Triandis definition of culture Essays

Triandis definition of culture Essays Triandis definition of culture Paper Triandis definition of culture Paper Culture, in sociology and social anthropology, is the beliefs, behavior, language, and entire way of life of a particular group of people at a particular time. Culture includes customs, ceremonies, works of art, inventions, technology, and traditions. Triandis definition of Culture: 1Culture is a set of human-made objective and subjective elements that in the past have increased the probability of survival and resulted in satisfaction for the participants in an ecological niche, and thus became shared among those who could communicate with each other because they had a common language and they lived in the same time and place. 1 2British anthropologist Edward Burnett Tylor defines culture as that complex whole which includes knowledge, belief, art, law, morals, custom and any other capabilities and habits acquired by man as a member of society. Many other definitions of culture have been offered, but by and large all refer to shared systems of values and behavior. 2 All human brings create culture, it is a pattern of ways of responding to basic needs such as food, shelter, clothing family, organization, religion, government and social structures. Each culture posses its own particular traditions, value and ideals. Judgment of what is wrong right or wrong, good or bad, acceptable or taboo are based on cultural values. Culture is the result of all the daily discussions and negotiations between people. They are frequently agreeing (sometimes openly, usually tacitly) about the proper way to do things and how to make meanings about the events of the world around them. If you want to change a culture you have to change all these conversations-or at least the majority of them. Sources: 1 olemiss. edu/courses/psy561/lect0_files/frame. htm 2 Culture Defined, Microsoft Encarta Encyclopedia 2000. 1993-1999 Microsoft Corporation. 3People learn culture. Many qualities of human life are transmitted geneticallyan infants desire for food, for example, is triggered by physiological characteristics determined within the human genetic code. An adults specific desire for milk and cereal in the morning, on the other hand, cannot be explained genetically; rather, it is a learned (cultural) response to morning hunger. Culture, as a body of learned behaviors common to a given human society, acts rather like a template (ie. it has predictable form and content), shaping behavior and consciousness within a human society from generation to generation. So culture resides in all learned behavior and in some shaping template or consciousness prior to behavior as well (that is, a cultural template can be in place prior to the birth of an individual person). 3 4According to the American Heritage English Dictionary, the definition of culture is: The totality of socially transmitted behavior patterns, arts, beliefs, institutions, and all other products of human work and thought. 4 Status: 5Status is a socially defined position or rank given to groups or group members by others. status can be formal as well as informal. Formal statuses are those given in form of a designation for example in an organization such as manager. Informal will include those, which exists outside the organization or even within but less important than the formal one. 5 Sources: 3 wsu. edu:8001/vcwsu/commons/topics/culture/culture-definition. html 4 wsu. edu:8001/vcwsu/commons/topics/culture/glossary/culture. html 5Stephen P Robbins, Organizational Behavior, 7th edition. Five Different Cultural Approaches. Universalism vs. Particularism. Universalists are more rule based and particularists are relationship based. In paritcularists approach more attention and importance is given to relationships. People in Universalists culture believe that general rules, codes, values and standards take are more important than particular needs and claims of friends and relations. Particularistic cultures see the ideal culture in terms of friendly relationships. They focus more on relationships. Individualism vs. Collectivism. In individualistic culture people place the individual before the society. They are expected to make decisions by themselves. In a particularistic culture, the quality of life for all members of society is seen as directly reliant on opportunities for individual freedom and development. The community is judged by the extent to which it serves the interest of individual members. In a collectivist culture people place the community before the individual. In collectivist culture people are expected to act in such a way that it serves the society. The individual is judged by the extent to which he serves the interest of the society. Achievement vs. Ascription. Achievement means people are judged on what they have recently achieved or accomplished. Ascription means that status is attributed to you by things like birth, kinship, gender, age, interpersonal connections, or educational record. Achieved status refers to doing, ascribed status refers to being. Achievement-oriented societies or organizations justify their hierarchies by claiming that senior people have achieved more. In ascription-oriented cultures, however, hierarchies are justified by power-to-get-things-done. Neutral vs. Emotional.

Racial Formation - Definition and Overview

Racial Formation - Definition and Overview Racial formation is the process, resulting from the interplay between social structure and everyday life, through which the meaning of race and racial categories are agreed upon and argued over. The concept comes form racial formation theory, a sociological theory  that focuses on the connections between how race shapes and is shaped by  social structure, and how racial categories are represented and given meaning in imagery, media, language, ideas, and everyday common sense. Racial formation theory frames the meaning of race as rooted in context and history, and thus as something that changes over time. Omi and Winants Racial Formation Theory In their book Racial Formation in the United States,  sociologists Michael Omi and Howard Winant define racial formation as â€Å"...the sociohistorical process by which racial categories are created, inhabited, transformed, and destroyed,† and explain that this process is accomplished by â€Å"historically situated projects in which human bodies and social structures are represented and organized.† â€Å"Projects,† here, refers to a representation of race that situates it in social structure. A racial project can take the form of common sense assumptions about racial groups, about whether or not race is significant in today’s society, or narratives and images that depict race and racial categories through mass media, for example. These situate race within social structure by, for instance, justifying why some people have less wealth or make more money than others on the basis of race, or, by pointing out that racism is alive and well, and that it impact s people’s experiences in society. Thus, Omi and Winant see the process of racial formation as directly and deeply connected to how â€Å"society is organized and ruled.† In this sense, race and the process of racial formation have important political and economic implications. Racial Formation is Composed of Racial Projects Central to their theory is the fact that race is used to signify differences amongst people, via racial projects, and that how these differences are signified connects to the organization of society. In the context of the U.S. society, the concept of race is used to signify physical differences amongst people but is also used to signify actual and perceived cultural, economic, and behavioral differences. By framing racial formation this way, Omi and Winant illustrate that because the way we understand, describe, and represent race is connected to how society is organized, then even our common sense understandings of race can have real and significant political and economic consequences for things like access to rights and resources.Their theory frames the relationship between racial projects and social structure as dialectical, meaning that the relationship between the two goes in both directions, and that change in one necessarily causes change in  the other. So, the outcomes of a racialized social structure- differentials in wealth, income, and assets on the basis of race, for example- shape what we believe to be true about racial categories. We then use race as a sort of shorthand to provide a set of assumptions about a person, which in turn shapes our expectations for a person’s behavior, beliefs, worldviews, and even intelligence. The ideas we develop about race then act back on the social structure in various political and economic ways. While some racial projects might be benign, progressive, or anti-racist, many are racist. Racial projects which represent certain racial groups as less than or deviant impact the structure of society by excluding some from employment opportunities, political office, educational opportunities, and subject some to police harassment, and  higher rates of arrest, conviction, and incarceration. The Changeable Nature of Race Because the ever-unfolding process of racial formation is one carried out by racial projects, Omi and Winant point out that we all exist among and within them, and they inside of us. This means that we are constantly experiencing the ideological force of race in our everyday lives, and what we do and think in our everyday lives has an impact on social structure. This also means that we as individuals have the power to change the racialized social structure and eradicate racism by changing the way we represent, think about, talk about, and act in response to race.