Chapter Two

Human Culture and Ties that Connect Society

2.1. Conceptualizing Culture: What Culture is and What Culture isn't

Definition of Culture

Anthropologists and sociologists define culture in different ways. Some of their definitions have
been quoted below:

 A widely accepted and the more comprehensive definition of culture was provided by
the British anthropologist Edward B. Tylor. He defined culture as “a complex whole
which includes knowledge, belief, art, morals, law, custom, and any other
capabilities and habits acquired by man as a member of society”.
 B. Malinowski has defined culture “as cumulative creation of man". He regarded
culture as the handiwork of man and the medium through which he achieves his ends.
 Robert Bierstedt says, “Culture is the complex whole that consists of everything we
think and do and have as members of society.”
Combining several of these definitions, we may define culture as the common way of life shared
by a group of people. It includes all things beyond nature and biology.

Culture, therefore, is moral, intellectual and spiritual discipline for advancement, in accordance
with the norms and values based on accumulated heritage. Culture is a system of learned
behavior shared by and transmitted among the members of the group.

2.2 Characteristic of Culture

a) Culture Is Learned:
Enculturation is specifically defined as the process by which an individual learns the rules and
values of one’s culture.

b) Culture Is Shared:
For a thing, idea, or behavior pattern to qualify as being “cultural” it must have a shared meaning
by at least two people within a society.

C) Culture Is Symbolic:

Symbolic thought is unique and crucial to humans and to cultural learning. A symbol is
something verbal or nonverbal, within a particular language or culture that comes to stand for

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something else. There would be no obvious, natural, or necessary connection between the
symbol and what it symbolizes.

D) Culture Is All-Encompassing
Culture encompasses all aspects, which affect people in their everyday lives. Culture comprises
countless material and non-material aspects of human lives.

E) Culture Is Integrated:

Cultures are not haphazard collections of customs and beliefs. Instead, culture should be
thought as of integrated wholes, the parts of which, to some degree, are interconnected with one
another.

F) Culture Can Be Adaptive and Maladaptive:

Humans have both biological and cultural ways of coping with environmental stresses. Besides
our biological means of adaptation, we also use "cultural adaptive kits," which contain customary
activities and tools that help us in managing everyday lives.

G) Culture is Dynamic:
There are no cultures that remain completely static year after year. Culture is changing
constantly as new ideas and new techniques are added as time passes modifying or changing the
old ways. This is the characteristics of culture that stems from the culture’s cumulative quality.

2.3 Aspects/Elements of Culture

Culture is reflected through the various components such as values, norms, languages, myths,
customs, rituals and laws. Two of the most basic aspects of culture are material and nonmaterial
culture.
2.3.1 Material culture

Material culture consists of human-made objects such as tools, implements, furniture,

automobiles, buildings, dams, roads, bridges, and in fact, the physical substance which has been
changed and used by man. It is concerned with the external, mechanical and utilitarian objects.
It includes technical and material equipment. It is referred to as civilization.

2.3.2 Non – Material Culture

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The term ‘culture’ when used in the ordinary sense, means ‘non-material culture’. It is something
internal and intrinsically valuable, reflects the inward nature of man.

Non-material culture consists of the words the people use or the language they speak, the
beliefs they hold, values and virtues they cherish, habits they follow, rituals and practices that
they do and the ceremonies they observe. It also includes our customs and tastes, attitudes and
outlook, in brief, our ways of acting, feeling and thinking. Some of the aspects of non-material
culture are listed as follows:

Values

Values are the standards by which members of a society define what is good or bad, beautiful or
ugly. Every society develops both values and expectations regarding the right way to reflect
them.

Values are a central aspect of the non-material culture of a society and are important because
they influence the behavior of the members of a society.

Beliefs

Beliefs are cultural conventions that concern true or false assumptions, specific descriptions of
the nature of the universe and humanity’s place in it. Values are generalized notions of what is
good and bad; beliefs are more specific and, in form at least, have more content. “Education is
good” is a fundamental value in American society, whereas “Grading is the best way to evaluate
students” is a belief that reflects assumptions about the most appropriate way to determine
educational achievement.

Norms

Norms are shared rules or guidelines that define how people “ought” to behave under certain
circumstances. Norms are generally connected to the values, beliefs, and ideologies of a society.

