The Difference Between Material and Non-Material Culture in Your World

 

1. Examin Examinee the differe difference nce between between material material and nonnon-mate materia riall cul cultur turee in your world. world. Identify ten objects that are part of your regular cultural experience. For each, then identify what aspects of non-material culture that these objects represent. What has this experience revealed to you about your culture?  •

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The difference between material and non-material culture in your world 

Material culture refers to the objects or belongings of a group of people. Metro passes and bus tokens are part of material culture, as are automobiles, stores, and the physical structures where people worship. Material culture refers to the physical or technological aspects of our daily lives, including food, houses, factories, and raw materials. Nonmaterial Nonmateri al culture, in contrast, contrast, consists of the ideas, attitudes, attitudes, and beliefs of a society. society. . Nonmaterial culture refers to ways of using material objects, as well as to customs, beliefs, philosophies, governments, and patterns of communication.  Material and nonmaterial aspects of culture are linked, and physical objects often symbolize symboli ze cultural cultural ideas General Generally ly,, the nonmateri nonmaterial al culture culture is more resistant resistant to change than the material culture. 

Ten objects that are part of your regular cultural experience 1)Public transport (Bus) : Public transport is crucial to the livability of any city city.. It helps reduces pollution and road congestion-the more people who travel by bus, the fewer motorbikes on the road, requires less land use than road infrastructure. Nowaday, bus become familiar with everybody. For me, traveling by bus save money. If you are a student, you will only lose 100 thousand VND once month . Or if you aren't a student , you will lose 120 thousand VND once month . It's very economical. 2) Healthy Food Eating healthy healthy food everyday everyday can improve health, health, boost immune system, system, and provide enough energy level to study and work. It can also prevent or help you manage a wide range of health problems, such as diabetes, depression, certain types of cancer certain types of cancer... 3)Part time work Workin orking g part-t part-time ime can can be a great great way to ea earn rn so some me extra extra money money,, enhan enhance ce yo your ur knowledge , develop your skills and meet new people. 4) Internet Internet has made our life become easier and more convenient. We can use internet to communicate with people around the world, doing business by using internet, make new friend and know different cultures, searching information, studying and etc. Interaction through social networking such as Facebook, Twitter, …provide the vehicle for people of all ages, races, interests and genders to quickly communicate and share their ideas.  5) Clothes

 

What we wear on our bodies has meaning. Our clothes indicate who we are as individuals as well as a society. Clothes are a means of expressing our individuality (whether we are formal or serious, cheeky ,..). The way we dress is one way we express our personality 6) Mobile phone The mobile phone is considered the quickest means of communication in our daily life, I can contact easily with our friends and our relative wherever by calling or sending messages. I also can use mobile phone to access to the internet find out many source of reference on internet which is useful for studying, update information wherever we are. 7) Books I start and end every day by reading some chapters of book. Daily reading brought a lot of benefits to me. Reading exposes me to new ideas, information and ways of thinking. This helps spur creativity and develop my creative thinking. In addition, reading is a form of entertainment, helping me forget the daily hassles of life and enjoy the world outside of my own 8) Teacup When I make a cup of tea and hand it to family members every morning, the teacup helps mediate a gesture of care and affection 9)Pets I have a dog; we treat him as a part of the family. He enriches our lives, making us happier, helping us relieve stress and healthier overall. 10) Sports Participation in sports is a good habit. The main benefits of sport are improved health and fitness, and the development of social and communication skills. 2. How do do culture culture and social social communi communities ties shape communi communication? cation? Communication is closely linked to culture because communication expresses, sustains, and alters culture. Your culture directly shapes how you communicate, teaching you whether and when interrupting is appropriate, how much eye contact is polite, and how much distance should be kept between people. Five central relationships between culture and communication:  We Learn Culture in the Process of Communicating We don’t study our native culture to learn how to behave appropriately. Instead, we learn a culture’s perspectives and rules during the process of communicating. By observing and interacting with others and being exposed to mass communication, we learn language (the word dog) and what it means (a pet to love, a working animal, or food to eat). In other words, in learning language we learn the values of our culture. We learn cultural values and norms in the process of communicating with others. From the moment of birth, we begin to learn the beliefs, values, and norms of our society. cal proportions. We also learn nonverbal communication from the culture into which we are socialized. Both conscious and unconscious learning are continuous processes through which we learn language and internalize culture so that it is seamlessly part of who we are and how

