Culture and Society

I.                   Society, Social Culture and Social Structure

II.                Different Societies

III.             Important Sociological Approaches Explaining the Development of Nation States and Empires

I.                   Society, Social Culture and Social Structure

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Culture and Society

Culture

· symbolic and learned nonbiological aspects of human society

· consists of values and norms held by a given group or society

Society

• a system of interrelationships that connects individuals that share the same culture

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Society implies social culture and social structure

 Interdependency of culture and structure

Cultural diversity

• language
• food (fried bees, snakes)
• dress

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Ethnocentrism versus cultural relativism

• ethnocentrism: judging other cultures in terms of one's own standards.

• cultural relativism: judging a society by its own standards

Question: What problems can arise if someone is ethnocentric?

		Example: Billboard Advertising in Germany Problem for international cooperation: Advertisements that are outstanding in one culture might not be suitable in another culture.
		Another German Billboard Advertisement (with some self-censorship)
		In Comparison, a Texan Billboard Advertisement

II.                Different Societies

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Hunting & Gathering Societies

Agrarian

Pastoral

FIRST WAVE OF CIVILIZATION

Traditional states or civilizations

SECOND WAVE OF CIVILIZATION

Industrial

THIRD WAVE OF CIVILIZATION

Post Industrial: Information age

AWe are the final generation of an old civilization and the first generation of a new one@

(Alvin and Heidi Toeffler, 1995. Creating a new Civilization)

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III. Important Sociological Approaches Explaining the Development of Nation States and Empires

Concepts of Imperialism and Neo Imperialism

Imperialism: Imposition of power of one state over the territories of another

Lenin (1916) used Marxist terminology to describe imperialism:

1. Extraction of the surplus product

2. + control over the means of production by a dominant country.

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