Filsafat Budaya 2011 Bahan UAS.docx

KEBUDAYAAAN
Sumber: Microsoft Encarta 2009
Terjemahan: Wayan Marianta, M.A., SVD
Kata “kebudayaan,” terutama dalam antropologi, dipakai untuk berbicara tentang pola-pola perilaku dan
pemikiran yang dipelajari, diciptakan dan dimiliki bersama oleh orang-orang yang hidup dalam kelompok
sosial tertentu. Budaya membedakan kelompok manusia yang satu dengan yang lain dan membedakan
manusia dari hewan. Budaya sebuah masyarakat mencakup keyakinan, aturan perilaku, bahasa, ritual,
seni, teknologi, gaya berpakaian, cara memproduksi dan memasak makanan, agama, sistem politik dan
sistem ekonomi.
Kebudayaan adalah konsep yang paling penting dalam antropologi (studi tentang semua aspek kehidupan
manusia, baik di masa lalu masa kini). Antropolog biasanya menggunakan istilah “kebudayaan” untuk
berbicara tentang suatu masyarakat atau kelompok yang banyak anggota atau bahkan semua anggotanya
hidup dan berpikir dalam cara yang sama. Demikian pula sebaliknya, Sekelompok orang yang memiliki
budaya yang sama - dan khususnya, aturan prilaku dan bentuk dasar organisasi sosial yang sama merupakan sebuah masyarakat. Dengan demikian, istilah “kebudayaan” dan “masyarakat” sebetulnya
bisa dipertukarkan dalam pemakaiannya. Ada banyak binatang yang hidup dalam kelompok, antara lain
rusa dan anjing liar, namun hanya manusia yang memiliki budaya.
Kebudayaan berkembang bersama-sama dengan evolusi spesies manusia, Homo sapiens, dan terkait erat
dengan biologi manusia. Kemampuan manusia memiliki budaya ditopang oleh fitur fisik mereka: memiliki
otak yang besar dan kompleks, postur tegak, tangan “bebas” yang dapat mencengkeram dan
memanipulasi benda-benda kecil, dan saluran vokal yang dapat menghasilkan dan mengartikulasikan
berbagai macam suara. Fitur-fitur fisik yang khas manusia ini mulai berkembang pada nenek moyang

manusia dari Afrika lebih dari empat juta tahun lalu. Bukti fisik paling awal dari munculnya kebudayaan
adalah alat-alat batu kasar yang diproduksi di Afrika Timur sekitar dua juta tahun yang lalu.
KARAKTERISTIK KEBUDAYAAN
Kebudayaan memiliki beberapa karakteristik khas. (1) Kebudayaan itu berbasis simbol – cara-cara abstrak
untuk merujuk pada dan memahami ide, obyek, perasaan dan prilaku – dan kemampuan berkomunikasi
dengan simbol-simbol melalui bahasa. (2) Kebudayaan itu dimiliki bersama (shared). Orang-orang dalam
masyarakat yang sama memiliki prilaku dan cara berpikir yang sama melalui budaya mereka. (3)
Kebudayaan itu dipelajari. Secara biologis manusia mewarisi banyak karakter fisik dan insting prilaku,
namun kebudayaan diwarisi secara sosial. Orang harus mempelajarinya dari orang lain dalam sebuah
masyarakat. (4) Kebudayaan itu adaptif. Orang menggunakan budaya untuk beradaptasi secara fleksible
dan cepat terhadap perubahan-perubahan dunia di sekitar mereka.
I. KEBUDAYAAN ITU SIMBOLIK
Manusia memiliki budaya terutama karena mereka dapat berkomunikasi dengan dan memahami simbolsimbol. Simbol memungkinkan orang untuk mengembangkan pikiran yang kompleks dan bertukar pikiran
dengan orang lain. Bahasa dan bentuk-bentuk komunikasi simbolik lainnya, seperti seni, memungkinkan
orang membuat, menjelaskan dan merekam ide-ide serta informasi baru.
Simbol bisa memiliki koneksi tidak langsung dengan objek, ide, perasaan atau perilaku yang dirujuk namun
bisa juga tidak memiliki hubungan apapun [dengan hal yang dirujuk]. Sebagai contoh, sebagian besar
orang di Amerika Serikat menemukan makna dalam kombinasi warna merah, putih dan biru. Tapi warnawarna itu dalam dirinya sendiri tidak ada kaitannya dengan, misalnya, tanah yang disebut Amerika Serikat,
konsep patriotisme, atau lagu kebangsaan AS, The Star Spangled Banner.
Untuk menyampaikan ide-ide baru, orang terus-menerus membuat simbol-simbol baru, seperti rumusrumus matematika. Orang juga dapat menggunakan sebuah simbol, semisal sebuah kata, untuk mewakili

banyak ide, perasaan atau nilai yang berbeda. Dengan demikian, simbol menyediakan cara yang fleksibel
bagi manusia untuk mengomunikasikan bahkan pikiran yang sangat kompleks satu sama lain. Sebagai
contoh, hanya melalui simbol para arsitek, insinyur dan pekerja konstruksi mengomunikasikan informasi
yang diperlukan untuk membangun sebuah gedung pencakar langit atau jembatan.
Manusia memiliki kapasitas sejak lahir untuk membangun, memahami dan berkomunikasi melalui simbolsimbol, terutama dengan menggunakan bahasa. Penelitian menunjukkan, semisal, bahwa bayi memiliki
struktur dasar berbahasa - semacam tata bahasa universal - yang tertanam dalam pikiran mereka. Dengan
demikian, bayi memiliki predisposisi untuk belajar bahasa yang dipakai oleh orang-orang di sekitar
mereka.
Bahasa menjadi sarana untuk menyimpan, memproses, dan mengomunikasikan informasi dalam jumlah
yang jauh melebihi kemampuan binatang-binatang nonhuman. Sebagai contoh, simpanse, kerabat

