CHAPTER 2: CULTURAL DIVERSITY

Section 1: The Meaning of Culture

We did this when we did the exercise on identifying relations between the vocabulary terms.

Cultural Universals

Features common to all cultures First listed by George Murdoch in the

1940s They include things like body adornment,

tools, cooking, religion, sports, greetings, myths, folklore, housing and music

While common to all cultures, their ‘shape’ varies from culture to culture.

Please read about the Arapesh and Mundugumor

on pages 32 and 33.

Ethnocentrism

While reading the passage, did these tribes seem ‘odd’?

Ethnocentrism is defined as “Viewing your group/culture as being superior.”

Cultural Relativism

This is defined as trying to judge a culture by their standards.

This is a VERY controversial topic in Sociology

Subcultures and Countercultures

What is the difference? How many of each can you name?