SOC 202 > Midterm > Flashcards

Midterm Flashcards

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1
Q

Define culture

A

system of shared beliefs, values, customs, behaviours, and artefacts that members of a society use to cope with their world and with one another

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2
Q

How is culture spread?

A

transmitted from generation to generation through learning

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3
Q

Define society

A

large group of people (e.g. Canadian society) who interact with one another in accordance with the values, beliefs, customs, behaviours, and artefacts of a common culture

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4
Q

Define social animal

A

survival depends upon the social relationships we form with each other.

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5
Q

Give an example of a social animal

A

Castaway

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6
Q

Define cultural animals

A

in order to survive together we develop technologies, different social institutions , ways of communicating, rules governing our behaviour, values and a belief system.

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7
Q

What kind of animals are humans?

A

Social and Cultural

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8
Q

What term is a way of making sense of the world?

A

culture

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9
Q

Give an example of a cultural institution

A

schools

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10
Q

Define socialization

A

process whereby we learn our society’s culture

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11
Q

What are the 4 primary characteristics of culture?

A
  1. Culture is learned
  2. Culture is rooted in symbols
  3. Culture is a system shared by all members
  4. The elements of culture are generally integrated
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12
Q

Explain how culture is rooted in symbols

A

physical, vocal, or gestural signs that have arbitrary, socially learned meanings to them

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13
Q

Explain how culture is a shared system

A

embodies the collective rather than just the behaviour of one of its members

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14
Q

Explain how the elements of culture are generally integrated

A

The aforementioned components fit together to make a whole

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15
Q

Who is pop culture produced and created by?

A

a select few – the ones who hold power in our society

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16
Q

Who is pop culture a tool for? How do they use it?

A

Popular culture, therefore, has become an important tool for our society’s ruling elite to maintain their position of power over the rest of us

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17
Q

What are the 5 examples of culture types

A
  1. Folk culture
  2. High culture
  3. Mass culture
  4. Popular culture
  5. Counter/sub culture
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18
Q

Define high culture

A

allegedly “superior” customs and values

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19
Q

What era does high culture emerge from

A

Enlightenment era of Western Philosophy

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20
Q

What is the theory behind high culture

A

It specifies that “culture” goes hand-in-hand with civilization, enlightenment and education of humankind- anything less (eg. Tv shows, hollywood are bad- classical is good)

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21
Q

Define mass culture

A

refers to what one believes is our society’s crudest elements

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22
Q

How does culture encompass the masses

A

provides instant gratification through low-quality entertainment via technology and social media

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23
Q

What do critics say of mass culture

A

the quality of culture diminishes (i.e. offers the lowest-common denominator) in an attempt to appeal to a larger quantity (a larger number of people)

