Unit Three:

HUMAN CULTURE AND

TIES THAT CONNECT SOCIETY

Department of Anthropology
Hawassa University, 2015 E.C.
 Session 3:
TOPICS
Conceptualizing Culture:
• Characteristic Features of Culture
– Aspects/Elements of Culture
– Cultural Unity and Variations
– Evaluating Cultural Differences
– Culture Change
Ties That Connect Society:
– MARRIAGE:
– FAMILY
– KINSHIP
Reflect your views on the following questions

How do you define culture?

What are the characteristic features of
culture?
What are the basic components of culture?
How does culture led to both differences
and similarities among people in widely
separated societies?
 Conceptualizing Culture: What is it?
The word ‘culture’, originates from the Latin term -
‘colere’, which means to cultivate.
 aspects of humanity, not natural, but acquired.
1. E.B. Tylor (1871), defined culture as “a complex whole
which includes knowledge, belief, art, morals, law, custom,
and any other capabilities and habits acquired by man as a
member of society.”
2. C.Kluckhohn (1951)- a “community’s design for living”:
It consists patterned way’s of thinking, feeling & reacting;
It acquired & transmitted mainly by symbols, including
artifacts, group achievements, ideas & attached values.
 In general, Culture refers to the acquired, the cognitive
and symbolic aspects of human existence.
 Characteristic Features of Culture
1. Culture is Socially Learned & Shared:
Culture is learned in the course of social interaction,
via symbolically based interaction:
 Symbols are central component of culture.
 Enculturation is the process by which an individual learns
the rules and values of one’s culture.
For a thing, idea, belief, practice or behavior pattern to
qualify as being “cultural” it must have a shared
meaning among a group of people in a society.
 Clifford Geertz (1983), regarded Culture as a system of
meanings that was largely shared by a population.
 Shared culture is fundamental for the functioning of a
social system.
 Characteristic Features of Culture

3. Culture Is Integrated:
Cultures are not haphazard collections of customs and
beliefs.
It is an integrated whole, the parts of which, to some
degree, are functionally interconnected with one another:
a culture is a system -change in one aspect will likely
generate changes in other aspects;
a single cultural trait may lose its meaning outside its
integrated context.
 Characteristic Features of Culture
4. Culture Can Be Adaptive & Maladaptive:
Culture is adaptive:- it serve as coping mechanism
against environmental stresses and help humans to
adapt practically to any ecological condition.
Culture is an integral whole, encompassing ideas, crafts &
beliefs...a vast apparatus, partly material, partly non-material
& spiritual; by which man is able to cope with the
concrete specific problems that face him (Bronislaw
Malinowski, 1944).
Culture can also be mala-adaptive- when certain
cultural creations (adaptive behaviors) that offers short-
term benefit may harm the environment and threaten
people's long-term survival or wellbeing.
 5. Culture is Dynamic
Culture is dynamic - changing constantly as new
ideas/techniques prevail. culture change may occur:
Cultural Diffusion: the spread of cultural traits from
one area to the other (direct, forced or indirect contact).
Acculturation: is the exchange of cultural features that
results when groups have continuous firsthand contact.
Globalization –interlinking of the world via economic
forces –results in largescale changes & transformations.
Independent Innovation and Adaptation to new
environmental and social circumstances.
 Each new generation not only learn culture, but eventually
add with the dynamics of the social & the physical world.
 Evaluating Cultural Differences
A. ETHNOCENTRISM:
refers to the tendency to see one's own group culture as
superior and to apply one's own cultural values in judging
the behavior, beliefs & practices of other cultures.
It involves a belief that once own group’s ways are
correct, normal, & better way’s for thinking, feeling &
behaving.
Our own group is the centre or axis of everything, and
we scale and rate all others with reference to it.
Alien cultural traits are often viewed as being not just
d/t but inferior, less sensible, and even "unnatural”.
Ethnocentrism is a cultural universal.
 Cntd…..
Ethnocentrism has more negative & some positive effects.
The negative effect of our ethnocentric view includes:
 It results in prejudices and prevent us from
understanding & appreciating others culture;
 It prevent open communication and result in
misunderstanding/mistrust, and in extreme cases might
cause violence.
The positive aspect of ethnocentrism has to do with the
protection that it can provide for a culture.
It acts as a conservative force in preserving traditions of one's
own culture.
 Cntd…..
B. CULTURAL RELATIVISM (CR):
opt for understanding other people’s beliefs or practices in
its own context without making value judgments.
CR involves an attitude of respect for cultural differences
-instead of condemning other people's culture as
uncivilized or backward.
Every society has its own culture, which is more or less
unique, adaptive & responsive to the d/t needs of its
members and to the group relationships.
 A culture must be studied/understood in terms of its own
meanings & values.
The behavior of one culture should not be judged by the
standard of another culture.
 Cntd…..