Norms vary in terms of their importance to a culture, these are:

a) Folkways: Norms guiding ordinary usages and conventions of everyday life are known
as folkways. Folkways are norms that are not strictly enforced, such as not leaving your
seat for an elderly people inside a bus/taxi. They may result in a person getting a bad
look.

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 b) Mores: Mores (pronounced MOR-ays) are much stronger norms than are folkways.
Mores are norms that are believed to be essential to core values and we insist on
conformity. A person who steals, rapes, and kills has violated some of society’s most
important mores.

People who violate mores are usually severely punished, although punishment for the
violation of mores varies from society to society. It may take the form of ostracism,
vicious gossip, public ridicule, exile, loss of one’s job, physical beating, imprisonment,
commitment to a mental asylum, or even execution.

2.4 Cultural Unity and Variations: Universality, Generality and Particularity of Culture

In studying human diversity in time and space, anthropologists distinguish among the universal,
the generalized, and the particular.

Certain biological, psychological, social, and cultural features are universal (found in every
culture), others are merely generalities (common to several but not all human groups), and other
traits are particularities (unique to certain cultural traditions).

1) Universality:
Universals are cultural traits that span across all cultures. Most are biological that distinguish us
from other species – long period of infant dependency, year-round sexuality, complex brain that
enables use of symbols and use of languages and tools.

Social universals – life in groups – some kind of family organizes on social life and depends on
social interactions for expression and continuation of the society. E.g. Incest taboo, exogamy
(marriage outside one’s group).

A great example of universality is that whether in Africa, Asia, Australia, or Antarctica, people
understand the universal concept of family. Anthropologists would argue that it's just what we as
humans do - we organize ourselves into families that are based on biology. No matter where you
choose to travel and explore, you'll find a family system.

2) Generality: are cultural traits that occur in many societies but not all of them. Societies
can share same beliefs and customs because of borrowing, domination (colonial rule)

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 when customs and procedures are imposed on one culture, or Independent innovation of
same cultural trait e.g., farming and nuclear family.

3) Particularity:
Trait of a culture that is not widespread. Cultural particulars include the specific practices that
distinguish cultures form one another. For example, all people become hungry but the potential
food sources defined as edible vary across cultures, i.e. what is appealing to eat in one society
may be considered repulsive or simply unbelievable in another (for example donkey meat in
Ethiopia). Particularities are becoming rarer in some ways but also becoming more obvious.
Borrowed cultural traits are modified. E.g. marriage, parenthood, death, puberty, birth all
celebrated differently.

2.5. Evaluating Cultural Differences: Ethnocentrism, Cultural Relativism and Human

Rights

The concepts of ethnocentrism and cultural relativism occupy key position in anthropology.

A. Ethnocentrism: The common response in all societies to other cultures is to judge them
in terms of the values and customs of their own familiar culture. Ethnocentrism refers to
the tendency to see the behaviors, beliefs, values, and norms of one's own group as the
only right way of living and to judge others by those standards.
Being fond of your own way of life and condescending or even being hostile toward other
cultures is normal for all people. Because of ethnocentrism, we often operate on the premise that
our own society’s ways are the correct, normal and better ways for acting, thinking, feeling and
behaving. Our own group is the centre or axis of everything, and we scale and rate all others with
reference to it. Ethnocentrism is not characteristic only of complex modern societies. People in
small, relatively isolated societies are also ethnocentric in their views about outsiders. It is a
cultural universal. Alien cultural traits are often viewed as being not just different but inferior,
less sensible, and even "unnatural”.

Ethnocentrism results in prejudices about people from other cultures and the rejection of their
"alien ways." Our ethnocentrism can prevent us from understanding and appreciating another
culture. When there is contact with people from other cultures, ethnocentrism can prevent open
communication and result in misunderstanding and mistrust. The positive aspect of
ethnocentrism has to do with the protection that it can provide for a culture. By causing a

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rejection of the foods, customs, and perceptions of people in other cultures, it acts as a
conservative force in preserving traditions of one's own culture. It can help maintain the
separation and uniqueness of cultures.

B. Cultural relativism:
We cannot grasp the behavior of other people if we interpret what they say and do in the light of
our values, beliefs, and motives. Instead, we need to examine their behavior as insiders, seeing it
within the framework of their values, beliefs and motives. The concept of cultural relativism
states that cultures differ, so that a cultural trait, act, or idea has no meaning but its meaning only
within its cultural setting.

