What culture is
Culture is the learned, shared way of life of a group: what people know, value, do, and make.
Learned, shared, symbolic
Culture is not inherited in our genes; it is learned through growing up in a group, a process called enculturation. It is shared, so members can predict and understand one another. And it is symbolic: a flag, a gesture, or a colour can stand for ideas, and those meanings vary between groups.
Elements of culture
Anthropologists break culture into parts. Values are ideas about what is good and important. Norms are expected ways of behaving, from table manners to laws. Beliefs explain how the world works. Material culture includes the objects people make and use. These parts fit together, so a change in one often ripples into others.
Culture is not uniform
No culture is a single block. People disagree, resist, and reinterpret norms; different ages, genders, and classes experience the same culture differently. Subcultures form around shared interests or identities. Cultures also change constantly, through invention within the group and contact with others.
Flashcard
The learned, shared, symbolic way of life of a group
Check your understanding
A child learns which foods are eaten at breakfast simply by growing up in a family. This is: