CULTURE PATTERNS AND PROCESSES

Chapter 5

Culture

Culture is a complex concept

Def #1 A particular way of

life, such as a set of skilled activities, values, & meanings surrounding a particular type of practice

Def#2 A shared set of

meanings that is lived through the material & symbolic practices of everyday life Could be values,

beliefs, ideas, and practices

Concepts of Culture Cultural Landscape

“built landscape” Physical imprint a culture

makes on the environment Buildings, artwork, music

Carl Sauer 20th century geographer Culture leaves “imprint”

Cultural Ecology Study of human-

environment interaction and its results

Sequent Occupancy Theory that a place can be

occupied by different groups of people, and each group leaves its imprint on the place from which the next group learns Ex. England

Cultural Ecology

England Called Historical

Geography Defined as “geography in

the past” H.C. Darby

Implemented his historical approach to cultural geo and landscape by developing a geography based on the Domesday Book.

Used data to reconstruct the political, social, and economic forces that shaped past landscapes

France Called “genre de vie”

Def: a functionally organized way of life that is seen to be characteristic of a particular cultural group

Centered on livelihood practices of groups that were seen to shape physical, social, and psychological bonds.

Vidal de la Blanche Emphasized need to study

small, homogeneous areas to uncover relationship between people and their surroundings

Natural vs. Cultural landscape

Human-Environment Interaction

Environmental Determinism Theory that human behavior

is controlled (or determined) by physical environment Ex: ideal climates cause

more productive citizens Egypt vs. Siberia

Possibilism Counterargument to

environment determinism Argues the natural

environment places limits on the set of choices available to a people People, not the environment,

propel human development

Cultural Determinism Theory that the

environment places no restrictions on humans whatsoever Only restrictions are the

ones humans create themselves

Political Ecology Attempts to answer why

human cultures interact with environments the way they do Government of a region

affects the environment in that region which affects choices available to people

Ex: zoning laws

Layers of a Culture

Culture Traits Def:

A single attribute of a culture Ex: bowing to show respect

Not always unique to one group

Culture Complex Def:

Combination of all culture traits creates a unique set of traits

No two cultures in the world have the same culture complexes

Culture Systems Def:

When many culture complexes share particular traits, those traits can merge into culture systems

Ex: Germany

Culture Regions Def:

Region that includes places and peoples with similarities in their culture systems

People in culture region often share a sense of common culture and regional identity

Boundaries defined by perceptions and opinions

Ex: The South Culture Realms

Def: Formed through the fusing

together of culture regions that share enough in common to be merged together

ex: Anglo-American realm

Latin American realm Sino- Japanese realm

Culture regions: Religion

Cultural Diffusion

Cultural/Spatial Diffusion People’s material and

non-material creations spread across time and space, moving to new places and being carries through generations.

Cultural diffusion: Spread of people’s

cultural across space

Spatial diffusion: Spread of any

phenomenon (such as a disease) across space

Two categories of diffusion: Expansion relocation

Cultural Diffusion

Expansion Diffusion Def:

Cultural component spreads outward to new places while remaining strong in the hearth

Forms of Expansion Diffusion Stimulus

Idea diffuses from hearth but original idea is changed

Iced tea vs Sweet tea Hierarchical

Idea spreads from a place or person of power

Hip-hop moving from large cities to other larger cities to smaller cities to suburbs/ rural areas

Contagious Numerous places or people

near the point of origin become adopters

Ex: Tuberculosis

Relocation Diffusion Def:

Involves actual movement of the original adapters from their hearth to a new place

People do the “moving” not the innovation

Migrant diffusion Innovation spreads and lasts

only a brief time in the newly adopted place

Ex: Band Concert

Mix of Patterns Many diffusing

phenomenon spread through mix of patterns Ex: HIV/ AIDS

Culture Hearths

Definition: Areas where innovations

in culture began, such as where agriculture, government, and urbanization originated Sources of human

civilization Ancient culture hearths

believed to have developed in places with the capacity for innovation

Near sources of water/ arable land

Not all innovations required interaction

Independent innovation

Ancient Hearth

Direction of Diffusion of Civilization from Ancient Hearth

Andean America

Eastward t/out S. America

Mesoamerica Eastern/Western N. America

West Africa T/out Africa

Nile River Valley

T/out Africa and S.W. Asia

Mesopotamia T/out S.W. Asia, Europe, Central and East Asia, W. Africa

Indus River Valley

T/out S.W., Central, East Asia

Ganges River Valley

T/out South, SE, and SW Asia

Huang River Valley

T/out East and SE Asia

Torsten Hagerstrand

Theorized that innovations of all kinds tend to diffuse from their hearths in stages 1st stage:

Gain acceptance in place of origin

Early adopters “innovators”

2nd stage Begin to spread rapidly

outward from region Majority adopters

3rd stage Slowing and reaching

maximum dispersal and saturation

Late adopters “Laggards”

Research led to seeing that diffusion followed an S-curve pattern Example: Cell phone

diffusion

Cultural Convergence and Divergence

Cultural Convergence Definition:

Occurs when two cultures adopt each other’s traits and become more alike

Cultural Divergence Definition:

Occurs when two cultures become increasingly different

Often one group moves away from the territory of other

Acculturation Occurs when two

cultures come into contact with one another and the “weaker” of the two adopts traits from the more dominant culture

Assimilation Sometimes acculturation

leads to assimilation When the original traits

of the weaker culture are completely replaced by more dominant culture

Transculturation When two cultures of just

about equal power meet and exchange ideas

AcculturationAssimilation NH

BMHAWK #3 BMHAWK #4