 

we see the world. As we learn language, we learn cultural values that are encoded in language.  Communication Is a Primary Indicator of Culture One of the best indicators that a culture or social community exists is communication. Because we learn to communicate in the process of interacting with others, people from different cultures use communication in different ways and attach different meanings to communicative acts. Individualistic cultures regard each person as distinct from other people, groups, and organi org anizati zations. ons. Individu Individualis alistic tic cultures cultures value value personal personal freedom freedom,, individu individual al rights, rights, and independence. Communication in individualistic cultures tends to be assertive and often competitive. Collecti Coll ectivist vist cultures cultures regard regard people people as dee deeply ply connected connected to one another another and to their their families fami lies,, groups, groups, and communi communities ties.. Collecti Collectivist vist cultures cultures value value interg intergroup roup order order and harm harmon ony y, grou group p we welf lfar are, e, an and d inte interd rdep epen ende denc nce. e. Wit ithi hin n co coll llec ecti tivi vist st cu cult ltur ures es,, co comm mmun unic icat atio ion n tend tendss to be othe otherr-o -ori rien ente ted d an and d co coop oper erat ativ ive, e, an and d co coll llec ecti tive ve accomplishments are more valued than personal ones. Cultural rituals and roles tend to celebrate communal achievements more than individual ones. Individualistic and collectivist cultures tend to cultivate distinct communication styles. Individualistic cultures generally rely on a low-context communication style, which is very direct, explicit, and detailed. Because people are regarded as distinct individuals, communicators do not assume that others will share their meanings or values. Instead, every everythi thing ng must must be spelle spelled d ou outt caref carefull ully y and and clear clearly ly.. Becaus Becausee self-e self-exp xpres ressi sion on and personal initiative are valued in individualistic cultures, argument and persuasion are perceived as appropriate. Collecti Coll ectivist vist culture culturess typical typically ly rel rely y on a high-con high-context text communic communicatio ation n style, style, which which is indirect and un-detailed and which conveys meanings more implicitly than explicitly. Because people are regarded as interconnected, it is assumed they are alike in terms of their values and understandings. Thus, there is no need to spell everything out. Instead, communicators assume that others will understand what isn’t stated and will be able to use shared knowledge of situations and relationships to interpret vague statements.   Multiple Social Social Communities Communities May Coexist Coexist in a Single Single Culture In fact, each of us belongs to multiple social groups as well as at least one culture. Most societies have a dominant, or mainstream, way of life. Although many groups may exist within a single society, not all identify equally with the dominant culture. Diffe Dif feren rentt ra racia ciall and and ethni ethnicc group groupss also also teach teach th their eir membe members rs di disti stinct nctiv ivee ways ways of interact inte racting ing.. As social social communiti communities, es, African African Americans Americans and Hispanic Hispanicss have stronge strongerr commitments commitmen ts to collective collective interests such as family or race, whereas European Americans Americans tend to be more individualistic . Every culture has proverbs that express its values and pass them from one generation to the next. Following are some proverbs that reflect in particular cultures “A zebra does not •

despise stripes.” “A zebraitsdoes not despise its stripes.” Among the Masai of Africa, this saying encourages

 

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acceptance of things and oneself as they are. “Know the family and you will know the child.” This Chinese proverb reflects the belief

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that individuals are less important than families. “The child has no owner.” “It takes a whole village to raise a child.” These African adages express the idea that children belong to whole communities communities,, not just to biological biological parents.

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“Better to be a fool with the crowd than wise by oneself.” “A solitary soul neither sings nor cries.” These Mexican proverbs reflect a strong commitment to collectivism.  Communication Expresses and Sustains Cultures Commu Com munic nicati ation on simult simultane aneou ously sly reflec reflects ts and su susta stains ins cultu cultural ral value values. s. When When some some Westerners argue, speak up for their ideas, and compete in conversations, they uphold the values of individuality and assertiveness. assertiveness. Communication, then, is a mirror of a culture’s culture’s values and a primary means of keeping them woven into the fabric of everyday life.  Communication Is a Source of Cultural Change In addition to reflecting culture, communication is a source of cultural change. Social communities in the United States have used communication to resist the mainstream’s effort effortss to define define their their identit identity y. Wheneve Wheneverr a group group says, says, “No, the way you describe describe Americans doesn’t fit me,” that group initiates change in the cultural understandings. Commu Com munic nicati ation on helps helps propel propel chan change ge by na nami ming ng thing thingss in ways ways th that at shape shape how we understand them. For instance, the term sexual harassment names a practice that certainly is not new, but for many years it was not labeled and not given social reality. Mary’s commentary explains how important the label is.  Both an overall culture and particular social communities shape our perceptions and ways of communicating. Yet we can learn to appreciate different cultural systems and the diverse forms of communication they foster, as well as the ways in which multiple socia soc iall ident identiti ities es shape shape ou ourr comm communi unica catio tion. n. Doing Doing so enab enables les us to adap adaptt ou ourr communication effectively in response to the diverse people with whom we interact.