Cultural relativism suspends judgment and views about the behavior of people from the
perspective of their own culture. Every society has its own culture, which is more or less unique.
Every culture contains its own unique pattern of behavior which may seem alien to people from
other cultural backgrounds. We cannot understand the practices and beliefs separately from the
wider culture of which they are part. A culture has to be studied in terms of its own meanings
and values. Cultural relativism describes a situation where there is an attitude of respect for
cultural differences rather than condemning other people's culture as uncivilized or backward.

Respect for cultural differences involves:

 Appreciating cultural diversity;

 Trying to understand every culture and its elements in terms of its own context and logic;

 Accepting that each body of custom has inherent dignity and meaning as the way of life
of one group which has worked out to its environment, to the biological needs of its
members, and to the group relationships;

 Knowing that a person's own culture is only one among many; and

 Recognizing that what is immoral, ethical, and acceptable in one culture may not be so in
another culture.

C. Human rights:
In today's world, human rights advocates challenge many of the tenets of cultural relativism.
Many anthropologists are uncomfortable with the strong form of cultural relativism that suggests

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that all patterns of culture are equally valid. What if the people practice slavery, violence against
women, torture, or genocide?

Human rights: rights based on justice and morality beyond and superior to particular countries,
cultures, and religions. The idea of human rights challenges cultural relativism by invoking a
realm of justice and morality beyond and superior to the laws and customs of particular
countries, cultures, and religions.

Anthropologists respect human diversity. Most ethnographers try to be objective, accurate, and
sensitive in their accounts of other cultures. However, their objectivity, sensitivity and a cross-
cultural perspective got nothing to do with ignoring international standards of justice and
morality.

2.6 Culture Change

When you examine the history of a society, it is obvious that its culture has changed over time.
Some of the shared behaviors and ideas that were common at one time are modified or replaced
at another time.

Culture change can occur as a result of the following Mechanisms:

i. Diffusion: The source of new cultural elements in a society may also be another society. The
process by which cultural elements are borrowed from another society and incorporated into the
culture of the recipient group is called diffusion.
 Diffusion is direct when two cultures trade with, intermarry among, or wage war on one
another.

 Diffusion is forced when one culture subjugates another and imposes its customs on the
dominated group.

 Diffusion is indirect when items or traits move from group A to group C via group B without
any firsthand contact between A and C. In this case, group B might consist of traders or
merchants who take products from a variety of places to new markets. Or group B might be
geographically situated between A and C, so that what it gets from A eventually winds up in
C, and vice versa. In today's world, much international diffusion is indirect-culture spread by
the mass media and advanced information technology.

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 ii. Acculturation is the exchange of cultural features that results when groups have
continuous firsthand contact.

The cultures of either or both groups may be changed by this contact. This usually happens in
situations of trade or colonialism. In situations of continuous contact, cultures have also
exchanged and blended foods, recipes, music, dances, clothing, tools, and technologies.

iii. Invention-the process by which humans innovate, creatively finding solutions to problems is
a third mechanism of cultural change. Faced with comparable problems and challenges, people
in different societies have innovated and changed in similar ways, which is one reason why
cultural generalities exist. One example is the independent invention of agriculture in the Middle
East and Mexico. Over the course of human history, major innovations have spread at the
expense of earlier ones.
vi. Globalization The term globalization encompasses a series of processes, including diffusion
and acculturation, working to promote change in a world in which nations and people are
increasingly interlinked and mutually dependent. Promoting such linkages are economic and
political forces, as well as modem systems of transportation and communication. Due to
globalization, long-distance communication is easier, faster, and cheaper than ever, and extends
to remote areas. The mass media help propel a globally spreading culture of consumption.
Within nations and across their borders, the media spread information about products, services,
rights, institutions, lifestyles, and the perceived costs and benefits of globalization. Emigrants
transmit information and resources transnationally, as they maintain their ties with home
(phoning, faxing, e-mailing, making visits, and sending money).

