Section 2: Cultures and Societies

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Section 2 Cultures and Societies

• Human Society an organized group of people
  identified by its customs, traditions, and way of
  life

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• Characteristics of culture
• The process of learning culture enculturation
• People learn to speak the same language, wear
  similar clothes, similar food, share the same
  values

• Culture traits
• Characteristics of a culture
• Material characteristics
• Objects clothes, buildings, artworks and
  machines
• Nonmaterial
• Practices and beliefs customs, ceremonies,
  spoken language, and religion

• Cultural patterns Group of related cultural
  traits
• Example language patterns written language and
  spoken language

3

• Cultures change
• Japan has only one culture
• Its people have a very long history of cultural
  unity
• Other countries have many different cultures
• Cultural borrowing- when cultures interact, they
  sometimes take culture traits from one another
  and use them as their own

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• Cultures spread
• Spread of culture is called Cultural diffusion
• Technology has contributed to cultural diffusion
• Technology is the skills and knowledge that put
  science to everyday use

• Assimilation vs. Acculturation
• Assimilation new members of a society that give
  up their old cultural ways
• Acculturation the more powerful society forces
  its culture on the less powerful society

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• National Culture
• Ethnic groups- a group of people who have the
  same culture and share a way of life
• Cultural diversity- having different ethnic
  groups within the same country
• Even with many cultural groups people unite under
  a national culture

• A countrys heritage
• Celebrating national holidays promotes a
  countries history
• Saying the pledge
• Singing the national anthem