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Chapter 4 Culture And Socialisation
Introduction
This chapter explores the concept of 'culture' from a sociological perspective, moving beyond everyday definitions. In everyday conversation, 'culture' often refers narrowly to arts or specific lifestyles. Sociologists and anthropologists study culture within its social context, analysing its various aspects and their interrelations.
Culture In Everyday Life Versus Sociology
Unlike the everyday, narrow view, sociology defines culture as a broader way of life shared by all members of a society.
Culture As A Social Construct
Culture is a common understanding that is learned and developed through social interaction within a society. This shared understanding defines a group and gives it identity. Culture is essentially a social construct, built and maintained through interaction.
Culture Is Dynamic
Cultures are not static; they are constantly changing and evolving. Elements are added, deleted, expanded, shrunk, and rearranged, making cultures dynamic functional units.
Learning Through Interaction And Socialisation
The human capacity for common understanding and deriving shared meaning from signs and symbols (like words and facial expressions) distinguishes us from other animals. Creating meaning is a social process learned through interaction in families, groups, and communities. We learn tool use, techniques, and abstract signs/symbols through social interaction. This learning, particularly primary socialisation in the family and secondary socialisation in other institutions, prepares us for fulfilling roles and responsibilities in society.
Diverse Settings, Different Cultures
Human cultures emerge and diversify in response to varying natural environments (mountains, plains, forests, deserts, islands) and social contexts (villages, towns, cities). People adapt different strategies to cope with these conditions, leading to diverse ways of life.
Natural Environment And Adaptation
The natural setting significantly influences culture, affecting food habits, dwelling patterns, clothing, and even religious practices. Different cultures develop varied coping mechanisms for environmental challenges. For example, tribal communities in the Andaman and Nicobar Islands survived the 2004 tsunami based on their experiential knowledge of natural signs, unlike populations on the mainland integrated into a more modern lifestyle. This shows that cultural adequacy is judged by coping ability, not by access to modern technology, and that cultures cannot be ranked as superior or inferior.
(This image likely illustrates various geographical landscapes like mountains, plains, forests, or deserts, and depicts human activities or dwellings characteristic of cultures that have adapted to those environments.)
Defining Culture
In sociology, culture is not just about refined taste but a comprehensive way of life shared by all members of society. Early definitions:
- Edward Tylor (1871): Culture is "that complex whole which includes knowledge, belief, art, morals, law, custom and any other capabilities and habits acquired by man as a member of society." His definition, though based on studying artifacts (material culture), highlighted intangible aspects to understand societies.
- Bronislaw Malinowski (1931): Culture comprises "inherited artifacts, goods, technical process, ideas, habits and values." He added material aspects (artifacts, goods, techniques) missing in Tylor's list alongside intangible ones, based on his intensive fieldwork.
- Clifford Geertz: Views culture as "webs of significance" spun by humans, interpreting actions like words conveying meaning, focusing on interpreting meaning rather than causal explanation.
- Leslie White: Emphasised culture adding meaning to reality (e.g., regarding water as holy).
Later anthropologists (Kroeber and Kluckhohn, 1952) surveyed definitions, noting recurring words like 'way', 'learn', and 'behaviour', but varying emphasis on mental ways, total way of life, abstraction from behaviour, learned behaviour, pooled learning, social legacy, standardised orientations, or normative regulation.
(This image likely depicts a scene illustrating specific cultural practices, social interactions, or a characteristic setting of a particular community, capturing the essence of culture as a shared way of life.)
Dimensions Of Culture
Culture can be understood through three interconnected dimensions:
- Cognitive: How we process information (what we hear/see) to give it meaning (e.g., identifying a sound, recognising a face). Includes ideas, knowledge, beliefs, and ways of understanding the world. In non-literate societies, cognitive knowledge is transmitted orally. Writing allows for extensive recording and preservation of cognitive heritage. Literacy can impact cognitive practices. Modern electronic media raises questions about impacts on cognitive culture (e.g., attention span).
- Normative: Rules of conduct (folkways, mores, customs, conventions, laws) guiding social behaviour. Norms are implicit rules, often followed habitually due to socialisation. They are enforced by sanctions. Laws are explicit, formal rules defined by the state, applicable to the whole society, with penalties for violation. Laws represent formal social control. Norms can vary by status (dominant norms applied by dominant groups) and may be discriminatory (e.g., caste/gender restrictions).
- Material: Tangible objects, technologies, machines, buildings, modes of transport/production/communication (tools, internet, phones, cars, machines). Material aspects facilitate production and enhance quality of life.
