Keith D. Wilkins
January 12, 2018
... Culture Through Everyday Objects is a PowerPoint lecture adaptation of Stephanie Medley-Rath’s
in their exploration of culture in sociology. This lecture can easily be adapted to incorporate other textbook sources
Discussion questions throughout lecture/class activity
include a clear and legible citation
Wilkins, Keith D. 2018 "Culture Through Everyday Objects." Lecture
York state initiated a Sugary Drinks Portion Cap Rule which limited the sale of sugary drink portions to no larger than 16 ounces. This proposal was ultimately rejected by New York’s highest court, but could similar legislation be the way of the future? (Grynbaum 2014)
Citations:
Grynbaum, Michael M. 2014. “New York’s Ban on Big Sodas Is Rejected by Final Court.” The New York Times. Retrieved November 15, 2017 (https://www.nytimes.com/2014/06/27/nyregion/city-loses-final-appeal-on-limiting-sales-of-large-sodas.html).
Hamblin, James. 2013. “Why We Took Cocaine Out of Soda.” The Atlantic. Retrieved November 15, 2017 (https://www.theatlantic.com/health/archive/2013/01/why-we-took-cocaine-out-of-soda/272694/).
Jaslow, Ryan. 2014. “World Health Organization lowers sugar intake recommendations.” CBS News. Retrieved November 15, 2017 (https://www.cbsnews.com/news/world-health-organization-lowers-sugar-intake-recommendations/).
Staff, Journey. 2015. “Contour bottle history.” Contour Bottle History | Coca-Cola GB. Retrieved November 15, 2017 (http://www.coca-cola.co.uk/stories/contour-bottle-history).
WHO. 2015. “WHO guideline : sugar consumption recommendation.” World Health Organization. Retrieved November 15, 2017 (http://www.who.int/mediacentre/news/releases/2015/sugar-guideline/en/).
Image Source:
https://www.pinterest.com/pin/277252920786756272/
11
Culture is a complex, and deceivingly obvious concept.
History, environment, context and utility converge in a single cultural object, and affect its form.
Question: What other everyday objects might exist which are just as culturally rich as a can of pop?
The Take-Away
Close the activity with some concluding remarks:
“[Reveal First Line] Culture is at first glance a deceivingly obvious concept. But by taking some time to focus and reflect on a single object, a coca-cola bottle/can, we’ve discovered that it’s actually a fairly complicated concept. Remember that we started by looking at drag as a sort-of conflation of ideal and real culture, and that we would be pulling the concept down to the real, and everyday. We did this by narrowing our vision to a single object – a coca-cola bottle/can. We explored how in the same language, with the same object, there are different names for it, and that those names are bound to places and regions. We also applied this object to our own lives and discussed how our upbringing, habits, diets, how we’re brought-up to behave, influences how we use an object. There are even some uses which are incredibly practical, but perhaps foreign to us (think here about the three food items I showed you). Then we reflected on the diversity of shape, presentation, the composition of the same coca-cola bottle/can and how those affect very important social problems that exist today. And finally, we’ve recognized that this single everyday object is also something that changes over time. So the Take-Away here, is that the form that cultural objects can take is determined by its particular History, the Place in which it exists (and thereby affects and is affected by its environment), and its Utility. “
Check for Understanding:
The goal here is not to initiate another long discussion of cultural objects and their histories, utilities, etc. Instead, this should serve as a springboard to check that students are transposing the previous concepts to other appropriate objects. Field the following question:
[Reveal Question] “What other everyday objects might exist, which are just as culturally rich as a bottle/can of pop?”
12
The Sociological Imagination is the “awareness of the relationship between a person’s behavior and experience and the wider culture that shaped the person’s choices and perceptions. It’s a way of seeing our own and other people’s behavior in relationship to history and social structure...” (OpenStax 2e)
Using the Sociological Imagination
Reiterate that the Sociological Imagination is a useful framework for viewing the world – We’ve been using it the entire class period!
Expand on something like the following:
“We’ve already introduced the Sociological Imagination as a useful framework for understanding social processes. Consider though that what we’ve done in the previous activity is remain aware of how an object which we see as being rather mundane, and everyday, even obvious, has been deeply shaped by the “wider culture”, and as a result, our experiences with it have also been shaped. What’s more, we’ve also reflected on how the same object has a specific relationship to history, and social structure (by social structure, I mean the powerful and the less powerful, as in India, and also the political power it can carry, as in Russia and Crimea). And now we turn to how we sociologically describe and name culture.”
13
Values: a subjective standard for what is ‘good’, and is embedded in the construction of beliefs.
Beliefs: tenets or convictions that people insist are true, and reaffirm commitments to particular values.
Social Norms: defined behavior that reinforces a society’s values.
Formal Norms – established and written behaviors
Informal Norms – behaviors that are generally conformed to
Elements of Culture
The following slides are fairly straightforward and should consistently link these terms back to the class activity that was just completed. This slide and those that follow can be reserved for the next class period if discussion has been rich enough to consume most or all of the current class time.