3.  What are the characteristics of a bureaucracy? A bureaucracy is a component of formal organization that uses rules and hierarchical ranki ran king ng to achie achieve ve effi efficie cienc ncy y. Fe Few w pe peopl oplee want want to id iden entif tify y their their occup occupati ation on as “bureaucrat,” despite the fact that all of us perform various bureaucratic tasks. In an industrial society, elements of bureaucracy enter into almost every occupation. Weber proposed that whether the purpose is to run a church, a corporation, or an army, the ideal bureaucracy displays five five basic  basic characteristics. 1.Division of labor. labor. Specialized experts perform specific tasks. In your college bureaucracy, the admissions officer does not do the job of registrar; the guidance counselor does not see to the maintenance of buildings. By working at a specific task, people are more likely to become highly skilled and carry out a job with maximum efficiency.

 

The downside of division of labor is that the fragmentation of work into smaller and smaller tasks can divide workers and remove any connection they might feel to the overall objective of the bureaucracy. 2. Hierarchy of authority. authority . Burea Bur eauc ucrac racies ies follow follow the the princi principl plee of hiera hierarch rchy; y; th that at is, ea each ch po posit sitio ion n is under under the supervision of a higher authority. A president heads a college bureaucracy; he or she selects members of the administration, who in turn hire their own staff. 3 .Written rules and regulations. What if your sociology professor gave your classmate an A for having such a friendly smile? You might think that wasn’t fair, that it was against the rules. Through written ruless and regulati rule regulations, ons, bureauc bureaucraci racies es general generally ly offer offer employ employees ees clear clear standar standards ds for an adequate (or exceptional) performance. In additi addition on,, proce procedu dures res provid providee a va valua luable ble sense sense of cont continu inuity ity in a bu burea reauc ucrac racy y. In Indi divi vidu dual al work worker erss will will co come me an and d go, go, but but th thee st stru ruct ctur uree an and d past past re reco cord rdss of th thee organization give it a life of its own that outlives the services of any one bureaucrat. Of course, rules and regulations can overshadow the larger goals of an organization to the point that they become dysfunctional. 4. Impersonality Impersona lity..  Max Weber wrote that in a bureaucracy, work is carried out sine ira et studio, “without hatred or passion.” Bureaucratic norms dictate that officials perform their duties without giving personal consideration consider ation to people as individuals. Although Although this norm is intended to guarantee equal treatment for each person, it also contributes to the often cold and uncaring feeling associated with modern organizations. More frequently, bureaucratic impersonality produces frustration and disaffection. 5. Employment based on technical qualifications. Within the ideal bureaucracy, hiring is based on technical qualifications rather than on favoritism, and performance is measured against specific standards. Written personnel policies dictate who gets promoted, and people often have a right to appeal if they believe that particul particular ar rules rules have have been been violate violated. d. Such Such procedu procedures res protect protect bureauc bureaucrats rats against against arbitr arb itrary ary dismi dismissa ssal, l, provi provide de a measu measure re of se secur curity ity,, and and encou encourag ragee lo loya yalty lty to th thee organization. Although ideally, ideally, any bureaucracy will value technical and professional professional competence, perso personn nnel el de decis cision ionss do not alway alwayss follo follow w that that ideal ideal pa patte ttern. rn. Dysfu Dysfunc nctio tions ns within within bureauc bure aucracy racy have have become become well publici publicized zed.. Accordin According g to the Peter Peter principl principle, e, every every employee within a hierarchy tends to rise to his or her level of incompetence (Peter and Hull 1969). This hypothesis, which has not been directly or systematically tested, reflects a possible dysfunctional outcome of advancement on the basis of merit. Talented people

 

receive promotion after promotion, until sadly, some of them finally achieve positions that they cannot handle with their usual competence.  