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terdekat manusia secara genetik, menggunakan beberapa lusin seruan dan berbagai gerakan untuk
berkomunikasi di alam liar. Beberapa simpanse telah diajar untuk berkomunikasi dengan menggunakan
American Sign Language dan bahasa berbasis gambar, dan telah menguasai beberapa ratus kosakata. Tapi
sebuah Kamus Lengkap Bahasa Inggris berisi lebih dari setengah juta entri kosakata. Simpanse juga belum
dapat menunjukkan secara jelas kemampuan untuk menggunakan tata bahasa (grammar), yang sangat
penting untuk mengomunikasikan pikiran-pikiran yang kompleks.
Selain itu, saluran vokal manusia, tidak seperti yang dimiliki simpanse dan hewan lainnya, dapat

menciptakan dan mengartikulasikan berbagai macam suara yang cukup untuk menciptakan jutaan kata
yang berbeda. Bahkan sejatinya, setiap bahasa manusia hanya menggunakan sebagian kecil dari suara
yang bisa dibuat manusia. Otak manusia juga mengandung area-area tertentu yang didedikasikan untuk
produksi dan interpretasi wicara (speech), yang tidak dimiliki oleh hewan-hewan lain. Jadi, manusia
memiliki predisposisi dalam banyak hal untuk menggunakan komunikasi simbolik.
II. KEBUDAYAAN ITU DIPELAJARI
Manusia tidak dilahirkan dengan budaya, mereka harus mempelajarinya. Sebagai contoh, orang harus
belajar berbicara dan memahami bahasa dan mematuhi aturan-aturan suatu masyarakat. Dalam banyak
masyarakat, orang harus belajar memproduksi dan menyiapkan makanan dan membangun tempat
tinggal. Dalam masyarakat lain, orang harus belajar keterampilan tertentu untuk mendapatkan uang yang
kemudian mereka gunakan untuk menafkahi diri mereka sendiri. Dalam semua masyarakat manusia, anakanak belajar budaya dari orang dewasa. Antropolog menyebut proses ini “enkulturasi” (enculturation) atau
transmisi budaya (cultural transmission).
Enkulturasi adalah sebuah proses panjang. Mempelajari seluk-beluk bahasa saja, sebuah bagian utama
dari enkulturasi, membutuhkan waktu bertahun-tahun. Keluarga biasanya memproteksi dan mengenkulturasi anak-anak dalam rumah tangga tempat mereka lahir selama 15 tahun atau lebih. Hanya pada
titik ini anak-anak dapat meninggalkan rumah dan membangun rumah tangga mereka sendiri. Orang juga
terus belajar sepanjang hidup mereka. Karena itu, kebanyakan masyarakat menghormati para tetua
mereka karena mereka telah belajar sepanjang usia mereka.
Bukan hanya manusia yang memiliki kemampuan belajar prilaku-prilaku tertentu. Kelompok simpanse,
semisal, mungkin belajar menggunakan sumber makanan tertentu atau membuat beberapa alat
sederhana. Prilaku-prilaku tersebut mungkin membedakan mereka dari kelompok-kelompok simpanse lain.

Tapi cara-cara hidup yang unik ini tergolong kecil dibandingkan dengan budaya-budaya yang begitu kaya
yang membedakan masyarakat manusia yang satu dengan yang lain. Ketidakmampuan berbicara sangat
membatasi kemampuan simpanse dalam belajar, berkomunikasi satu dengan yang lain dan meneruskan
sesuatu dari generasi ke generasi.
III. KEBUDAYAAN ITU DIMILIKI BERSAMA
Orang-orang yang hidup bersama dalam sebuah masyarakat berbagi budaya. Sebagai contoh, hampir
semua orang yang tinggal di Amerika Serikat berbahasa Inggris, berpakaian dengan gaya serupa, makan
banyak makanan yang sama, dan merayakan liburan yang sama.
Semua warga masyarakat secara kolektif menciptakan dan mempertahankan budaya. Masyarakat
melestarikan budaya lebih lama dari panjangnya hidup salah satu warganya. Mereka melestarikannya
dalam bentuk pengetahuan, seperti penemuan-penemuan ilmiah; benda-benda, seperti karya seni; dan
tradisi, seperti ketentuan hari-hari libur.
3.1. Etnosentrisme dan Relativisme Budaya
Identitas diri biasanya tergantung pada budaya sehingga masuk (immersion) ke dalam budaya yang
sangat berbeda dapat menyebabkan perasaan bingung dan disorientasi. Para antropolog menyebut
fenomena ini “kejutan budaya” (culture shock). Dalam masyarakat multikultural - seperti Amerika Serikat
yang menjadi tempat datangnya orang dari berbagai budaya – bentuk-bentuk budaya yang tidak dimiliki
bersama (unshared forms of culture) dapat menyebabkan ketegangan.
Anggota masyarakat dari sebuah kebudayaan sering memiliki aneka bentuk etnosentrisme, pandangan
bahwa budayanya lebih masuk akal atau superior daripada budaya masyarakat lain. Etnosentrisme

memberi sumbangan untuk integritas budaya karena menegaskan kepercayaan dan nilai-nilai bersama
berhadapan dengan nilai-nilai yang dijunjung oleh orang-orang dari latar belakang budaya lain. Pada aras
yang paling buruk, etnosentrisme memicu orang melakukan ethnocide, pemusnahan budaya, dan
genosida, pemusnahan seluruh populasi. Ini terjadi, semisal, atas orang-orang Yahudi yang hidup di masa
Nazi Jerman pada tahun 1940-an.
Memahami daya etnosentrisme, para antropolog memperjuangkan pemahaman lintas budaya melalui
sebuah konsep yang dikenal sebagai “relativisme budaya” (cultural relativism). Seseorang yang menganut