Students may have heard of ‘value judgements’ before. This is an easy way of conveying what ‘Values’ are, broadly. Value Judgements are often seen as a negative thing, and are often placed in opposition to ‘Objectivity’. In this way, values are subjective standards for what is good. This is certainly a platform for more complicated discussions, but should be constrained to specific standards (e.g. Wealth, self-sufficiency, humility, self-improvement, pride, obligations to others, aesthetics, etc.).
“[Reveal Values] Think back to our discussion of Coca-Cola in India, and how citizens organized protest against the Coca-Cola facility. The factory brought with it many jobs, and a great deal of wealth to the community. It’s evident that the people in Rajasthan valued their connection to the tradition of farming and agriculture, over wealth (and pollution).”
[Reveal Beliefs] Beliefs are built out of commitments to certain values. OpenStax offers the example of the American Dream- that by working hard, you can lift yourself up by your bootstraps to achieve your dreams, and accumulate wealth doing so. This reflects a commitment to individualism, to wealth, and more existentially, determinism – that we are in control and responsible for ourselves.
[Reveal Social Norms] Social Norms sustain values by encouraging particular behaviors and practices. For example, those who work in large office buildings with elevators may value privacy and personal space. As a result, it is normal for people who are waiting in an elevator to limit eye contact, face forward and avoid excessive talking/discussion. Similarly, particular communities may value collective health and attempt to normalize this by passing legislation to limit how sugar is sold (link to New York’s ‘soda ban’ introduced previously).
[Reveal Formal and Informal Norms] Formal and Informal norms are fairly self-explanatory. You can check for student understanding by asking:
“Using the examples I provided earlier (the elevator and soda ban), which would count as a Formal or Informal Norm?”
14
Culture is a set of shared beliefs, values and/or practices.
Society describes a community which also shares culture. It is a culture that is bound to a particular place.
Examples: The Valley
The Southwest or Midwest
United States,
Western Culture
Culture Defined
1. [Reveal Culture] “Culture is the convergence of shared beliefs, values and/or practices. Culture is important to distinguish from Society.
2. [Reveal Society] “Society describes a community which also shares culture. It is a culture that is bound to a particular place.”
[Reveal Examples] Examples: The Valley – It can be as local as a neighborhood.
The Southwest or Midwest – It can be broader to include regions (link back to the pop vs. soda map)
United States – Nationally
Western Culture – Globally
American Sociological Society – It can also encompass groups of professionals, trade associations, or otherwise defined collectives which exhibit culture. “
15
Material Culture: the physical objects that belong to groups of people
Metro/bus passes, architecture, food, automobiles, etc.
Non-Material Culture: ideas, attitudes, values and beliefs of a group of people. Physical objects can symbolize non-material culture.
The ideas of formal, non-formal (casual), standards for education, accepted social distances (physical) between people, etc.
Culture Defined
[Reveal Material Culture] Material Culture: the physical objects that belong to groups of people
Metro/bus passes, architecture, food, automobiles, etc.
Emphasize that our exploration of the Coca-Cola bottle/can is an example of material culture, as a physical object.
[Reveal Non-Material Culture] Non-Material Culture: ideas, attitudes, values and beliefs of a group of people. Physical objects can symbolize non-material culture.
a. The ideas of formal, non-formal (casual), standards for education, accepted social distances (physical) between people, etc.
b. Connect the concept of Non-Material culture to the transformation of a Coca-Cola bottle/can to symbolize imperialism/oppression that was discussed on Slide 10.
16
Cultural Universals: Social attributes and patterns which are common to many, or all societies.
A Common Culture
[Reveal Cultural Universals] Cultural Universals: Social attributes and patterns which are common to many, or all societies.
“ Some social patterns are present in many or all societies. [Reveal Left Image] One particularly potent example is music. Certain progressions in sound/tone are interpreted by many cultures to indicate specific basic emotional states – Happiness, Sadness, or Fear. [Reveal Center Image] Many cultures also have unique behaviors that recognize death socially. [Reveal Right Image] Many cultures also recognize a family structure. Although that family can look vastly different. For some, it’s the nuclear family, parents and children. For others, it includes extended family members such as grandparents, great grandparents, or cousins, aunts and uncles. Less typical, certain communes recognize a family unit that is comprised of members who are not biologically related. In our discussion of Coca-Cola, what is it about the object itself that might represent a cultural universal?” Encourage students to recognize that the shape of the drink remains fairly consistent, and that it’s commonly used during meals.
17
Ethnocentrism: the belief and/or attitude that one’s own culture is superior to others.
Cultural Relativism: assessing another culture by its own standards, and limiting an ethnocentric lens.
Perceiving Culture
[Reveal Ethnocentrism] Ethnocentrism: the belief and/or attitude that one’s own culture is superior to others.
a. Connect this concept both to the various cultural specifications that Coca-Cola modifies its drink to (e.g. sugar concentration, temperature, size, etc.) and to the debate around Pop vs. Soda (it is itself a debate about what carbonated beverages should be called based on where people are culturally located).