2.7 Ties That Connect: Marriage, Family and Kinship

2.7.1 MARRIAGE

Almost all known societies recognize marriage. The ritual of marriage marks a change in status
for a man and a woman and the acceptance by society of the new family that is formed. The term
marriage is not an easy terms to define. For years, anthropologists have attempted to define these
terms in such a way to cover all known societies. Frequently, anthropologists have debated
whether or not families and the institutions of marriage are universals. One interesting case is
that the Nayar of Southern India, did not have marriage in the conventional sense of the term.

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Although teenage Nayar girls took a ritual husband in a public ceremony, the husband took no
responsibility for the women after the ceremony, and frequently he never saw her again. Thus the
Nayar do not have marriage according to our definition in that there is no economic, cooperation,
regulation of sexual activity, cohabitation, or expectation of permanency.

[Link] Rules of Marriage

Societies also have rules that state whom one can and cannot marry. Every society knows to
anthropology has established for itself some type of rules regulating mating (sexual intercourse).
The most common form of prohibition is mating with certain type of kin that are defined by the
society as being inappropriate sexual partners. These prohibitions on mating with certain
categories of relatives known as incest taboos. The most universal form of incest taboo involves
mating between members of the immediate (nuclear) family: mother-sons, father-daughters, and
brother-sisters.

There are a few striking examples of marriage between members of the immediate family that
violate the universality of the incest taboo. For political, religious, or economic reasons,
members of the royal families among the ancient Egyptians, Incas and Hawaiians were permitted
to mate with and marry their siblings, although this practiced did not extended to the ordinary
members of those societies. Marriage is, therefore, a permanent legal union between a man and
a woman. It is an important institution without which the society could never be sustained. In a
society one cannot marry anyone whom he or she likes. There are certain strict rules and
regulations.

a) Exogamy:

This is the rule by which a man is not allowed to marry someone from his own social group.
Such prohibited union is designated as incest. Incest is often considered as sin. Different scholars
had tried to find out the explanation behind this prohibition. i.e. how incest taboo came into
operation. In fact, there are some definite reasons for which practice of exogamy got approval.
They are:

A conception of blood relation prevails among the members of a group. Therefore, marriage
within the group-members is considered a marriage between a brother and sister Attraction
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between a male and female gets lost due to close relationship in a small group. There is a popular
idea that a great increase of energy and vigor is possible in the progeny if marriage binds two
extremely distant persons who possess no kin relation among them.

Kottak claimed also that exogamy has adaptive value, because it links people into a wider social
network that nurtures, helps, and protects them in times of need pushing social organization
outward, establishing and preserving alliances among groups.

b) Endogamy:

A rule of endogamy requires individuals to marry within their own group and forbids them to
marry outside it. Religious groups such as the Amish, Mormons, Catholics, and Jews have rules
of endogamy, though these are often violated when marriage take place outside the group. Castes
in India and Nepal are also endogamous. Indeed, most cultures are endogamous units, although
they usually do not need a formal rule requiring people to marry someone from their own
society.

c) Preferential Cousin Marriage:

A common form of preferred marriage is called preferential cousin marriage and is practiced in
one form or another in most of the major regions of the world. Kinship systems based on
lineages distinguish between two different types of first cousins, these are:

 Cross Cousins: are children of siblings of the opposite sex- that is one’s mother’s
brother’s children and one’s father’s sisters’ children. The most common form of
preferential cousin marriage is between cross cousins because it functions to strengthen
and maintain ties between kin groups established by the marriages that took place in the
proceeding generation.
 Parallel Cousins: When marriage takes place between the children of the siblings of the
same sex, it is called parallel cousin marriage. are children of siblings of the same sex,
namely the children of one’s mother’s sister and one’s father brother. The mate may
come either from one’s father’s brother’s children or mother's sister’s children. A much
less common form of cousin marriage is between parallel cousins, the child of one’s
mother’s sister or father’s brother. Found among some Arabic societies in North Africa,
it involves the marriage of a man to his father’s brother’s daughter. Since parallel

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 cousins belong to the same family, such a practice can serve to prevent the fragmentation
of family property.
d) The Levirate and Sororate

Another form of mate selection that tends to limit individual choice are those that require a
person to marry the husband or wide of deceased kin.