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relativisme budaya mencoba menghargai semua budaya dengan setara. Meskipun hanya seseorang yang
hidup dalam sebuah kelompok budaya dapat sepenuhnya memahami budaya itu, para penganut
relativisme budaya percaya bahwa orang luar (outsiders) dapat belajar menghormati keyakinan dan
praktik-praktik yang tidak mereka hidupi.
Meski demikian, kebanyakan antropolog percaya bahwa relativisme budaya memiliki batas-batasnya.
Secara teoretis, seorang penganut ekstrem relativisisme akan menerima secara tidak kritis praktik-praktik
dari semua budaya, bahkan jika praktik-praktik tersebut membahayakan orang. Sebagai contoh, para
antropolog memperdebatkan apakah mereka harus menerima atau menyetujui praktik sunat perempuan,
yang dilakukan dalam banyak masyarakat Afrika. Sunat perempuan mencakup penghilangan sebagian
atau seluruh labia dan klitoris perempuan dan biasanya dilakukan pada anak perempuan yang memasuki

masa remaja. Praktik ini menyakitkan dan berbahaya bagi perempuan tetapi masyarakat yang
menganutnya cenderung mengklaim bahwa praktik tersebut penting dan berakar mendalam dalam
budaya mereka.

3.2. Syering Budaya Lintas-Masyarakat
Karena tiada masyarakat yang hidup dalam isolasi total, masyarakat-masyarakat yang berbeda saling
bertukar dan berbagi budaya. Sejatinya, semua masyarakat memiliki interaksi-interaksi tertentu dengan
yang lain, baik karena rasa ingin tahu maupun karena fakta bahwa masyarakat yang sangat mandiri
sekalipun membutuhkan bantuan dari tetangganya. Dewasa ini, sebagai contoh, orang di berbagai
belahan dunia menggunakan jenis-jenis teknologi yang serupa seperti mobil, telepon dan televisi.
Perdagangan komersial dan teknologi komunikasi, seperti jaringan komputer, telah menciptakan sebuah
budaya global (global culture). Karena itu, menjadi semakin sulit untuk menemukan budaya yang dihidupi
bersama hanya dalam batas-batas sebuah masyarakat.
Pertukaran kultural dapat menguntungkan semua kebudayaan. Masyarakat yang berbeda-beda dapat
bertukar ide, orang, barang dan sumber daya alam. Meski demikian, pertukaran tersebut bisa juga
merugikan. Sering terjadi masuknya aspek-aspek tertentu dari kebudayaan masyarakat lain dapat
mengganggu kehidupan kohesif sekelompok orang. Sebagai contoh, masuknya konsumerisme ke dalam
kelompok-kelompok masyarakat kecil telah menyebabkan munculnya apa yang disebut oleh para
antropolog sebagai cargo cults. Dalam cargo cults, orang memfokuskan energi religius dan banyak waktu
untuk mencoba mendatangkan barang-barang komersial secara magis.

Pertukaran lintas budaya juga sering menghasilkan apa yang disebut oleh para antropolog sebagai
“akulturasi” (acculturation), ketika anggota sebuah budaya tertentu mengadopsi fitur-fitur kebudayaan
lain. Ini terjadi, antara lain, ketika penduduk asli di Dunia Barat mengadopsi bahasa dan banyak kebiasaan
Spanyol, yang mengolonisasi Amerika Selatan dan Tengah pada permulaan tahun 1500an.
3.3. Subkultur
Beberapa kelompok orang memiliki serangkaian ciri-ciri kultural tertentu yang khas dan berbeda dari
masyarakat yang lebih luas. Grup-grup semacam ini sering disebut “subkultur” (subcultures). Sebagai
contoh, para anggota dari sebuah subkultur mungkin memiliki bahasa yang khas atau dialek (variasi dari
bahasa yang dominan), ritual-ritual yang unik, dan gaya berpakaian tertentu. Di Amerika Serikat and
Kanada, banyak grup yang berintegrasi kuat secara religius, seperti komunitas-komunitas Mennonite
pedesaan, memiliki karakteristik subkultur.
IV. KEBUDAYAAN ITU ADAPTIF [DINAMIS]
Kebudayaan membantu masyarakat manusia bertahan hidup dalam lingkungan alamiah yang berubah.
Sebagai contoh, akhir Jaman Es, yang mulai sekitar 15.000 tahun lalu, menghadirkan tantangan luar biasa
yang memaksa manusia untuk beradaptasi. Sebelumnya, sebagian besar belahan bumi bagian utara
tertutup oleh lapisan es yang banyak menyimpan air. Di Amerika Utara, binatang-binatang besar yang
menjelajahi tundra yang luas menjadi bahan makanan, pakaian dan tempat berteduh untuk manusia.
Ketika bumi memanas, binatang-binatang besar dari Jaman Es tersebut menghilang dan tenggelam karena
meningkatnya permukaan laut akibat mencairnya es. Meski demikian, manusia bertahan hidup. Mereka
menciptakan teknologi-teknologi baru dan belajar menopang hidup dengan bersandar pada spesies

tanaman dan hewan baru. Akhirnya, mereka menetap dalam kampung-kampung yang permanen dengan
rumah-rumah dan lahan pertanian dan peternakan yang tahan lama.
Adaptasi kultural telah membuat manusia menjadi salah satu spesies yang paling berhasil di bumi ini.
Sepanjang sejarah, perkembangan teknologi, obat-obatan dan nutrisi telah memungkinkan manusia
bereproduksi dan bertahan hidup dalam jumlah yang semakin banyak. Populasi global telah meningkat

