Dr. Chandima Bogahawatte (PhD) Department of Archaeology  I-DEFINITIONS TABLE OF CONTENTS  II-LAYERS OF CULTURE  III-DESCRIPTION OF LAYERS  A-BASIC ASSUMPTIONS  B-NORMS, MORES, FOLKWAYS, VALUES  C-ARTIFACTS AND PRODUCTS  IV-RELEVANT DEFINITIONS (A GLOSSARY)  V-HOW DO WE STUDY CULTURE  VI-A FRAMEWORK ABOUT THE EVOLUTION AND STABILIZING FACTORS OF CULTURES Definitions of Culture • Sociologically, culture is the values, beliefs and material objects that together form a people’s way of life (Macionis, 2005; pg. 59). • According to cross-cultural management; culture is the collective programming of the mind which distinguishes the member of one human group from another (Hofstede, 1981; pg. 21). • Anthropologically, culture consists in patterned ways of thinking, feeling and reacting, acquired and transmitted mainly by symbols, constituting the distinctive achievements of human groups, including their embodiments in artifacts; the essential core of culture consists of traditional (i.e. Historically derived and selected) ideas and especially their attached values. (Kluckhohn, 1951; pg. 85-86). LAYERS OF CULTURE CULTURE AS AN ONION RING Artifacts & Products Norms & Mores Values Basic Assumptions CULTURE AS AN ICEBERG Visible Part Immersed Part HOW DO WE STUDY CULTURE LEVELS OF HUMAN MENTAL PROGRAMMING LEVELS OF HUMAN MENTAL PROGRAMMING Individual Both learned & inherited- truly unique Collective Learned &shared by someLanguage, deference, social distance, rituals, ceremonies, etc. Mostly symbols- Anthropology Universal Inherited, biological The least unique, shared by all (laughing, weeping, aggresiveness) Subject: ethologists (biologists specialized in animal behavior) DESCRIPTION OF LAYERS • BASIC ASSUMPTIONS: The assumption or beliefs about • • • • truth/false. e.g. “Time is money” or “Humans control the nature” are not facts, they are assumptions or beliefs. NORMS: They refer to what is considered right, appropriate and acceptable by the cultural group. Mores/taboos; are norms that are widely observed and have great moral significance. e.g.society’s prohibition against adults engaging in sexual relations with children (right & wrong). Folkways; are norms for routine or casual interactions. e.g. Appropriate dressing and greetings. (right & rude). Coming to a formal dinner without a tie is a folkways mistake, coming to a formal dinner just with a tie is a mores mistake. DESCRIPTION OF • Proscriptive norms are rules and LAYERS expectations, by which a society guides the behavior of its members that states what we should not do. e.g. Health officials’ warning about casual sex. • On the other hand, prescriptive norms state what we should do. e.g.: Being respectful to elders. • C) Artifacts & Products: They are the visible manifestations of a culture and all observable behaviors belong to this layer. e.g. language, food, fashion, architecture, etiquette, religion,etc. • D) VALUES: They refer to what is important for the members of a DESCRIPTION OF LAYERS particular group (Rosinski, 2004;pg. 25). • • In other words; values, consist a broad tendency to prefer certain states of affairs than others (Hofstede,1981;pg. 18). • - Values make up the most central element of culture that has intimate links with all aspects of behavior. • - Values are mutually related and form value systems or hierarchies. Value systems may not be harmonious, many individiuals hold conflicting values. • - Values are programmed early in life, thus they are irrational. of Values • Definitions There are five features that are common in all • value definitions, they; • 1) are concepts or beliefs • 2) are desirable ends, states or behaviors • 3) transcend from the past • 4) guide selection or evaluation of behavior or events • 5) are ordered by relative importance DESCRIPTION OF LAYERS • D) VALUES(continued): – – – 1) They are central to any analysis of culture 2) Origins; right from the childhood, families, friends,schools, religious organizations, foreigners like immigrants, mass media etc. Mostly learned collectivity, but individuals may also have their own values. 3) Characteristics of values; a)intensity; the more a value is relevant, the more its intensity is. (Money’s importance) b) direction; identifying certain outcomes as good or bad shows direction (Money’s vice) A FRAMEWORK ABOUT THE EVOLUTION AND STABILIZING FACTORS OF CULTURES OUTSIDE INFLUENCES FORCES OF NATURE FORCES OF MAN: TRADE, CONQUEST SCİENTİFİC DİSCOVERY ORIGINS Ecological factors: Geographic Economic Demographic Genetic/hygienic Historical Technological Urbanization SOCIETAL NORMS Value systems of major groups of population CONSEQUENCES Structure and functioning of institutions: Family patterns Role differentiation Social stratification Socialization emphases Education Religion Political structure Legislation Architecture Theory development Reinforcement VALUE CHARACTERISTICS GRID 1- US CULTURE: Money is very relevant, more is always good HIGH 4 CHRISTIAN 4-i BUDDHISM 1 USA Intensity 2-HYPOCRITICAL CULTURES: Money is not relevant however having it more is good 3-TASAVVUF: Money is not relevant and it is bad. 3 TASAVVUF 5 IRRELEVANT low 0 bad Direction good 4-CHRISTIAN BIBLE (St Mark 10:21-25): Money is relevant but more is bad, less is good 4-i. Tanhaya jayatee soko 5-TOTALLY IRRELEVANT: No intensity, thus no direction. VALUES INFLUENCE 1) 2) 3) 4) 5) 6) Corporate Strategy Organizational Structure Leadership Style Management Philosophy Human Resource Management Decision Making GLOSSARY • IDEAL CULTURE: Man & woman agree on the importance of sexual fidelity. • REAL CULTURE: 25 % of men and 10 % of women are reported to be unfaithful. • MATERIAL CULTURE: Tangible (touchable) human creations which sociologist call as artifacts. • VIRTUAL CULTURE: A typical culture evolved around computers and information technology. • HIGH CULTURE: Cultural patterns that distinguish a society’s elite. e.g. Liking of Beethoven instead of Ankaralı Turgut. • POPULAR CULTURE: Cultural patterns that are widespread among a society’s population. e.g. Pop, arabesque & fantasy music. GLOSSARY G) SUBCULTURE: Cultural patterns that set apart some segment of society’s population.e.g. Jazz musician, computer nerds, surfers, Levanten in İzmir. Many people participate in many subcultures without having much commitment to any of them. However, sometimes ethnicity and religion may set people apart with tragic results. e.g. Hitler vs. Jews. or Jugoslavia, before break up; 1) was a single politico-national entity 2) used two alphabets 3) professed three religions 4) spoke four languages 5) home to five major nationalities 6) was divided into six political republics 7) influenced by the culture of seven surrounding countries. GLOSSARY H) EUROCENTRISM: Dominance of Europe (Especially English). I) ETHNOCENTRISM: Judging other culture by the standarts of one’s own culture. e.g. For Westerners China is Far East, according to Chinese there is no such term; they regard their country as central kingdom and see their country as the center of the earth. J) CULTURAL RELATIVISM: Evaluating a culture by its own standards. K) COUNTER CULTURE: Cultural patterns that strongly oppose those widely accepted within a society. L) CULTURAL LAG: The fact that some cultural elements change more quickly than others, disrupting a cultural system. B-HUMAN MENTAL PROGRAMMING-JAPAN (Lewis, 2004: 27)