Cognitive Aspects Of Culture
This dimension refers to how we understand and make sense of our environment, encompassing knowledge, beliefs, and ways of processing information. While harder to recognise than material or normative aspects, cognitive culture is crucial. In literate societies, knowledge is stored in written forms. In non-literate ones, it's preserved and transmitted orally by specialists. Writing impacts cognitive culture, affecting production and consumption of cultural forms (e.g., repetition in oral tradition for memory, different audience engagement). Historically, limited literacy meant cognitive skills were restricted to elites. Sociological studies investigate how literacy and modern media affect cognitive practices and access to knowledge.
Normative Aspects Of Culture
This dimension consists of rules that guide behaviour. It includes implicit rules (folkways, mores, customs, conventions) and explicit rules (laws). We follow norms through socialisation and conformity is enforced by sanctions (rewards/punishments). Laws are formal, universal rules defined by the state, distinct from family-specific norms. Laws are the most formal type of social control. Norms can vary by social status and dominant groups may enforce discriminatory norms based on caste or gender. Understanding a culture's implicit understandings is important when interpreting its norms (as highlighted by Bourdieu).
Material Aspects Of Culture
This dimension includes all the tangible objects and technologies used by a society. Examples range from simple tools and machines to complex transportation systems, communication devices, and instruments of production. The widespread use of technologies in urban and rural areas reflects dependence on material culture to increase production and improve living standards.
Culture Lag
Culture has two main dimensions: material and non-material (cognitive and normative). For a culture to function smoothly, these dimensions should work together. However, rapid changes in the material/technological dimension can outpace changes in the non-material aspects (values, norms), creating a situation of culture lag. This occurs when norms and values struggle to adapt to technological advances, potentially leading to social disruption or difficulty integrating new technologies harmoniously.
Culture And Identity
Identities are not innate; they are shaped through individual and group interactions. Social roles contribute to individual identity. In modern society, playing multiple roles (parent, child, student, professional) shapes identity. Language used within groups can also create shared meanings and solidify identity (e.g., distinct language/code among students, women creating private language). Within a larger culture, sub-cultures may exist (e.g., youth subcultures) defined by style, taste, association, speech, dress, music preference, creating cohesive units that impart identity to members. Positive sub-cultural activities can enhance self-image and group identity through community recognition.
Ethnocentrism
Ethnocentrism arises when cultures interact. It is the practice of evaluating other cultures based on the values and beliefs of one's own culture, often viewing one's own culture as superior. This sense of cultural superiority is evident in historical contexts like colonialism (e.g., Macaulay's Minute on Education aiming to create an Indian elite English in taste and intellect). Ethnocentrism hinders objective understanding of other cultures.
Cosmopolitanism
Cosmopolitanism is the opposite of ethnocentrism. It values other cultures for their differences and does not judge them by one's own standards. A cosmopolitan outlook celebrates cultural diversity, promotes cultural exchange and borrowing to enrich one's own culture (e.g., English language incorporating foreign words, Hindi film music borrowing styles). In a globalised world, a cosmopolitan outlook allows diverse influences to be absorbed and integrated into one's own culture in distinctive ways, creating a richer, more dynamic identity without losing its core character.
(This image might depict contrasting perspectives or interactions between different cultures, potentially showing judgment or closed-mindedness (ethnocentrism) versus openness, exchange, or celebration of diversity (cosmopolitanism).)
Cultural Change
Cultural change refers to how societies alter their cultural patterns. The impetus for change can be internal (e.g., new farming methods transforming agrarian community life) or external (e.g., conquest, colonisation affecting cultural practices). Change also occurs through environmental shifts or adaptation.
Cultural change can be evolutionary (gradual) or revolutionary (rapid, radical transformation of values/meaning systems). Revolutionary change can be driven by political events (French Revolution's impact on French society), technological innovation, or ecological transformation. The rapid expansion of media raises questions about whether it induces evolutionary or revolutionary change.
Socialisation
Socialisation is the fundamental process through which a human infant learns to become a functioning member of society, acquiring self-awareness, knowledge, and skills of the culture. Without socialisation, individuals would not develop human behaviour patterns, as illustrated by cases of children raised in extreme isolation ('Wolf-children').
What Is Socialisation
Socialisation is the process by which the helpless infant gradually becomes a self-aware, knowledgeable person, skilled in the ways of the culture into which s/he is born. It is how individuals learn to behave according to societal norms and expectations.