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dari 8 juta selama Jaman Es menjadi hampir 6 miliar dewasa ini [Catatan: pada tahun 2011 diperkirakan
sudah mencapai 7 miliar].
Meski demikian, keberhasilan kultural juga menciptakan masalah-masalah jangka panjang. Selama 200
tahun ini, manusia telah menggunakan sumber-sumber daya alam dan energi dalam jumlah besar dan
menghasilkan sampah material dan kimiawi dalam skala yang juga besar. Populasi global dewasa ini
mengonsumsi sumber-sumber daya alam penting – seperti minyak bumi, kayu, dan batu-batuan mineral –
lebih cepat daripada kemampuan alam untuk menghasilkannya. Banyak ilmuwan percaya bahwa dalam
proses pembakaran bahan bakar dan produksi sampah, manusia mungkin sedang mengubah iklim global
ke arah yang sulit diprediksi dan membahayakan. Hal itu berarti bahwa keberhasilan adaptif dari
kebudayaan produksi dan perdagangan global dewasa ini bisa jadi bersifat sementara.
Kebudayaan harus berguna bagi orang, sekurang-kurangnya dalam jangka pendek, agar diteruskan
kepada generasi-generasi baru. Meski demikian, kebudayaan juga dapat jelas-jelas membahayakan

manusia. Jumlah orang yang hidup dalam kemiskinan parah pada akhir abad ke-20 lebih besar daripada
seluruh populasi pada tahun 1.500 Masehi.

Culture
I

INTRODUCTION

Culture, in anthropology, the patterns of behavior and thinking that people living in social groups learn,
create, and share. Culture distinguishes one human group from others. It also distinguishes humans from
other animals. A people’s culture includes their beliefs, rules of behavior, language, rituals, art, technology,
styles of dress, ways of producing and cooking food, religion, and political and economic systems.
Culture is the most important concept in anthropology (the study of all aspects of human life, past and
present). Anthropologists commonly use the term culture to refer to a society or group in which many or all
people live and think in the same ways. Likewise, any group of people who share a common culture—and
in particular, common rules of behavior and a basic form of social organization—constitutes a society.
Thus, the terms culture and society are somewhat interchangeable. However, while many animals live in
societies, such as herds of elk or packs of wild dogs, only humans have culture.
Culture developed together with the evolution of the human species, Homo sapiens, and is closely related
to human biology. The ability of people to have culture comes in large part from their physical features:

having big, complex brains; an upright posture; free hands that can grasp and manipulate small objects;
and a vocal tract that can produce and articulate a wide range of sounds. These distinctively human
physical features began to develop in African ancestors of humans more than four million years ago. The
earliest physical evidence of culture is crude stone tools produced in East Africa over two million years ago.
II

THE CHARACTERISTICS OF CULTURE

Culture has several distinguishing characteristics. (1) It is based on symbols—abstract ways of referring to
and understanding ideas, objects, feelings, or behaviors—and the ability to communicate with symbols
using language. (2) Culture is shared. People in the same society share common behaviors and ways of
thinking through culture. (3) Culture is learned. While people biologically inherit many physical traits and
behavioral instincts, culture is socially inherited. A person must learn culture from other people in a society.
(4) Culture is adaptive. People use culture to flexibly and quickly adjust to changes in the world around
them.
A Culture Is Symbolic

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Symbolism of the Zodiac

In cultures as diverse as the United States, China, and the ancient civilization of the Aztec, zodiac signs have symbolized qualities
ascribed to people born at particular times. In the Western zodiac system a crab symbolizes Cancer, the sign for people born between
June 22 and July 22. Astrologers say that Cancerians are strongly protective of those they love and exhibit highly developed
imagination, discipline, and intuition.
Dorling Kindersley

People have culture primarily because they can communicate with and understand symbols. Symbols allow
people to develop complex thoughts and to exchange those thoughts with others. Language and other
forms of symbolic communication, such as art, enable people to create, explain, and record new ideas and
information.
A symbol has either an indirect connection or no connection at all with the object, idea, feeling, or behavior
to which it refers. For instance, most people in the United States find some meaning in the combination of
the colors red, white, and blue. But those colors themselves have nothing to do with, for instance, the land
that people call the United States, the concept of patriotism, or the U.S. national anthem, The Star
Spangled Banner.
To convey new ideas, people constantly invent new symbols, such as for mathematical formulas. In
addition, people may use one symbol, such as a single word, to represent many different ideas, feelings, or
values. Thus, symbols provide a flexible way for people to communicate even very complex thoughts with
each other. For example, only through symbols can architects, engineers, and construction workers
communicate the information necessary to construct a skyscraper or bridge.
People have the capacity at birth to construct, understand, and communicate through symbols, primarily
by using language. Research has shown, for example, that infants have a basic structure of language—a
sort of universal grammar—built into their minds. Infants are thus predisposed to learn the languages
spoken by the people around them.
Language provides a means to store, process, and communicate amounts of information that vastly
exceed the capabilities of nonhuman animals. For instance, chimpanzees, the closest genetic relatives of
humans, use a few dozen calls and a variety of gestures to communicate in the wild. People have taught
some chimps to communicate using American Sign Language and picture-based languages, and some
have developed vocabularies of a few hundred words. But an unabridged English dictionary might contain
more than half-a-million vocabulary entries. Chimpanzees have also not clearly demonstrated the ability to
use grammar, which is crucial for communicating complex thoughts.
In addition, the human vocal tract, unlike that of chimpanzees and other animals, can create and articulate
a wide enough variety of sounds to create millions of distinct words. In fact, each human language uses
only a fraction of the sounds humans can make. The human brain also contains areas dedicated to the
production and interpretation of speech, which other animals lack. Thus, humans are predisposed in many
ways to use symbolic communication.
B Culture Is Learned
People are not born with culture; they have to learn it. For instance, people must learn to speak and
understand a language and to abide by the rules of a society. In many societies, all people must learn to
produce and prepare food and to construct shelters. In other societies, people must learn a skill to earn
money, which they then use to provide for themselves. In all human societies, children learn culture from
adults. Anthropologists call this process enculturation, or cultural transmission.