4. Desc Descri ribe be th thee de deve velo lopm pmen entt of hu huma man n so soci ciet etie iess ac acco cord rdin ing g to th thee so soci cioc ocul ultu tura rall evolution approach. Sociologist Gerhard Lenski takes a very different view of society and social structure. Rather than distinguishing between two opposite types of society, Lenski sees human societies as undergoing a process of change characterized by a dominant pattern known as sociocultural evolution. This term refers to long-term social trends resulting from the interplay of continuity, innovation, and selection (Nolan and Lenski 2009:361). In Lenski’s view, a society’s level of technology is critical to the way it is organized. Lenski defines technology as “cultural information about the ways in which the material resources of the environment may be used to satisfy human needs and desires”. As technology advances, Lenski writes, a community evolves from a preindustrial to an industrial and finally a postindustrial society. 

Preindustrial Societies

How does does a prein preindus dustri trial al socie society ty orga organiz nizee its ec econo onomy my?? If we know know that, that, we ca can n categorize the society. The first type of preindustrial society to emerge in human history was the hunting-and-gatherin hunting-and-gathering g society, society, in which people simply rely on whatever foods and fibers are readily available. Technology in such societies is minimal. Organized into groups, people move constantly in search of food. There is little division of labor into specialized tasks. Hunting-and-gathering societies are composed of small, widely dispersed groups. Each group consists almost entirely of people who are related to one another. As a result,

 

kinship ties are the source of authority and influence, and the social institution of the family takes on a particularly important role. 

Horticultural societies

Horticultural societies , in which people plant seeds and crops rathe Horticultural ratherr than merely subsist on available foods, emerged about 12,000 years ago. Members of horticultural societies are much less nomadic than hunters and gatherers. They place greater emphasis on the production of tools and household objects. Yet technology remains rather limited in these societies, whose members cultivate crops with the aid of digging sticks or hoes (Wilford 1997). 

Agrarian societies

The last stage of preindustrial development is the agrarian society, which emerged about 5,000 5,00 0 years years ago. As in horticu horticultur ltural al societie societies, s, members members of agrarian agrarian societies societies engage engage primarily in the production of food. However, technological innovations such as the plow allow farmers to dramatically increase their crop yields. They can cultivate the same fields over generations, allowing the emergence of larger settlements. The agrarian society continues to rely on the physical power of humans and animals (as opposed oppo sed to mechani mechanical cal power). power). Neverthe Nevertheless less,, its social social structu structure re has more more carefull carefully y defined roles than that of horticultural societies. Individuals focus on specialized tasks, such as the repair of fishing nets or blacksmithing. blacksmithing. As human settlements settlements become more established and stable, social institutions become more elaborate and property rights more important. The comparative permanence and greater surpluses of an agrarian society allow members to create artifacts such as statues, public monuments, and art objects and to pass them on from one generation to the next. 

Industrial Societies

Although the Industrial Revolution did not topple monarchs, it produced changes every bit as significant as those resulting from political revolutions. The Industrial Revolution, which took place largely in England during the period 1760 to 1830, was a scientific revolution focused on the application of non animal (mechanical) sources of power to labor tasks. An industrial society is a society that depends on mechanization to produce its go good odss and and servi service ces. s. Indust Industria riall socie societi ties es re rely ly on ne new w inven inventio tions ns that that facili facilita tate te agricultural and industrial production, and on new sources of energy, such as steam. As the Industrial Revolution proceeded, a new form of social structure emerged. Many socie soc ietie tiess underw underwen entt an irrevo irrevoca cable ble shift shift from from an agrar agrarian ian-or -orie iente nted d ec econ onomy omy to an industriall base. No longer did an individual or a family typically make an entire product. industria Instea Ins tead, d, speci speciali alizat zatio ion n of tasks tasks and and manu manufac factu turin ring g of go good odss be beca came me in incre creasi asingl ngly y

 

common. Workers, generally men but also women and even children, left their family homesteads to work in central locations such as factories. 

