[W4.1] Introduction to Sociology/Culture - Shim ChaeYeon(심채연)

 1) Summary

Culture forms the abiotic aspects of our social lives, including our beliefs, values, norms, languages, works of art, and more. Thus, culture is an important factor that greatly affects our identity and social relationships.

In Europe in the 18th and early 19th centuries, 'high-end' culture refers to elite activities and products such as art, music, and fashion. Later, in the late 19th century, anthropologists changed culture to include a more diverse society. Today, social scientists recognize culture as a key component of social life and emphasize the interaction between culture and biological evolution.

Subcultures refer to cultures in which a small number of people share and work within a major culture. These subcultures often have their own unique beliefs, values, and norms, and sometimes these beliefs or values can conflict with the major cultures. Subcultures often provide a space for identity formation by gathering individuals who feel alienated from social standards. Counterculture is a subculture in which some of its beliefs, values, and norms oppose the major cultures it belongs to.

Ethnicism mainly refers to a tendency to look at the world from the perspective of one's own culture. It often appears to believe that one's race or ethnic group is superior, or that one's culture is superior to that of another. However, cultural relativists oppose this attitude and believe that the concepts and values of one culture cannot be fully translated or understood into another. They argue that this approach should be understood in terms of the symbolic systems to which certain cultural artifacts belong.

One of the different theoretical perspectives for understanding culture is Reacher's model of integrationism. The model interprets culture by considering macro elements (society), micro elements (behavior and interaction), macro subjective elements (culture, norms and values), and micro subjective elements (recognition, beliefs). 

Culture has the function of maintaining order and creating and maintaining social inequality.

Cultural change indicates that cultures may change in some aspects but at the same time tend to resist change. Cultural change can be caused by a variety of factors. Cultural sociology is one of the approaches to understanding these cultural changes and interactions.


 2) Something interesting or new that you learned

It was interesting that culture plays a role in creating and maintaining social inequality. Discrimination and inequality occur naturally in our society because such customs have become culturally established for a long time. It is also convenient to be used as a means of justifying those who discriminate because it is a 'culture' that everyone in the society enjoys together. In the end, this means that the person being treated unfairly must change the culture itself to solve this problem, which is very difficult to think about, and it seemed to explain some of the reasons why discrimination cannot easily disappear.


 3) Questions & Discussions

Culture changes in various ways due to various factors, such as direct and indirect. Then, how long will it take on average for a culture to change? 

Are there many cases where mental changes are preceded and material changes are made? or are there many cases where material changes are made and mental changes are made?


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