 The levirate is the custom whereby a widow is expected to marry the brother (or some
close male relative) of her dead husband. Usually any children fathered by the woman’s
new husband are considered to belong legally to the dead brother rather than to the actual
genitor. Such a custom both serves as a form of social security for the widow and her
children and preserved the rights of her husband’s family to her sexuality and future
children.
 The sororate, which comes into play when a wife dies, is the practice of a widower’s
marrying the sister (or some close female relative) of his deceased wife. In the event that
the deceased spouse has no sibling, the family of the deceased is under a general
obligation to supply some equivalent relative as a substitute. For example, in a society
that practice sororate, a widower may be given as a substitute wife the daughter of his
deceased wife’s brother.
[Link]. NUMBER OF SPOUSES

Societies have rules regulating whom one may/may not marry; they have rules specifying how
many mates a person may/should have.

 Monogamy: the marriage of one man to one woman at a time.

 Polygamy i.e. marriage of a man or woman with two or more mates. Polygamy can be of
two types:
 Polygyny: the marriage of a man to two or more women at a time.
 Polyandy: the marriage of a woman to two or more men at a time
 Marriage of a man with two or more sisters at a time is called sororal polygyny. When
the co-wives are not sisters, the marriage is termed as non sororal polygyny.
Advantages & Disadvantages of Polygamy marriage

 Having two/more wives is often seen as a sign of prestige.

 Having multiple wives means wealth, power, & status both for the polygnous husband,
wives and children.
 It produces more children, who are considered valuable for future economic and political
assets.
 Economic advantage: It encourages to work hard (more cows, goats..) for more wives

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  The Drawbacks of Polygyny: Jealousy among the co-wives who frequently compete for
the husband’s attention.
[Link] Economic Consideration of Marriage

Most societies view as a binding contract between at least the husband and wife and, in many
cases, between their respective families as well. Such a contract includes the transfer of certain
rights between the parties involved: rights of sexual access, legal rights to children, and rights of
the spouses to each other’s economic goods and services. Often the transfer of rights is
accompanied by the transfer of some type of economic consideration. These transactions, which
may take place either before or after the marriage can be divided into three categories:

1. Bride Price 2. Bride service 3. Dowry

1. Bride Price: It is also known as bride wealth, is the compensation given upon marriage by the
family of the groom to the family of the bride. According to Murdock, in Africa it was estimated
that 82% of the societies require the payment of bride price.

Anthropologists identified a number of important functions that the institutions of bride price
performed for the well-being of the society. For example, bride price has been seen: as security
or insurance for the good treatment of the wife: as mechanism to stabilize marriage by reducing
the possibility of divorce: as a form of compensation to the bride’s lineage for the loss of her
economic potential and childbearing capacity: and as a symbol of the union between two large
groups of kin.

2. Bride Service: When the groom works for his wife’s family, this is known as bride service. It
may be recalled that in the Old Testament, Jacob labored for seven years in order to marry Leah,
and then another seven years to marry Rachel; Leah’s younger sister, thus performed fourteen
years of bride service for his father-in-law. Bride service was also practiced by the Yanomamo, a
people living in the low- lands of Venezuela. During this time, the groom lives with the bride’s
parents and hunts for them.

3. Dowry: A dowry involves a transfer of goods or money in the opposite direction, from the
bride's family to the groom’s family.

[Link] Post-Marital Residence

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Where the newly married couple lives after the marriage ritual is governed by cultural rules,
which are referred to as post-marital residence rule.

 Patrilocal Residence: the married couple lives with or near the relatives of the husband’s
father.
 Matrilocal Residence: the married couple lives with or near the relatives of the wife.
 Avunculocal Residence: The married couple lives with or near the husband’s mother’s
brother.
 Ambilocal/ Bilocal Residence: The married couple has a choice of living with relatives
of the wife or relatives of the husband
 Neolocal Residence: The Married couple forms an independent place of residence away
from the relatives of either spouse.

2.7.2 FAMILY

Family is the basis of human society. It is the most important primary group in society. The
family, as an institution, is universal. It is the most permanent and most pervasive of all social
institutions. The interpersonal relationships within the family make the family an endurable
social unit.

Cultural anthropologists have identified two fundamentally different types of family structure-the
nuclear family and the extended family.

1. The Nuclear Family:

Consisting of husband and wife and their children, the nuclear family is a two-generation family
formed around the conjugal or marital union. Even though the unclear family to some degree is
part of a larger family structure, it remains relatively autonomous and independent unity. That is,
the everyday needs of economic support, childcare, and social interaction are met within the
nuclear family itself rather than by a wider set of relatives. In those societies based on the
nuclear family, it is customary for married couple to live apart from either set of parents
(neolocal residence), nor is there any particular obligation or expectation for the married couple
to care for their aging parents in their own homes.

