Sociology at WORK PEACE CORPS VOLUNTEER 58 CHAPTER THREE Culture JOHN EGAMI, a Peace Corps volunteer in Kampala, Uganda, works in elementary schools to develop literacy programs that will encourage students to read outside the classroom. “Ugandans, by tradition, are not readers,” he explains. “It’s rare for parents to read to their child, and the kids only learn to read enough to pass their exams.” His early efforts to get the children excited about reading met with polite disinterest. Then the holidays came and everyone went back to their native villages to celebrate with parents and grandparents. They returned with mountains of stories about their families and the holiday celebrations. Egami got an idea. He recorded all of the children’s stories. The kids listened to them over and over. Listening with them, Egami clearly recognized the rich oral tradition of his students. They were skilled storytellers. If he wanted to get them to love reading, he was going to have to forge a link between their culture of oral expression and his reading goals for them. He transcribed the students’ stories and printed them out. The kids loved these books, and they took delight in arguing over the shape and meaning of words. Egami’s willingness to understand the Ugandans’ culture had opened a window for his students to recognize the value of books and reading. ■ Looking IN THIS CHAPTER WE WILL SEE JUST HOW BASIC THE STUDY OF CULTURE is to sociology. Our discussion will focus both on general cultural practices found in all societies and on the wide variations that can distinguish one society from another. We will define and explore the major aspects of culture, including Ahead language, norms, sanctions, and values. We will see how cultures develop a dominant ideology, and how functionalist and conflict theorists view culture. And we’ll study the development of culture around the world, including the cultural effects of the worldwide movement toward globalization. Finally, in the Social Policy section, we will look at the conflicts in cultural values that underlie current debates over bilingualism. MODULE 7 The Study of Culture Learning Objectives LO 7-1 Explain the sociological meaning of culture and society. LO 7-2 Compare and contrast ethnocentrism and cultural relativism. LO 7-3 Illustrate the differences between sociobiological and sociological cultural explanations of human social behavior.
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