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24
Q

What is the difference between mass and pop culture

A

Pop culture has a positive connotation

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25
What classes is pop culture associated with
Lower & working class
26
What does pop culture consist of
popular" entertainments and activities: e.g. watching movies and television shows, playing video games, listening to music, going on Facebook and Twitter, etc.
27
What are mass culture and pop culture terms for
to describe sets of ideas, attitudes, beliefs and ways of life
28
How do sociologists refer to mass culture
ideas, attitudes, etc. mediated by mass communication technologies such as movies and television
29
Who are the "masses"
the people who receive these ideas via mass communication devices, and their culture is called mass culture
30
What are the additional ideas generated from pop culture
the ideas generated by people through face-to-face communication
31
How does mass culture depict the working class
negatively as a class of people who follow mass media mindlessly (as if they have been brainwashed)
32
How does pop culture depict the working class
positive connotation, depicting the working classes as people who not only consume mass media products but also appropriate them in a personally meaningful way
33
Define counter/sub cultures
groups of people who share a set of cultural beliefs, behaviours, and practices, which differs significantly from the culture of the larger society
34
How do counter cultures differ from sub cultures?
Counter cultures are more political
35
What does the economic arrangement represent
The way people get their basic necessities: food, clothing, shelter, etc
36
What type of system is our society organized around
Capitalist Economic System
37
Define capitalist economic system
a system of wage-labour and commodity production for sale, exchange, and profit, rather than for the immediate need of the producers
38
What is the key to the capitalist system
commodity
39
Define commodity
an object that is produced for exchange in the market
40
What does the market refer to (in addition to physical space)
a set of social relationships that are organized around the buying and selling of objects
41
What are the two perspectives in sociology
1. functionalist 2. conflict
42
Who was a key theorist of the functionalist perspective
Emille Durkheim
43
What is the functionalist theory based on
the belief that society is a stable, orderly system which functions by societal consensus
44
How does the consenus work in a funtionalist theory
the majority of its members share a common set of values, beliefs, and behaviours
45
What do functionalists argue
society is made up of interrelated parts, each serving a function which (under ideal circumstances) contributes to the overall stability of the society
46
What are examples of social institutions in society
the family, education, government, religion, and the economy
47
What happens if one of the social institutions are impacted
all other parts are affected and the system no longer functions properly
48
Societies with common culture are more likely to have what?
Consensus & Harmony
49
What happens when too many subcultures in a society
Dynsfunction & lack of consensus
50
Who are the key theorists of conflict perspective?
Karl Marx & Max Weber
51
What do conflict theorists argue?
groups in society are engaged in a continuous power struggle for control of scarce resources.
52
What did marx argue?
Owners (capitlists) exploit the workers, which leads to their alienaton
53
What did Weber add to the argument?
Not just your class that matters. Your status and party affiliation matter too
54
What are the 3 dimensons of social inequality
1. Class 2. Status 3. Power
55
Define class:
refers to one's socio-economic status or individual life-chances
56
Define status:
refers to one's level of social prestige (one may have a low income but still have a relatively high status)
57
Define power:
the degree of political influence (one may have a low income and a low social status but may also have political power through membership in a political party)
58
How do the ruling class maintain their power?
manipulation through aligning their interests as "universal" aka. Ideology
59
How is idealogy maintained?
Cultural hegemony
60
Define ideology
false knowledge created by the ruling class for their own benefit
61
Define cultural hegemony
the process through which the ruling class maintain their powers and privileges
62
What are the 3 aspects of hegemony
1. coercion (police & law) 2. consent (accepted as legitimate and is not questioned by masses) 3. compromise between lower and upper class (upper make concessions to the lower)
63
How is hegemony controlled in the media
Through the representations of class, gender, race, sexuality, disability etc. in popular culture
64
What "establishes our place in the surrounding world" according to John Berger
Seeing
65
What is the act of looking
A choice
66
What are explored through sight
The relation between things are self
67
How are images man made?
They chose what is or is not seen for the viewer
68
How are images detached from reality
due to preservation and mobility
69
How does Berger describe images as a formula
How X saw Y, then how A, B, C… sees X's Y
70
How does the upper class mystify the masses?
They try to prevent viewing of historical art to control narritives of history
71
How do cameras/ videos contrast to drawings/ paintings?
Drawings & paintings put viewer as centre; camera/ video show there is no centre
72
How do cameras destroy paintings?
1. No longer unique | 2. No longer in only one place, diversifies (picture changes meaning through the broken telephone of replications)
73
How does replication harm art?
Uniqueness shifts from the piece to that it is the original of the reproduction
74
How is historical art used in society
Meanings are mystified to show that nothing has changed and that their authority has validation. It glorifies the social system.
75
How is historical art political?
The mystifications of the art's true meanings cut classes off from own past to manipulate
76
What is ideology branded as
The status quo
77
What do television commercials encourage?
audiences to think of themselves markets rather than public, and a consumers rather than citizens
78
What does hegemony require?
That ideological assertions become self evident cultural assumptions
79
What does hegemony imply?
A wiling agreement by people to be goverend by principles, rules and laws they belive operation in their best interests, even though in actual practice they may not
80
What is often more powerful for control than coercion or force?
Social consent
81
How do caplitalist economic forces assert their power in the everyday?
Advertising to the masses
82
According to the Hegemony article- who are two other leading critical theorists?
Raymond Williams & Stuart Hall
83
What do Williams & Hall remind us?
Hegemony in any political context is fragile and requires renewal and modification through the assertion and reassertion of power
84
How are counter-hegemonic tendencies displayed
In interpretations, social circulation and uses of media content
85
Give examples of counter-hegemonic tendencies
marijuana gas masks, homeless turning shopping carts into cars, remixs of upper class content
86
How does hegemony fail
When dominant ideology is weaker than social resistance
87
What are neoliberal principles associated with?
``` global free trade and the deregulation of industry, the weakening of union labor, a decline in welfare assistance and social service provision, and the privatization of publicly-owned resources. ```
88
Why did networks create reality TV
Don't have to pay professional actors and in return union fees. Reality stars work for free -- same with less writers needed
89
What does reality TV mirror?
Sweatshop labour conditions (also able to bypass child labour laws)
90
How does reality TV promote radical right-wing views?
A society of contestents forced to fiercly compete and only one winner can have it all -- promotes classes and extreme levels of social inequality
91
How does reality TV promote conflict perspectives?
Audiences expect layoffs, place desire to win above friendship/loyalties, are to be devoted the boss (who does not reciprocate), sketchy or manipulative moves are never questioned -- constantly are judged
92
How do TV shows represent the working class
That they haven't made it to success due to their own inacurracies and limitations -- due to the american dream saying you can have everything
93
What are the 5 reasons why working class don't succed?
1. Bad Taste (lifestyle & liesure activities) 2. Lack of intellegence (working class buffoon- incapable of taking lead of the household) 3. Reactionary Politics 4. Poor Work Ethics 5. Dysfunctional Family Values
94
What do makeover shows represent
only when the elite help the lower class to improve they can
95
Why are anti-education working class mainly depicted?
They distract from structual realities, and make it seem like the lower class don’t care about education and there for those that have it are elite
96
What are the main political affliations in TV
Conservative - anti- hippie, anti-intellectual, anti- student
97
How does "poor work ethics" as a working class stereotype relate to conflict theory?
Profits for companies skyrocketed, but wages stayed the same. So in turn, productivity is flat and companies try to say it is due to the work ethic rather than the underpay
98
How do companies avert media attention and fault to the dysfunctional family values
Because you don't follow society norms 100% you do not have the chance for the american dream and are self destructives
SOC 202
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