CULTURE:Universality, Components of Culture, Symbols, Language

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Introduction to Sociology SOC101

Lesson 9

CULTURE

Culture is people's way of life. It is their pattern of behavior, which has been created by human beings.

Culture includes: Intangible (non-material) items like values, beliefs, norms, language, and ideas (ideologies:

perception of reality) that govern the way of life. The way we play our roles.

+ Tangible things material objects. Human beings have created this way of life, which includes both

material and non-material objects. Hence some Anthropologists call it as man- made part of the

environment. Culture is the patterns of behavior and the products of the patterns of behavior

Do non-humans have a culture?

Non-humans guided by instincts. They have a biological programming. Humans guided by culture, which

may be called as social programming. Culture is learned, shared, transmitted, and it is changing.

Some specific features of culture:

Universality: Culture is universal. There is no society without culture. As part of the cultures

there are many aspects that are found in almost all the societies. For example the institutions like

marriage and family, religion, education, polity, economy, and sports are found all over the world.

Societies have developed values, norms, beliefs, and other patterns of behavior that govern the

system of marriage and family. One could find such a pattern all over the world, and the same is

applicable to religion, education, political behavior, economic behavior, and so on.

Variability: There is variability in the universals of culture. By looking at the institution of

marriage and family one could see so much of variation in it within Pakistan, notwithstanding the

differences in other societies. The arranged marriages, love marriages, exchange marriages,

marriages by purchase, marriages within as well as outside the kin network, are all variations that are

found in Pakistan. Then one could see the differences in wedding ceremonies all over the country.

Joint families and nuclear families, single earner families and dual earner families, patriarchal

families and egalitarian families, patrilocal families and matrilocal families are some other aspects

reflecting the variability of family in Pakistani society. Similarly one comes across variations in

religion all over the world. Kingship, dictatorship, democracy, parliamentary form of democracy or

presidential form, adult franchise or selective voting rights, voter age are all variations in the

political systems followed by different nations. Economic systems also vary from the extremes of

socialism and capitalism to any variation on the scale.

Learned: Culture is learned through the process of interaction with others. It is not inherited

through the biological process. We learn to talk, to walk, and to act as our elders train us. Nature

has given us the potential to talk but we speak variety of languages, which are all created by human

beings and there is so much of variation within as well as outside Pakistan. Also human being have

the capacity to learn a variety of languages. Similarly other ways of life, which is culture, are

learned.

Shared: Culture is not the property of one individual or of a group. It is shared with other

members of society. You are sharing T V transmission with others, sharing a classroom with

others, sharing the road with others, and sharing the knowledge with others. You are sharing

culture with others because you are a social being.

Transmitted: Culture does not end with the death of a person or a group. During its lifetime that

individual or group tries to pass on its culture to the future generation. This is how every new crop

of babies does not start from a scratch rather they build on what they have already received. That

is how culture grows and that is how our culture becomes richer ad richer.

Introduction to Sociology SOC101

· Changing: Culture is continuously changing. The patterns of behavior transmitted by one

generation to another are continuously in the process of modification for catering to the changing

needs of time and demands of people. New technologies are developed and are borrowed from

other groups and societies. With the increase in the contact between different societies the cultures

are changing very fast and may be moving toward some kind of global culture.

Three similar terms: Culture, Nation, and Society

Culture: Shared way of life.

Nation: A political entity within designated borders.

Society: The organized interaction of people in a nation or within some other boundary.

Pakistan: nation and society, but may have many cultures.

Multicultural: Includes various ways of life that blend together.

Components of Culture

Symbols: Anything that carries a particular meaning recognized by people who share culture. Whistle,

flashing light, thumbs up are all symbols.

Human beings have the capacity to create symbols with different meanings associated with each. These

symbols are used as means of communication and thereby become part of our language.

Even the buildings, dress, the flag, and a type of color may be taken as symbols indicating some aspect of

human behavior as well as society's outlook. Red, green, white, blue, pink, each of the colors stands for

something in the society. Blue jeans are quite commonly used in Pakistan. Can you find out that these are

symbol of what?

Language: System of symbols that allows members of a society to communicate with one another.

Symbols may be oral and these could be written words. We have oral cultural traditions. Human beings

have developed different alphabet as part of written language. Language is the major means of cultural

transmission. Is language uniquely human?

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