Society and culture
AT THE end of this lesson, students will be able to:
1. Define society and culture.
2. Explain the characteristic of society and culture.
In order to understand the societal and cultural construct, we have to first understand what a construct is. A construct is “a label given to some idea or way of thinking that people use in order to better explain and describe social life” (Mohammed, 2007). By means of definition, simple explanations for the terms society and culture are as follows:
Society: A group of people living in the same area over a length of time.
Culture: The ways of life of a group of people.
SOCIETY
Thompson, Lawson- Downer, St John and Thomas- Hunte (2017) purport that society does not only include the political borders on a map, but it also includes the similarities among the group that are used to identify them. Most important, it should also be noted that when it comes on to values and beliefs, both society and culture overlap. The characteristics of society are as follows:
1. Shared common purpose: Mohammed (2007) highlights that this definition alludes to the common values that a group shares, which help to structure the members’ interaction and relationship. A commonality among Caribbean nations is the shared experiences of slavery/ colonialism, indentureship, and the fight for emancipation and independence.
2. A defined territorial space: This looks at the geographical aspect of society, as it focuses on the physical space that a group of people share and their cultural identity. For example, as taught in previous lessons, the Caribbean is an area washed by the Caribbean Sea. That small area washed by the Caribbean Sea has its own unique cultural practices, thus it is seen as a society.
3. Continuity over time and space: This looks at the cultural practices that have been existing in a space over a prolonged period.
4. Citizenship within a space: This aspect of society looks at the nationality and citizenship of people within a geographical space. Therefore, it encapsulates one’s birthright and governmentissued documentation to verify this. For example, in the Caribbean, a Caribbean passport, a TRN and a birth certificate are owned by most nationals.
WHAT MAKES THE CARIBBEAN A SOCIETY?
These characteristics include: a. A shared history. b. Similar linguistics/language, as each state has a dialect that is pulled from either the African, European or Amerindian ancestry. c. A common ethnicity and race. d. Similar religious rituals and cultural festivities, such as church-going, carnivals, Divali/ Dewali, etc.
e. There is also a Caribbean diaspora in places such as America, Canada and England.
CULTURE
There is also the popular culture which refers to music, arts, festivals, poetry and cuisine that are promoted through the mass media. High culture, on the other hand, looks at the cultural interpretations and expressions of the elites within society. Subculture identifies a set or group of people within a larger group. For example, Rastafarianism would be a subculture within Jamaica.
The characteristics of culture are as follows:
1. Learnt behaviour: Through socialisation, we have been encultured as to how we should operate as a society. Enculturation is the process by which individuals adopt to their culture through observations and experience.
2. Customs and traditions: A custom is a cultural idea that describes a regular, patterned way of behaving that is considered characteristic of life in a social system. Shaking hands, bowing and kissing are all customs. They’re ways of greeting people that help to distinguish one society from another. Customs exist among all types of societies, from primitive to advanced. Interestingly, their nature doesn’t change based on literacy, industrialisation or other external factors (https://www.thoughtco.com). Tradition is the handing down of statements, beliefs, legends, customs, information, etc, from generation to generation, especially by word of mouth or by practice. For example, the telling of Brother Anansi stories is a popular tradition of most Caribbean countries.
3. Norms and values: Norms and values are the pillars that help to build the cultural beliefs of a society. Some cultural beliefs that help to guide most Caribbean societies are abstinence before marriage, shaking of hands when greeting someone, and blessing food before eating. Norms and values are protected by sanctions, whereby certain punishments are meted out to individuals who break some of these principles. For example, theft is normally punishable by imprisonment.
4. Institutions that prescribe behaviour: There are certain societal institutions that prescribe behaviours. These include the justice system, education, religion and the family. These institutions are responsible for establishing certain acceptable patterns of behaviour for society.
5. Gendered practices: Unlike sex, gender is a social construct, meaning that as males and females, we have been socialised as to how we should behave in society. Boys have been socialised to be rough and vigourous and to play outdoors, while girls have been taught to wear pink, be delicate, stay indoors, play with dolls and learn to be a ‘Suzie homemaker’.