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Enculturation is a long process. Just learning the intricacies of a human language, a major part of
enculturation, takes many years. Families commonly protect and enculturate children in the households of
their birth for 15 years or more. Only at this point can children leave and establish their own households.
People also continue to learn throughout their lifetimes. Thus, most societies respect their elders, who
have learned for an entire lifetime.
Humans are not alone in their ability to learn behaviors, only in the amount and complexity of what they
can learn. For example, members of a group of chimpanzees may learn to use a unique source of food or
to fashion some simple tools, behaviors that might distinguish them from other chimpanzee groups. But
these unique ways of life are minor in comparison to the rich cultures that distinguish different human
societies. Lacking speech, chimps are very limited in what they can learn, communicate to others, and
pass on from generation to generation.
C Culture Is Shared

Ukrainian Orthodox Church
The Ukrainian Orthodox Church has played a key role in preserving a sense of ethnic identity among Ukrainian Americans. Religious
observances provide opportunities for the community to gather and affirm its cultural heritage. A religious tradition dating back to the
late 10th century, the Ukrainian Orthodox faith has a rich legacy of ritual, art, and hymns. This church in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, is
constructed in the traditional Ukrainian Orthodox style.
W.Cody/Corbis

People living together in a society share culture. For example, almost all people living in the United States
share the English language, dress in similar styles, eat many of the same foods, and celebrate many of the
same holidays.
All the people of a society collectively create and maintain culture. Societies preserve culture for much
longer than the life of any one person. They preserve it in the form of knowledge, such as scientific
discoveries; objects, such as works of art; and traditions, such as the observance of holidays.
C1 Ethnocentrism and Cultural Relativism
Self-identity usually depends on culture to such a great extent that immersion in a very different culture—
with which a person does not share common ways of life or beliefs—can cause a feeling of confusion and
disorientation. Anthropologists refer to this phenomenon as culture shock. In multicultural societies—
societies such as the United States into which people come from a diversity of cultures—unshared forms of
culture can also lead to tension.
Members of a society who share culture often also share some feelings of ethnocentrism, the notion that
one’s culture is more sensible than or superior to that of other societies. Ethnocentrism contributes to the
integrity of culture because it affirms people’s shared beliefs and values in the face of other, often
contradictory, beliefs and values held by people of other cultural backgrounds. At its worst, ethnocentrism
has led people to commit ethnocide, the destruction of cultures, and genocide, the destruction of entire
populations. This happened, for example, to Jews living in Nazi Germany in the 1940s (see Holocaust;
National Socialism).
Anthropologists, knowing the power of ethnocentrism, advocate cross-cultural understanding through a
concept known as cultural relativism. Someone observing cultural relativism tries to respect all cultures

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equally. Although only someone living within a group that shares culture can fully understand that culture,
cultural relativists believe that outsiders can learn to respect beliefs and practices that they do not share.
However, most anthropologists believe that cultural relativism has its limits. In theory, an extreme
relativist would uncritically accept the practices of all cultures, even if those practices harm people. For
example, anthropologists have debated over whether they should accept or approve of the practice of
female circumcision, performed in many African societies. Female circumcision involves removing part or
all of a woman’s labia and clitoris and is usually performed on girls entering adolescence. This practice is
painful, and often harmful, to the women of societies that perform it, but many of those societies claim
that the practice is important and deeply rooted in their culture.
C2 Sharing Culture Across Societies

Coca-Cola Billboard, Vietnam
Today global communications systems and the worldwide distribution of mass-produced commodities create a kind of global culture.
Here, a billboard in Vietnam for the U.S. soft drink Coca-Cola beckons to commuters with the slogan “It’s so good to see you again.”
L. Dematteis/The Image Works

Since no human society exists in complete isolation, different societies also exchange and share culture. In
fact, all societies have some interactions with others, both out of curiosity and because even highly selfsufficient societies sometimes need assistance from their neighbors. Today, for instance, many people
around the world use similar kinds of technology, such as cars, telephones, and televisions. Commercial
trade and communication technologies, such as computer networks, have created a form of global culture.
Therefore, it has become increasingly difficult to find culture that is shared within only a single society.
Cultural exchange can provide many benefits for all societies. Different societies can exchange ideas,
people, manufactured goods, and natural resources. Such exchanges can also have drawbacks, however.
Often the introduction of aspects of another society’s culture can disrupt the cohesive life of a people. For
example, the introduction of consumerism into many small societies has led to what anthropologists refer
to as cargo cults. In cargo cults, people focus much of their religious energy and time on trying to
magically acquire commercial goods.
Cross-cultural exchange often results in what anthropologists call acculturation, when the members of one
culture adopt features of another. This has happened, for example, when indigenous peoples in the
western hemisphere adopted the language and many of the customs of Spain, which colonized South and
Central America beginning in the 1500s.
C3 Subcultures
Some groups of people share a distinct set of cultural traits within a larger society. Such groups are often
referred to as subcultures. For instance, the members of a subculture may share a distinct language or
dialect (variation based on the dominant language), unique rituals, and a particular style of dress. In the
United States and Canada, many strongly integrated religious groups, such as rural Mennonite
communities, have the characteristics of subcultures.
D Culture Is Adaptive
Culture helps human societies survive in changing natural environments. For example, the end of the last
Ice Age, beginning about 15,000 years ago, posed an enormous challenge to which humans had to adapt.
Before this time, large portions of the northern hemisphere were covered in great sheets of ice that
contained much of the earth’s water. In North America, large game animals that roamed the vast tundra