Socialisation As A Life-Long Process
While the most critical period is early childhood (primary socialisation, primarily within the family), socialisation is a continuous, life-long process (secondary socialisation) that extends throughout life as individuals enter new roles and environments (school, work, marriage, parenting, etc.). Even adults undergo new learning experiences (e.g., becoming parents or grandparents). The birth of a child also restructures family life and demands new learning from caregivers.
Socialisation And Agency
Socialisation is not passive 'cultural programming'. Individuals, even infants, assert their will and influence the process. Socialisation is an interactive process where humans exercise agency, not just passively receiving instructions. The child's influence on family routines is one example.
Socialisation And Social Concepts
Understanding socialisation is aided by concepts like status/role, social control, groups, stratification, culture, norms, and values. Individuals are born into families and larger kin/social groups (caste, tribe, religion, region), which define behavioural norms, values, and roles (son, daughter, grandchild, student). Learning these norms and roles, which vary across different groups and social locations, is the process of socialisation.
Agencies Of Socialisation
Socialisation occurs through various agencies and institutions in which individuals participate:
- Family
- School
- Peer group
- Neighbourhood
- Occupational group
- Social class/caste, region, religion
Family
The family is the primary socialising agency. Experiences vary based on family structure (nuclear vs. extended) and who the key socialising agents are (parents, grandparents, uncles/aunts). The family's social location (caste, class, region) significantly affects socialisation patterns. Children learn behaviours characteristic of their family, neighbourhood, and community. However, children are not just passive imitators; they may develop outlooks different from parents due to exposure to other socialising agencies.
Peer Groups
Friendship groups of similar age are significant socialising agencies, particularly after early childhood. Peer interactions are often more egalitarian than family dynamics, allowing children to test and explore rules of behaviour in a different social context. Peer relationships remain important throughout life, influencing attitudes and behaviour in various contexts.
Schools
Formal schooling socialises children not only through the explicit curriculum (subjects taught) but also through a hidden curriculum (implicit norms, values, and expectations conveyed through school routines, interactions, and rules). Schools often promote standardisation and universalistic values, but can also perpetuate existing social biases (e.g., assigning gender-stereotypical tasks), although efforts are made in some schools to counteract this.
(An illustration contrasting the formal learning environment (explicit curriculum - textbooks, classroom) with the informal social learning that occurs in school (hidden curriculum - interactions, rules, roles, socialisation beyond subjects).)
Mass Media
Print and electronic media are increasingly influential socialising agencies, providing information and exposing individuals to diverse experiences and viewpoints. Media can democratise information access but also raise concerns about content influence (e.g., link between on-screen violence and aggression) and potential reduction of cultural diversities. The global reach of media means people are exposed to cultures distant from their own, impacting cultural understanding and potentially contributing to hybrid cultural forms.
Newspaper report on Shaktimaan: This report illustrates the potential negative influence of mass media on children's behaviour through imitation, linking on-screen content to real-life actions, highlighting concerns about media as a socialising agent.
Other Socialising Agencies
Workplace is an important socialisation setting, particularly in industrial societies where work is separate from home. Other groups or social contexts (e.g., religious institutions, community organisations) also contribute to socialisation throughout life.
Socialisation And Individual Freedom
Socialisation conditions individuals' personalities, values, and behaviour, but it does not eliminate individuality or free will. Individuals are not simply passive recipients of social influences. Socialisation, through interaction and the development of self-identity, is also the origin of individuality and the capacity for independent thought and action. Conflicts between socialising agencies (school vs. home, peer group vs. family) also create space for individuals to navigate different influences and assert their agency.
How Gendered Is Socialisation
Socialisation is significantly gendered. Children are socialised into gender-stereotypical roles and behaviours from early age (e.g., boys encouraged to use public spaces like streets for play, girls expected to use them primarily for transport and in groups). Gender roles shape expectations within families, schools, and other social settings.
The extract "The Bell" illustrates how gender intersects with caste and social norms in socialisation. The girl's desire to ring the temple bell, a role usually restricted to the priest's daughter (ascribed status reinforced by tradition and potentially caste), is a rebellion against restrictive gender and social norms. Her experience highlights conflicting influences (liberal values from English school vs. traditional village norms), gendered expectations (being escorted, hairdressing ritual), and social control mechanisms (family disapproval, absence of favourite food) used to enforce conformity. It shows how individuals navigate and sometimes challenge socialisation into gendered and hierarchical roles.