It is not logically right to underestimate or overestimate

others culture by one’s own standards.
Below are few examples of respect for cultural difference:
Appreciating cultural diversity;
Accepting and respecting other cultures;
Trying to understand every culture and its elements in terms
of its own context and logic;
Recognizing that what is immoral, ethical, acceptable, etc, in
one culture may not be so in another culture.
 Cntd…..
C. HUMAN RIGHTS:
Human rights -based on justice and morality beyond and
superior to particular countries, cultures, and religions.
It’s idea challenges cultural relativism by invoking a
realm of justice & morality beyond and superior to the
laws/customs of particular countries, cultures or religions.
A doctrine of universal human rights, which emphasizes
the rights of the individual over those of the community,
would condemn abuse of such rights.
Human rights include the right to life & liberty, freedom
from slavery & torture, freedom of opinion & expression, to
hold religious beliefs without persecution, and to not be
murdered, injured or imprisoned without charge.
  Questions for Discussions
What do you understand about ‘ethnocentrism’ and
‘cultural relativism’?
Debating ethnocentrism vs cultural relativism-
 In context of multicultural/ethnic/linguistic societies
like Ethiopia, which approach do you think is
productive? And, why? (please share your ideas with
your classmates).
What do you think about cultural relativism and
human rights?
• Reading Assignment:
In the REVISED Course Module, go to Page 81
(section 3.8) and make a reading on ‘Culture Areas
and Culture Contact’ and familiarize yourself with
the main culture areas identified in the context of
Ethiopia in r/n to subsistence –‘Plough Culture
Area’, ‘Enset Culture Area’, and ‘Pastoral Culture
Area’.
 Ties That Connect: Marriage, Family
and Kinship

• In this part students are expected to get a good

understanding of social structure and social
organization!
 Marriage
 Almost all known, societies recognize marriage;
though the norms that arrange for an institutionalized
marriage vary along cultures.
 Marriage, like all other things cultural, is governed by
rules; & as the rules vary across society, so does the
ritual by which society recognizes and celebrates the
marriage.
 Thus, marriage is not an easy term to define in a
universal terms.
 Cntd…

• Defining Marriage:

• “It is a socially approved union between a man and

a woman that regulates the sexual and economic
rights and obligations between them.”

• But, this definition lack universal quality -there are

societies, where husband & wife live separately, do
not have economic cooperation & the spouses are
permitted to have extra-marital sexual relations.
 Rules of Marriage
It’s conventionally prescribed by social groups to clearly
states: whom one can & can not marry and when & where
one should marry… and so on. (It’s obligatory).
Rules which prescribe whom one can not marry are
directly related to Incest Taboo –w/h is a universal
cultural practice; except limited exceptions.
Incest taboo’s forbids sexual relations b/n certain
categories of close relatives/social units & so does
marriage.
Almost universally forbidden categories includes –
mother-son, father-daughter, & brother-sister.
 Mate Selection: Whom Should You Marry?
In addition to the rules in the form of incest taboo –there
are certain other strict rules and regulations:
a) Exogamy: a rule that require selection of spouse from
outside once own kin groups or community.
It may take many forms –it can be linage exogamy, clan
exogamy or village exogamy.
It creates links b/n d/t groups –establishing fictitious
relationships & it has adaptive value.
b) Endogamy: a rule that allow marriage within a group &
forbid individuals to marry outside the group.
Example: religious groups –Catholics and Jews, casts in
India and Nepal.
 Cntd…

c) Preferential Cousin Marriage:

• In certain society indviduals can choose certain
categories or relatives as marriage partners.
• It can be distinguished between two different types of
first cousins:
Cross Cousins: are children of siblings of the opposite
sex- that is one’s mother’s brothers’ children and one’s
father’s sisters’ children.
It’s the most common form of preferential cousin
marriage & functions to strengthen and maintain ties
between kin groups.
 Cntd…

Parallel Cousins: is when marriage takes place

between children of siblings of the same sex, namely
the children of one’s mother’s sister and one’s father
brother.
It can serve to prevent the fragmentation of family
property.

d) The Levirate and Sororate:

• rules of marriage that require a person to marry the
husband or wife of a deceased kin.
 Cntd…

The levirate: is the custom whereby a widow is

expected to marry the brother (or some close male
relative) of her deceased husband.
 Any children from the woman’s new husband are
considered to belong legally to the deceased brother
rather than to the actual genitor.
 The two side benefit of Levirate are:
 social security for the widow and her children,
 preserve the rights of her husband’s family to her
sexuality, future children & property.
• E.g., Orthodox Jews
 Cntd…

The sororate: comes into play when a wife dies.

 It is the practice of a widower marrying the sister (or
some close female relative) of his deceased wife.
E.g., Shertukpen Indian’s.