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provided people with food and materials for clothing and simple shelters. When the earth warmed, large
Ice Age game animals disappeared, and many land areas were submerged by rising sea levels from
melting ice. But people survived. They developed new technologies and learned how to subsist on new
plant and animal species. Eventually some people settled into villages of permanent, durable houses and
farms.
Cultural adaptation has made humans one of the most successful species on the planet. Through history,
major developments in technology, medicine, and nutrition have allowed people to reproduce and survive
in ever-increasing numbers. The global population has risen from 8 million during the Ice Age to almost 6
billion today (see Population: World Population Growth and Distribution).
However, the successes of culture can also create problems in the long run. Over the last 200 years,
people have begun to use large quantities of natural resources and energy and to produce a great amount
of material and chemical wastes. The global population now consumes some crucial natural resources—
such as petroleum, timber, and mineral ores—faster than nature can produce them. Many scientists
believe that in the process of burning fuels and producing wastes, people may be altering the global
climate in unpredictable and possibly harmful ways (see Global Warming). Thus, the adaptive success of
the present-day global culture of production and commerce may be temporary.
Culture must benefit people, at least in the short term, in order for it to be passed on to new generations.
But it can clearly also harm some people. The number of people living in severe poverty near the end of
the 20th century was larger than the entire population of the world in AD 1500.

III

CATEGORIES OF CULTURE

Edward Tylor
Sir Edward Burnett Tylor was a pioneer of cultural anthropology in Britain. Tylor gave one of the first anthropological definitions of
culture in his book Primitive Culture (1871). Here an actor recites Tylor’s definition of culture.
(p) 1998 Microsoft Corporation. All rights reserved./The Image Works

Anthropologists have described a number of different categories of culture. For example, a simple
distinction can be made between cultural objects, such as types of clothing, and cultural beliefs, such as
forms of religion. Many early anthropological definitions of culture are essentially descriptions of categories
of culture or cultural items.
British anthropologist Edward B. Tylor gave one of the first complete definitions of culture in his book
Primitive Culture (1871). His definition stated that culture includes socially acquired knowledge, beliefs,
art, law, morals, customs, and habits. In 1930 American anthropologist George P. Murdock went much
further, listing 637 major subdivisions of culture. Murdock developed an elaborate coding system, known
as the Human Relation Area Files. He used this system to identify and sort hundreds of distinctive cultural
variations that could be used to compare different cultures.

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Later anthropologists came up with simpler categorizations of culture. A common practice is to divide all of
culture into three broad categories: material, social, and ideological. A fourth category, the arts, has
characteristics of both material and ideological culture.
Material culture includes products of human manufacture, such as technology. Social culture pertains to
people’s forms of social organization—how people interact and organize themselves in groups. Ideological
culture relates to what people think, value, believe, and hold as ideals. The arts include such activities and
areas of interest as music, sculpture, painting, pottery, theater, cooking, writing, and fashion.
Anthropologists often study how these categories of culture differ across different types of societies that
vary in scale (size and complexity).
Anthropologists have identified several distinct types of societies by scale. The smallest societies are
known as bands. Bands consist of nomadic (not settled) groups of fewer than a hundred, mostly related
people. A tribe, the next largest type of society, generally consists of a few hundred people living in settled
villages. A larger form of society, called a chiefdom, binds together two or more villages or tribes under a
leader who is born into the position of rule. The largest societies, known as civilizations, contain from
several thousand to millions of mostly unrelated people, many of whom live in large cities. Some
anthropologists characterize the world today as a single global-scale culture, in which people are linked
together by industrial technology and markets of commercial exchange.

A Material Culture
All societies produce and exchange material goods so that people can feed, clothe, shelter, and otherwise
provide for themselves. This system is commonly known as an economy. Anthropologists look at several
aspects of people’s material culture. These aspects include (1) the methods by which people obtain or
produce food, known as a pattern of subsistence; (2) the ways in which people exchange goods and
services; (3) the kinds of technologies and other objects people make and use; and (4) the effects of
people’s economy on the natural environment.
A1 Patterns of Subsistence

Inuit Summer Hunting Camp
In the past, the Inuit were chiefly a nomadic people who hunted for sustenance and followed their game's seasonal movements.
Although many Inuit now live in fixed settlements throughout Nunavut, a region in northern Canada, some maintain their traditional
hunting customs. Pictured here is an Inuit standing next to his summer house, a tent made of walrus or seal hides.
Wolfgang Kaehler

People in band societies live as hunter-gatherers (also known as foragers), collecting plants and taking
animals from their environment. People living in tribes or chiefdoms commonly practice horticulture
(gardening) or pastoralism (animal herding). Many horticultural societies, such as the Hanunóo of the
Philippines, practice what is known as swidden or the slash-and-burn method of gardening. This involves
cutting down a patch of forest, burning the plant matter to release nutrients into the soil, and planting
gardens. After about three years, the swidden gardeners move to another patch of forest, allowing their old
gardens to return to forest. Pastoralists, such as the Masai of east Africa, may also grow food in small
gardens to supplement their diets of milk, meat, and blood.