2. [ Reveal Cultural Relativism] Cultural Relativism: assessing another culture by its own standards, and limiting an ethnocentric lens.
b. Connect this concept to our own investigation of Coca-Cola in India:
“An ethnocentric view might be the attitude that the Coca-Cola Company is bringing a great deal of jobs and wealth to the Rajasthan region, and pollution is an acceptable cost to the Indian community. However, this again ignores the cultural values that the Indian community places on the existing tradition of farming and agriculture, and the vitality of their environment.”
18
Conflict Theory: Cultural norms privilege certain values, ideas, attitudes, spaces and histories.
How would a social problem related to Coca-Cola be interpreted by a Conflict Theorist?
Symbolic Interactionism: Objects and actions are attached to particular symbolic meanings. Communication and language are key mediums in which objects and actions are interpreted and ultimately, responded to.
How would meaning attached to Coca-Cola be interpreted by a Symbolic Interactionist?
Theoretical Frames
[Reveal Conflict Theory] Conflict Theory: Cultural norms privilege certain values, ideas, attitudes, spaces and histories.
[Reveal First Question] “How might a social problem related to a can of Coca-Cola, be interpreted by a conflict theorist?”
If students do not immediately connect the concepts from class, remind them of the international social problems discussed (e.g. Crimea and Ukraine; India and water).
Link conflict theory to the historical transformation of Coca-Cola to exclude cocaine from its recipe:
“When we looked at the history of Coca-Cola, and why cocaine was removed from the original recipe, the reason for its removal was far from functional. It was deeply social. And beyond that, deeply embedded in Race and the privileging of white-middle class values and beliefs. This shouldn’t suggest that African-Americans had some oppositional stake or interest in keeping cocaine in the recipe. Rather, that power remains deeply embedded in who is able to create and establish social norms. In this case, white fears of ‘negro cocaine fiends raping white women’ and middle-class interests in ‘temperance’ (however ill-defined) were what motivated the re-construction of that everyday object. And so critically, African-Americans’ values, ideas, attitudes, etc., by virtue of this racialized group’s location in the social structure, were de-privileged by existing cultural norms.”
2. [Reveal Symbolic Interactionism] Symbolic Interactionism: Objects and actions are attached to particular symbolic meanings. Communication and language are key mediums in which objects and actions are interpreted and ultimately, responded to.
a. [Reveal Second Question] “How would meaning attached to Coca-Cola be interpreted by a Symbolic Interactionist?”
b. If students are not forthcoming, encourage them to consider the Share-a-Coke advertising scheme, and how that might change the meaning of a Coke in an interaction. How might we explain the Pop vs. Soda map through
b. “How might we explain the Pop vs. Soda map from a Symbolic Interactionist perspective?”
Link symbolic interactionism to Pop vs. Soda.
19
Guiding Question:
In Nnedi Okorafor’s talk, how does culture influence the construction of her character’s behavior, experience, environment, and future?
https://www.ted.com/talks/nnedi_okorafor_sci_fi_stories_that_imagine_a_future_africa#t-544450
Using the Sociological Imagination
Culture Assignment:
1. Introduce a guiding question so that students remain vigilant in thinking about the video as they watch it, and don’t simply sit-back and vegetate:
Guiding Question:
“In Nnedi Okorafor’s talk, how does culture influence the construction of her character’s behavior, experience, environment, and future?”
The link should take you to a TED Talk video which is about 9 minutes long. Give yourself about three more minutes beyond the video’s length to go over assignment details, and provide students the opportunity to ask clarifying questions.
20
What if an element of your own culture (Material or Non-Material) were radically changed by a new technology? How would your life be different?
Write a fictional story which introduces an answer to the above question
1-2 Pages in length, Single Spaced, Times New Roman, Size 12 font
Clearly identify a material or non-material element of culture that is being changed.
Create a new technology (possible, impossible, or improbable) that transforms the experience of the above element.
Be creative and have fun with this assignment!
[LEARNING OBJECTIVES MET:]
Assignment
Reveal first: “What if an element of your own culture (Material or Non-Material) were radically changed by a new technology? How would your life be different?”
Reveal second: Write a fictional story which introduces an answer to the above question
1-2 Pages in length, Single Spaced, Times New Roman, Size 12 font
Reveal third: Clearly identify a material or non-material element of culture that is being changed.
Create a new technology (possible, impossible, or improbable) that changes the above element.
Reveal Fourth: Be creative and have fun with this assignment!
Connect back to syllabus learning objectives: For Example, in my own class - “LEARNING OBJECTIVES MET:
[1] Understand sociological concepts, methodologies, theories and terms.
[6] Apply understandings of sociological concepts through concise descriptions of sociology in action.”
21 ..."
-
Subject Area(s):
- Introduction to Sociology/Social Problems
-
Resource Type(s):
- Lecture
-
Class Level(s):
- College 100
-
Class Size(s):
- Small
- Abstract:
-
Culture Through Everyday Objects is a PowerPoint lecture adaptation of Stephanie Medley-Rath’s class activity "Objects From Everyday Life: A Can of Coca-Cola." This lecture integrates Medley-Rath’s class activity into a broader conversation about culture, and aligns...