, and norms found in human societies, as well as the knowledge, beliefs, arts, laws, customs, capabilities, and habits of the individuals in these groups."