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Mongolian Pastoralists
Nomadic herders in Mongolia follow a traditional way of life, journeying with livestock and living in yurts, which are felt tents that
protect them from the country’s intense heat and cold. Here, some yurts are visible beyond the grazing horses and sheep.
George Holton/Photo Researchers, Inc.

Many peoples living in larger societies, such the Han of northern China, practice manual (sometimes called
extensive) agriculture and produce surpluses of food and other goods. Some surpluses create wealth, while
surplus foods are commonly stored for use in times of need. Because of this surplus production, some
people work in nonsubsistence (not food-producing) activities. People not involved in food production may
work, for example, as craftspeople, religious practitioners, or political administrators. Manual agriculture
also supported early civilizations such as Sumer, which existed from about 3000 to about 1800 BC in what
is now Iraq.

Simple Farming Methods in Ethiopia
Animals are still used as beasts of burden on many Ethiopian farms. Traditional agriculture is the most common form of economic
activity in Ethiopia.
Purcell/Ald/Maryknoll Missioners

Agriculture in nonindustrialized societies relies on systems of irrigation run from natural waterways,
animal-powered plowing, and natural methods of fertilization, such as the use of rotted vegetation to add
nutrients to soil. Animal-powered plow agriculture and irrigation involve more time, energy, and material
inputs than do swidden gardening, pastoralism, or hunting and gathering.

Corn Harvest in Illinois
Industrialized countries generally practice large-scale, mechanized farming. In this photograph of a farm in Illinois, corn combines pick
the ears from the stalks, remove the husks, and shell the kernels from the cobs.
Dr. A.C. Twomey/Photo Researchers, Inc.

The food production in large, industrial and commerce-based societies—such as the United States and
Western Europe—depends on expensive machinery, vast supplies of fossil fuels to power that machinery,
automated irrigation systems, and great quantities of chemical fertilizers and pesticides. This form of
production, known as intensive agriculture, is more costly than any other, but produces quantities of food
vast enough to allow most people to work in nonsubsistence activities.
A2 Forms of Exchange

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Early Forms of Money
Before paper and coins were introduced as permanent forms of money, people used a variety of other objects to serve as money for
trading goods. Examples of early forms of money, as shown here, include rice (China), dogs’ teeth (Papua New Guinea), small tools
(China), quartz pebbles (Ghana), gambling counters (Hong Kong), cowrie shells (India), metal disks (Tibet), and limestone disks (Yap
Island).
Dorling Kindersley

People in small societies commonly exchange goods with each other and with people in other small
societies through systems of barter, ceremonies, and gifts. For example, the people of the Trobriand
Islands in Papua New Guinea, practice an elaborate form of inter-island exchange known as the kula.
Through the kula, people living on different islands continually exchange prestige goods, such as beautiful
shell necklaces, as well as food, clothing, weapons, and other items. Such systems of ongoing exchange of
goods, common to all societies, create long-lasting bonds between people.

Money of the World
Most nations have their own system of money and print their own currency. Made of paper, these pieces of currency have very little
intrinsic value. As fiat money, however, the paper notes represent a specific monetary value decreed by the government and
accepted by the people. The notes pictured here are examples of fiat money from all over the world.
William Taufic/Corbis

Contemporary industrial societies have organized markets for land, labor, and money, and virtually
everything is a commodity. People buy and sell goods and services using money. This form of economy,
known as capitalism, disconnects the value of goods and services from the goods and services themselves
and the people who produce or provide them. Thus, the exchange of goods and services for currency is not
particularly important for creating social bonds. In industrialized and commerce-based societies, people
also exchange securities (such as the stocks of corporations), which have value based on their
representation of ownership, and derivatives, whose value is based on that of underlying securities.
A3 Technology and Manufacture

Yapese Community House
Community houses in Yap state, the westernmost state of the Federated States of Micronesia (FSM), serve as meeting places for
Yapese villagers. The Yapese have retained much of their traditional culture, despite the influence of Western administrations from the
late 1800s to 1986, when the FSM gained self-government.
Wolfgang Kaehler

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In small societies people usually build shelters and make clothing out of readily available plant and animal
materials. For example, in forest horticultural societies in the Amazon region of South America, people
make houses of wooden branches covered with layers of palm leaves.
Band and tribal peoples also use fairly simple technologies for work. People commonly use sticks to dig the
ground for planting or for getting at edible roots. They may use animal hides or plant materials such as
tree bark to make clothing and sacs or baskets for carrying items. Hunters take their prey either with
sharpened sticks or with arrowheads of stone or bone attached to wooden shafts. Some coat the tips of
their arrows with poisons gathered from plants or animals. Poisoned weapons can quickly disable prey.
People who live by water commonly make boats of wood and animal skins for travel, fishing, and the
hunting of sea mammals such as seals and whales. Most hunter-gatherers, horticulturists, and pastoralists
cook over open fires.

