SOCIOL 110 Chapter Notes - Chapter 3: Johannes Gutenberg, Cultural Relativism, Ethnocentrism

• School: UMASS-Amherst
• Department: Sociology
• Course: SOCIOL 110
• Professor: Paul Knudson

Document Summary

Culture - the sum of social categories and concepts we recognize in addition to our beliefs, behaviors, and practices. We use it to rationalize behaviors of people. Ethnocentrism - the belief that one"s own culture or group is superior to others, and the tendency to view all other cultures from the perspective of one"s own. Non-material - values, beliefs, behaviors, and social norms. Material - everything that is a part of our constructed, physical environment, including technology. What feels normal or natural to us but is actually socially produced. Culture is a way of organizing our experience. Ideology - a system of concepts and relationships an understanding of cause and effect. Cultural relativism: taking into account the differences across cultures without passing judgement or assigning value. Cultural scripts - modes of behavior and understanding that are not universal or natural. Just because two cultures do things differently doesn"t mean either of them are wrong.