SOCI 1001H Lecture Notes - Lecture 9: Commodification, The Symbolic, Advanced Capitalism
14 Jun 2018
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Introduction: What is Culture?
• Culture: the symbolic order through which individuals communicate and organize their
collective life
• Symbols can be visual, numerical, aural, embedded in objects
• Basis of culture = symbolic communication
• Symbolic communication: varies according to the nature of the
organization of social relations of production and reproduction
• Culture is an entire way of life
• Even though all human communities have culture, the form and the content of
cultural activities varies
• The way a culture varies has to do with the nature of the society it is
rooted in
Culture: Part 1
Popular culture/ commodified Culture
• Any society will have different cultural institutions
• Sociologists looks to these institutions to see what ideas come from them, and
how they are structured by the nature of the society
• Sociologists look at distinction between what is and what is not art (which is a
social construction)
• Some culture forms are considered “higher” cultural forms are would be
considered art
• In the past, only people of higher classes took part in art
• Symbolic communication and creativity exist today largely in a context that is
highly shaped by capital
• To study popular culture critically is to look at ways in which capital and
artistic expression are combined in a process called cultural
commodification
• Our culture is tied very closely to type of social organization we live within
• One of most significant aspects of commodified culture is advertising
Advertising
• Advertising is a key social institution of capitalism
• New communication technologies allowed more advertising and grew
advertising industry, also changing techniques of advertising
• Product placements: when a company pays a movie or television
producer to use their products on the screen
• Advanced capitalism would not survive without advertising
• Link between production and consumption
• Cycle of capitalism: advertising is link between production and
consumption
• Creating needs from wants and desires
• Advertising leads people to buy things they do not really need because
they see what is available, and makes people feel they need the product
• Cultural evolution of consumerism and consumers
• Consumption was not seen as a positive thing until advertising
• One theory for why consumption increased was because for most
people working more, made leisure and consumption a substitute
for job satisfaction
• Mindset of culture has shifted to center on mass consumption
• “Use value” and “symbolic value” in advertising
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