Clothing in Botswana
This woman from Botswana is wearing a colorful dress made of different pieces of fabric sewn together. Some of the designs on the
patches are made in the traditional batik method, but this dress is contemporary.
Marlise Pepperell/Compix/Bridgeman Art Library, London/New York

In primarily agricultural societies, many of which still exist today in countries throughout Africa and Asia,
the people build sturdy houses of sun-dried mud brick and thatch, wooden beams, or quarried stone. These
people commonly produce beautiful and functional ceramic storage containers and other pottery, finely
woven textiles, and tools of forged metal. People in agricultural societies also have many methods of
cooking using pots and ovens of mud brick or stone.
In large industrial and commerce-based societies, most people live in wood-frame or brick houses and
apartment buildings with plumbing, supplies of electricity and natural gas, and telephone service. Much of
the material culture in these societies consists of mass-produced goods created through industrial
production. A great deal of food and clothing are produced in this way. The variety of common household
technologies includes televisions, stereos, microwave ovens, and computers. Many people work in giant
skyscrapers built from metal girders and beams, concrete, and high-strength glass. People and goods can
travel great distances by automobile, train, plane, and ship. Other significant technologies include artificial
satellites, enormously potent and complex weaponry systems, and reactors for producing nuclear energy.
A4 Effects on the Environment
Hunting and gathering, horticultural, and pastoral ways of life generally make small demands on the
natural environment, because people tend to gather or grow only enough food and other materials for their
basic needs. These nomadic or seminomadic societies can also move away from depleted areas, allowing
plants to regrow and animals to repopulate.
Agricultural societies can heavily burden the environment, sometimes endangering their own survival. For
example, early Mediterranean civilizations deforested and overgrazed large areas of land. These damages
to the land prompted soil erosion, which made food production increasingly costly over time.
Industrial societies put even larger demands on the environment, and they may someday exhaust
important supplies of natural resources. The mass production of goods is often wasteful and polluting.
Thus, large societies must also put great effort into disposing of their wastes and developing new sources
of energy and material resources.
B Social Culture

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Cultural Styles of Communication
People from different cultures have different styles of communication. These photos provide some examples: clockwise from top left,
Bahraini men talking with animated gestures and making direct eye contact, Polish teens avoiding eye contact as they talk, Eskimo
women talking with considerable space between them, and Kashmīri women talking at a very close distance.
Charlie Westerman/Gamma Liaison;Carlos Freire/Hutchison Library;Gamma Liaison;Wolfgang Kaehler/Gamma Liaison

People in all types of societies organize themselves in relation to each other for work and other duties, and
to structure their interactions. People commonly organize themselves according to (1) bonds by kinship
and marriage, (2) work duties and economic position, and (3) political position. Important factors in family,
work, and political relations include age and gender (behaviors and roles associated with men and
women).
B1 Kinship and Family

Totem Pole
The Tlingit, Haida, and Tsimshian peoples, who are part of the Northwest Coast cultural group, live in the Alaska panhandle and
nearby islands. For centuries totem poles were landmarks in the villages of Northwest Coast peoples. These tall poles, carved from
wood, trace the histories of families and clans much like a family crest or family tree. Each figure on the pole is a symbol of a family
characteristic, an event, or a “totem,” a power of nature to which the family has a special relation. Totems often take the form of an
animal or spirit.
John Warden

In smaller societies people organize themselves primarily according to ties of kinship (blood relation) and
marriage. Kin generally give each other preferential treatment over nonkin. People who share ties by blood
and marriage commonly live together in families. See also Kinship and Descent.

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Family Tree
In some cultures family trees trace the lineage of families, showing the relationships among relatives and ancestors. The family tree
shown here displays the family history of Alfonso VII, a Spanish king who reigned over the regions of León and Castile from 1126 to
1157.
Archivo Iconografico, S.A./Corbis

Small societies categorize kin in many different ways and define appropriate types of behavior between
kin, including who can marry. In band societies, people know their relationships to others in their band,
which usually includes only a few families. People do not marry within their immediate family, but often
take spouses from other bands to create ties that bond them together in times of need.

Monogamy
Monogamy is the most common form of marriage. In a monogamous marriage, two people are married to each other and to no one
else. This Jordanian family consists of a monogamous couple with their children.
Bill Lyons/Liaison Agency

All people in bands generally respect each other as equals, though children must show increased respect
for their elders. The eldest group members often earn special recognition for their knowledge. Men and
women in bands also commonly regard each other as equals.

Polygamist and Wives
Polygamy is a form of marriage practiced in many cultures, in which a person has more than one spouse. Although multiple marriage
is not legally recognized in the United States, some Americans have polygamous relationships. This family in Nevada consists of a
husband with ten wives and several children.
Nik Wheeler/Corbis

People living in tribes belong to lineages or clans, which are large kin groups that trace their descent to a
common ancestor. Clans are somewhat larger than lineages and usually cover more generations. Clans
trace their descent to a fictitious ancestor (ancestor whose true identity is not known), often identified as
an animal spirit or clan totem (see Totemism).
For instance, many Native American societies (see Native Americans of North America: Social and Political
Organization), in both North and South America, live or once lived in tribes. One Native American group,
the Navajo, who have long lived primarily in what is now Arizona, organized themselves in the past as
matrilineal (descent traced through women) clan-based tribes. Status and property passed to people
through their mother’s line.
Kinship and family relations are both important in agricultural societies, as well as for many people in
industrial and commerce-based societies. But for many people today living in large societies, kinship and
family relations have become less important. Many people live alone or in small families and also depend

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on organizations, workplaces, and government institutions to provide support available in smaller societies
from family and kin.
B2 Work Life

Water Pump, Togo
The majority of people in Togo, West Africa, work in agriculture. Most of these agricultural workers are sharecroppers and subsistence
farmers on small plots of land. In many cases, groups of families own farmland collectively and cultivate corn, millet, yams, sorghum,
and cassava for direct consumption. In this photo, villagers in Kara, a town in northern Togo, gather around the communal water
pump.
Betty Press/Woodfin Camp and Associates, Inc.

Anthropologists call the smallest unit of economic production in any society a household. A household
consists of a group of people, usually a family, who work collectively to support each other and often to
raise children.

Rubber Workers
One of the valuable products of the Brazilian forests, rubber is gat