SOC103H1 Chapter Notes - Chapter 4: Postmodern Art, Group Cohesiveness, Cultural Universal
Document Summary
It encompasses all of the objects, artifacts, institutions, organizations, ideas, and beliefs that make up the social environment of human life. Culture consists of both material and non-material elements and serves as a group"s memory, transmitted from one generation to the next, thus ensuring the group"s continuity. All societies have values and norms; these are the glue" that hold society together. There are three kinds of norms: folkways, mores, and taboos. These vary in terms of importance and the extent to which they are enforced. While functionalist theorists emphasize that culture can be a stabilizing force in society, promoting group cohesiveness, critical sociologists have noted this apparent stability actually reflects the perspective of the dominant group and maintains the status quo; however, max. Weber makes a compelling argument that a change in one cultural element (e. g. , religion) can have a powerful effect on another cultural element (e. g. , the economy).