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Generally, parents are not actively involved in mate selection for their children, in no way
legitimize the marriages of their children, in no way legitimize the marriages of their children,
and have no control over whether or not their children remain married.

2. The Extended Family

In societies based on extended families, blood ties are more important than ties of marriage.
Extended families consist of two or more families that are linked by blood ties. Most commonly,
this takes the form of a married couple living with one or more of their married children in a
single household or homestead and under the authority of a family head. In the case of a
patrilineal extended family, the young couple takes up residence in the homestead of the
husband’s father, and the husband continues to work for his father, who also runs the household.
Moreover, most of the personal property in the household is not owned by the newlyweds, but is
controlled by the husbands’ father.

[Link] Functions of Marriage and Family

Family performs certain specific functions which can be mentioned as follows:

1. Biological Function:
The institution of marriage and family serves biological (sexual and reproductive) function. The
institution of marriage regulates and socially validates long term, sexual relations between males
and females. Thus, husband wife relationship come into existence and become a socially
approved means to control sexual relation and a socially approved basis of the family. Sexual
cohabitation between spouses automatically leads to the birth of off-springs. The task of
perpetuating the population of a society is an important function of a family. Society reproduces
itself through family.
2. Economic Function:

Marriage brings economic co-operation between men and women and ensure survival of
individuals in a society. With the birth of off-springs the division of labor based on sex and
generation come into play. In small scale societies family is a self-contained economic unit of
production, consumption and distribution.
3. Social Function:

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Marriage is based on the desire to perpetuate one’s family line. In marriage one adds, not only a
spouse but most of the spouse’s relatives to one’s own group of kin. This means the institution of
marriage brings with it the creation and perpetuation of the family, the form of person to person
relations and linking once kin group to another kin group.
4. Educational and Socialization Function:

The burden of socialization (via processes of enculturation and education) of new born infants
falls primarily upon the family. In addition, children learn an immense amount of knowledge,
culture, values prescribed by society, before they assume their place as adult members of a
society. The task of educating and enculturating children is distributed among parents. Moreover,
family behaves as an effective agent in the transmission of social heritage.

2.7.3 Kinship

Kinship is the method of reckoning relationship. In any society every adult individual belongs to
two different nuclear families. The family in which he was born and reared is called ‘family of
orientation’. The other family to which he establishes relation through marriage is called ‘family
of procreation’.
A kinship system is neither a social group nor does it correspond to organized aggregation of
individuals. It is a structured system of relationships where individuals are bound together by
complex interlocking and ramifying ties.
The relationship based on blood ties is called “consanguineous kinship”, and the relatives of this
kind are called ‘consanguineous kin’. The desire for reproduction gives rise to another kind of
binding relationship. “This kind of bond, which arises out of a socially or legally defined marital
relationship, is called a final relationship”, and the relatives so related are called ‘a final kin’.
The final kinds [husband and wife] are not related to one another through blood.
2.7.4 DESCENT

Descent refers to the social recognition of the biological relationship that exists between the
individuals. The rule of descent refers to a set of principles by which an individual traces his
descent. In almost all societies kinship connections are very significant. An individual always
possesses certain obligations towards his kinsmen and he also expects the same from his
kinsmen. Succession and inheritance is related to this rule of descent. There are three important
rules of decent are follows;

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 1. Patrilineal descent

When descent is traced solely through the male line, it is called patrilineal descent. A man’s sons
and daughters all belong to the same descent group by birth, but it only the sons who continue
the affiliation. Succession and inheritance pass through the male line.

2. Matrilineal descent
When the descent is traced solely through the female line. It is called matrilineal descent. At
birth, children of both sexes belong to mother’s descent group, but later only females acquire the
succession and inheritance. Therefore, daughters carry the tradition, generation after generation.

3. Cognatic Descent
In some society’s individuals are free to show their genealogical links either through men or
women. Some people of such society are therefore connected with the kin-group of father and
others with the kin group of mothers. There is no fixed rule to trace the succession and
inheritance; any combination of lineal link is possible in such societies.

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