Culture, Society, Sociology September 2, 2014 Culture, Society, Sociology September 2, 2014 1 / 22
Recap: The Problem of Sorting Remember the most-to-least-similar problem UNC-CH Rankings: “Contribution to the Public Good”: http://www.washingtonmonthly.com/college_guide/ rankings-2014/national-universities-rank.php “Happiest Freshmen”: http://www.collegechoice.net/posts/ colleges-with-happiest-freshman/ “Absolutely Everything that Matters”: http://dailycaller.com/2014/08/25/ the-best-52-colleges-in-america-period-when-you-consider-absolutely- Culture, Society, Sociology September 2, 2014 2 / 22
What are Americans Like? Alexis de Tocqueville, Democracy in America American Exceptionalism Individualistic “A Nation of Joiners” Americans’ “habits of the heart” Culture, Society, Sociology September 2, 2014 3 / 22
Persistent Trends Americans remain more likely than others to. . . Go to church Volunteer in social services agencies Mistrust government Resent taxation Believe wealth is distributed fairly Have opinions Culture, Society, Sociology September 2, 2014 4 / 22
Culture “What are Americans Like” is an invitation to discuss American culture What do we mean by culture? Culture, Society, Sociology September 2, 2014 5 / 22
Culture (cont.) Culture, Society, Sociology September 2, 2014 6 / 22
Culture (cont.) Culture, Society, Sociology September 2, 2014 7 / 22
Culture (cont.) Culture, Society, Sociology September 2, 2014 8 / 22
Culture (cont.) Culture, Society, Sociology September 2, 2014 9 / 22
The Sociology of Culture Older conception: the Values of a population Example: Americans value freedom, success, wealth, opportunity Problems: Nobody was ever able to measure these values 1 Very little variation 2 Culture, Society, Sociology September 2, 2014 10 / 22
The Sociology of Culture (cont.) • New conception: Repertoire of Interpretive Strategies Repertoire: A list of dramas, operas, pieces, parts, etc., which a company or a person has rehearsed and is prepared to perform Interpret: To explain or tell the meaning of; to expound; to translate orally into intelligible or familiar language or terms; to decipher; to define; to apprehend and represent by means of art; to show by illustrative representation; as, an actor interprets the character of Hamlet; a musician interprets a sonata; an artist interprets a landscape Strategy: an elaborate and systematic plan of action Culture, Society, Sociology September 2, 2014 11 / 22
The Sociology of Culture (Cont.) Ann Swidler (1986): “Culture in Action” Drawing on Tocqueville: Styles, Skills, Habits Culture as Toolbox Culture, Society, Sociology September 2, 2014 12 / 22
The Sociology of Culture (cont.) Cultures are cross-cutting and overlapping Cultural membership can be partial Cultures “produce” their members Cultures provide members with the ways they understand their lives and the tools they choose to apply to problems Culture is both constraining and enabling People know more culture than they use (Vaisey) Culture, Society, Sociology September 2, 2014 13 / 22
Collective Memory One thing that holds cultures together is what they know in common Obvious, taken for granted, remembered Culture in mind vs. Culture in the world Collected vs. Collective memories Culture, Society, Sociology September 2, 2014 14 / 22
The Unbuilt Environment Perrin, Perrin, Caren, Skinner Does physical environment affect obesity risk? Culture, Society, Sociology September 2, 2014 15 / 22
Cultural Objects Art, Music, Food, etc. Culture, Society, Sociology September 2, 2014 16 / 22
The Nacirema: Cultural Objects “The daily body ritual performed by everyone includes a mouth-rite. Despite the fact that these people are so punctilious [6] about care of the mouth, this rite involves a practice which strikes the uninitiated stranger as revolting. It was reported to me that the ritual consists of inserting a small bundle of hog hairs into the mouth, along with certain magical powders, and then moving the bundle in a highly formalized series of gestures.” Culture, Society, Sociology September 2, 2014 17 / 22
Example: Watergate Michael Schudson, Watergate in American Memory: How we Remember, Forget, and Reconstruct the Past Americans “think with” Watergate What other tools does American culture provide? Culture, Society, Sociology September 2, 2014 18 / 22
Example: Hiroshima 1945 atomic bombing Not commemorated as “Mecca of Peace” until after 1954 Saito H. “Reiterated Commemoration: Hiroshima as National Trauma.” Sociological Theory 24:4 (December 2006) Culture, Society, Sociology September 2, 2014 19 / 22
Example: Madonna (Switch to PowerPoint) Culture, Society, Sociology September 2, 2014 20 / 22
Generations Karl Mannheim (1893–1947): generations are defined through common experiences e.g, Great Depression, WWII, Kennedy Assassination, Vietnam, Berlin Wall, 9/11 Survey questions: what do people remember when asked? Southern whites of a particular age (born 1929–1956) mention the Civil Rights Movement more than other regions or ages Culture, Society, Sociology September 2, 2014 21 / 22
Culture: Measurement and Effects Culture is very tough to measure Big data is one frontier Evidence for culture mattering? Culture, Society, Sociology September 2, 2014 22 / 22
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