Radcliff Brown (1952), referred the two forms of

marriage (Levirate & Sororate) as ‘the equivalence of
siblings’ in w/h one same-sex sibling can be
substituted for another.
 Forms of Marriage
the forms of marriage varies across cultures & societies
& largely depends on the number of spouse involved
in the marriage.
Cultural anthropologists have identified three major
types of marriage based on the number of spouses:
Monogamy: it’s a form of marriage in which an
individual has a single spouse at any given time.
Polygyny: a form of marriage in which an individual
has multiple wives at any time.
Polyandry: a form of marriage in which a women has
multiple husbands at any given time. More rare case.
 Economic Consideration of Marriage
One aspect of marriage contract is the rights of the
spouses to each other’s economic goods and services.
The transfer of rights is usually accompanied by the
transfer of some type of economic consideration.
These transfers taking place either before or after the
marriage can be divided into three categories:
1. Bride Price: when payments are made by the groom and
his family to the family of the bride (dominant in Africa).
2. Bride Service: when the groom works for his wife’s
family, and
3. Dowry: when a bride brings property with her at the
marriage.
 Post-Marital Residence
• Patrilocal Residence: the married couple lives with
or near the relatives of the husband’s father.
• Matrilocal Residence: the married couple lives with
or near the relatives of the wife.
• Avunculocal Residence: the married couple lives
with or near the husband’s mother’s brother.
• Ambilocal/Bilocal Residence: the married couple
has a choice of living with relatives of the wife or
relatives of the husband
• Neolocal Residence: the Married couple forms an
independent place of residence away from the
relatives of either spouse.
• Questions for Discussions

Discuss the important functions of economic

transactions involved in marital contract (e.g. bride
wealth payment)?
Identify the major types of marriage and a kind of
residential place a married couple will take in your
locality. And share it with your classmates.
 FAMILY
Family is a primary social group, universally recognized to
be a basis of all human society.
It is the most permanent and most pervasive of all social
institutions.
 It integrates its members in best possible manner, where
affection, mutual trust and blood ties are the
integrating bonds of a family.
Cultural anthropologists have identified two
fundamentally different types of family structure:
1. The Nuclear Family: the family unit of husband, wife,
and children live in separate households.
 it’s related to monogamous forms of marriage & Neo-
local residence, (the spouses form an independent HH).
2. The Extended Family: consists of two or more nuclear
families, affiliated through an extension of the parent-
child relationships (blood ties).
 This takes the form of a married couple living with one
or more of their married children in a single household
and under the authority of a family head.
 In such societies blood ties are more important than ties
of marriage.
Indeed, Family is a social group based on marriage &
marriage contract, including recognition of the rights of
& duties of parenthood, common residence &
reciprocal economic obligation/ cooperation.
 Functions of Marriage and Family
Family performs certain specific functions including:
1. Biological Function: sexual and reproductive
function –so that a society perpetuate itself.
2. Economic Function: economic co-operation
between men and women and ensure survival of
individuals in a society.
3. Social Function: linking once kin group to another
kin group.
4. Educational Function: the burden of enculturation
and education of new born infants falls primarily
upon the family –agent of socialization.
 Kinship
Kinship system is an extension of family structure into
broader networks of relationships between groups based up
on shared descent.
 It is not a social group, but is a structured system of
relationships (a method of reckoning relationship).
It’s the relationship between persons, either by blood or
marriage:
If the kin is related by blood –it forms Consanguineal kinship
relation, whereas if is related by marriage, it forms Affinal
kinship relation.
All societies recognize these kinship relation, but with different
kin system/descent rule.
 DESCENT
Descent refers to the social recognition of the
biological relationship that exists between the
individuals.
Rules of descent refers to a set of principles by which
an individual traces his descent.
 It define the kinship system of a group and it provides
the foundation for the formation of descent groups.
Descent determine group membership as well as
rights to property & inheritance.
Anthropologists identify three important rules of descent:
Patrilineal Descent – is when descent is traced solely
through the male line.
It affiliates an individual with a Consanguineous kin group
through the male or agnatic line & the rules of descent is
called patrilineal rules of descent.
A man’s children all belong to the same descent group by
birth, but it only the sons who continue the affiliation.
Matrilineal Descent - it reckons descent through the
mother line.
It affiliates an individual with a Consanguineous kin group
through the female or uterine line & the rules of descent is
called matrilineal rules of descent.
Cognatic Descent:
In some society’s individuals are free to show their
genealogical links either through men or women.
Some people of such society are therefore connected
with the kin-group of father and others with the kin
group of mothers.
There is no fixed rule to trace the succession and
inheritance; any combination of lineal link is possible
in such societies.
 Lineal kin –kin who are related to each other directly
through same descent.
In addition, in some societies there is a
Double/Bilateral Rules of Descent – where an
individual descended to a pair of consanguinean
kin groups, affiliated through:
 the agnatic line with his consanguinean kinsmen,
who shared descent from a common male ancestor &
 the uterine line with his consanguinean kinsmen
who shared descent from a common female ancestor.
As result, an individual belongs to two
consanguinean kin groups –patrilineal and
matrilineal.
 Reading Assignment

1. Why and how do cultures change?

2. How do families and marriage differ in different

societies?

3. What do you see as the main difference between

nuclear and extended families?

4. What is the rules of descent used to reckon kinship

in your locality/culture?