Cultural Variation Objectives ● Know what cultural universals are ● Understand subcultures and countercultures and be able to provide examples ● Know what ethnocentrism means ● Contrast the different ways that cultural change is brought about Diversity in World Cultures ● Humans have ability to meet needs in a vast number of ways ● Ability only limited by biological makeup and physical environment ● Ability leads to great diversity in many ways ● Some needs are so basic that all societies must develop ways to fulfill them ● Ex. Language - 220 different languages (more than 2 million) Cultural Universals ● Cultural Universals: features common to all cultures ● George Murdock compiled list of over 65 cultural universals ○ Ex. body adornment, feasting, dancing, housing, language, etc. ● Specific nature of the universals may vary widely between cultures

Let’s talk Family ● Family serves the same purpose - new members being added to society ○ Raised to teach culture and fend for themselves ● The makeup or structure varies though ○ In the West: 1-2 Parents + children = Family ○ Family could also = 1 man + multiple wives + children

Inside and Out ● Culture variations between societies, but also within societies ● Ex. American society = all American ○ Southern Culture ○ East Coast Culture ○ West Coast ○ Culture by states? ● Subculture: A group with its own unique values, norms, and behaviors that exists within a larger culture What are some other subcultures? Subcultures

● Subcultures: Groups that share traits with each other but not the larger society ○ Ex. organized by age, gender, politics, or geography ● Most do not reject all of the values of the larger society ● Most subcultures do not threaten the larger American culture

Counterculture

● Countercultures adopt values that are designed to challenge the values of the larger society ● Examples are groups such as cyberpunks, anarchists, the Mafia, and hippies Ethnocentrism ● Ethnocentrism: A tendency to view one’s own culture and group as superior ● People from all cultures are somewhat ethnocentric at different times ● Can lead to discrimination ● Can cause the home culture to stagnate ● Even professional scholars struggle with ethnocentrism Cultural Relativism ● Cultural relativism: the idea that a culture should be judged by its own standards ● Can help explain beliefs or behaviors that seem strange or different

Cultural Change ● Cultural diffusion: the spreading of culture traits from one society to another ○ Today it can happen almost instantly ● Cultural lag: the time it takes for nonmaterial culture to “catch up” to changes in material culture ● Cultural leveling: a process by which cultures become more and more alike ○ Some suggest it is the first step toward a global culture