Postindustrial and Postmodern Societies

In th thee 19 1970s 70s,, sociol sociologi ogist st Danie Daniell Bell Bell wrote wrote about about th thee techn technolo ologi gical cally ly advan advance ced d postindustrial postindu strial society, society, whose economic economic system is engaged primarily in the processing processing and control of information. The main output of a postindustrial society is services rather than manufactured goods. Large numbers of people become involved in occupations devoted to the teaching, generation, or dissemination of ideas. Jobs in fields such as advertising, advertis ing, public relations, human resources, resources, and computer information information systems would be typical of a postindustrial society(D. Bell [1973] 1999). Sociologists have gone beyond discussion of the postindustrial society to the ideal of the postmodern society. A postmodern society is a technologically sophisticated society that is preoccupied with consumer goods and media images (Brannigan 1992). Such societies societies consume goods and information on a mass scale. Postmodern theorists take a global perspective, noting the ways that culture crosses national boundaries. The emphasis of postmodern theorists is on observing and describing newly emerging cultural forms and patterns of social interaction. Within sociology, the postmodern view of offe fers rs suppor supportt for integ integrat rating ing the the insigh insights ts of variou variouss theor theoreti etical cal pe persp rspec ectiv tives—  es—  functionalism, function alism, conflict theory theory,, feminist theory theory,, and interactionism interactionism while incorporating incorporating other contemporary approaches. A major focus of sociology has been to identify changes in social structure and the consequences for human behavior. At the macro level, we see society shifting to more advanced forms of technology. The social structure becomes increasingly complex, and new social institutions emerge to assume some functions that once were performed by the family. On the micro level, these changes affect the nature of social interactions. Each individu indiv idual al take takess on multip multiple le social social roles, roles, and and pe peopl oplee come come to rely rely more more on so soci cial al netwo networks rks and and less less on kinshi kinship p ties. ties. As the the so soci cial al str struc uctur turee be becom comes es more more comp complex lex,, people’s relationships become more impersonal, transient, and fragmented. 5. What are are the potential potential stre strengths ngths of of group group discussi discussion on ? The primary primary potentia potentiall strength strengthss of groups groups in compari comparison son to individu individuals als are greater greater resources, more thorough thought, heightened creativity, and enhanced commitment to decis decision ions. s. A group group obvio obviousl usly y exce exceed edss any indiv individu idual al in the id idea eas, s, pe persp rspec ectiv tives, es, experiences, and expertise it can bring to bear on solving a problem. Groups also tend to be more thorough than individuals. Aspects of an issue that one member doesn’t understand, another person can explain; the details of a plan that bore

 

one person interest another; the holes in a proposal that some members overlook are caught by others. Greater thoroughness by groups isn’t simply the result of more people. It reflects reflects interac interaction tion among among members members.. When conformi conformity ty pressure pressuress are controll controlled, ed, discussion can promote critical and careful analysis because members propel each other’s thinking.. Synergy thinking Synergy is a special kind of collaborative collaborative vitality that that enhances the efforts, efforts, talents, and strengths of individual members . A third value of groups is that they are generally more creative than individuals. Again, the reason seems to lie in the synergy of groups. Any individual eventually runs out of new ideas, but groups seem to have almost infinite generative ability. As members talk, they build on each other’s ideas, refine proposals, and see new possibilities in each other’s comments. Finally,, an importan Finally importantt strength strength of groups groups is the their ir ability ability to generate generate commitment commitment to outcomes. The greater commitment fostered by group discussion arises from two sources: •

First, participation enhances commitment to decisions. Groups in which all members participate tend to generate greater commitment among members, which is especially important if members will be involved in implementing the decision.

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Second, because groups have greater resources than individual decision makers, their decisions are more likely to take into account the points of view of the various people needed to make a decision work. 

Greater Grea ter resource resources, s, thoroug thoroughnes hness, s, creativi creativity ty,, and commitme commitment nt to group group goals goals are powerful values of group process. To incorporate these values, members must be willing to invest the time that discussion takes and must resist pressures to conform or to induce others to conform.

6. What are are the potential potential limi limitation tationss of group group discuss discussion? ion? The two most significant disadvantages of group discussion are the time needed for the group process and the potential of conformity pressures to interfere with high quality decision making. Operating solo, an individual can think through ideas efficiently. In group discussion, however, all members have an opportunity to voice ideas and respond to the ideas others put forward. It takes substantial time for each person to express thoughts, clarify misunderstandings, and respond to questions or criticisms. In addition, groups take time to deliberate about alternative courses of action. Therefore, group discussion generally isn’t a wise choice for routine policy making and emergency tasks. When creativity and thoroughness are important, however, the value of groups may be more important than the time they take.

 

Groups also have the potential to suppress individuals and encourage conformity. This •

can happen in two ways. First, conformity pressures may exist when a majority has an opinion different from that of a minority or a single member. Holding out for your point of view is difficult when most or all of your peers have a different one. In effective groups, however, all members understand and resist conformity pressures. They realize that the majority is sometimes wrong and the minority, even just one person, is sometimes right. Members have an ethical responsibility to encourage expression of diverse ideas and open debate about

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different views. Conformity pressures may also arise when one member is extremely charismatic or has more power or prestige than other members. Even if that person is all alone in a point of view,, other members may conform to it. Sometimes a high-status member doesn’t intend view to influence others and may not overtly exert pressure. However, the other members still perceive the status, and it may affect their judgments.