Comprehensive Guide to Cultural Patterns and Processes

Culture

The sum total of knowledge, attitudes, and habitual behavior patterns shared and transmitted by the members of a society.

Material Culture

Physical, tangible objects made and used by members of a cultural group, such as clothing and architecture.

Non-Material Culture

Abstract concepts of values, beliefs, and behaviors shared by a cultural group.

Cultural Trait

The smallest unit of culture; a single attribute of a culture.

Cultural Complex

A distinct combination of cultural traits.

Cultural System

A collection of interacting cultural traits and complexes shared by a group.

Cultural Region

An area where a group of people or a certain activity prevails.

Folk Culture

Culture that originates anonymously and is rooted in tradition, often transmitted slowly.

Popular Culture

Culture that is traceable to a specific person or corporation, often spread rapidly via media.

Relocation Diffusion

The spread of an idea through the physical movement of people from one place to another.

Expansion Diffusion

The spread of a feature from one place to another in a snowballing process.

Contagious Diffusion

Rapid, widespread diffusion of a characteristic throughout the population.

Hierarchical Diffusion

Spread from a person or node of authority to other persons or places.

Stimulus Diffusion

The underlying principle of a characteristic spreads, but a specific trait is modified due to cultural barriers.

Cultural Landscape

The visible imprint of human activity on the landscape.

Sequent Occupance

The notion that successive societies leave their cultural imprints on a place.

Traditional Housing

Folk housing styles that have spread from specific hearths in the US.

Modern Architecture

Architecture defined by efficiency and geometric forms, using materials such as steel and glass.

Postmodern Architecture

A reaction against modernism, characterized by unique designs and historical references.

Language Family

A collection of languages related through a common ancestral language.

Indo-European

The largest language family, encompassing around 50% of the world.

Language Branch

A collection of languages within a family related through a common ancestral language.

Language Group

A collection of languages within a branch that share a common origin in the relatively recent past.

Lingua Franca

A language mutually understood and commonly used in trade by people with different native languages.

Pidgin Language

A simplified form of speech used for communication between speakers of different languages, with no native speakers.

Creole Language

A pidgin language that has evolved to become the primary language of a people.

Universalizing Religions

Religions that attempt to appeal to all people, regardless of location or culture.

Christianity

A universalizing religion with its hearth in Judea and multiple diffusion methods.

Islam

A universalizing religion founded by Muhammad with its hearth in Mecca.

Buddhism

A universalizing religion that originated in Northern India and spread slowly through trade.

Ethnic Religions

Religions that primarily appeal to one group of people living in one place and do not seek converts.

Hinduism

An ethnic religion originating from the Indus River Valley, known for karma and the caste system.

Judaism

An ethnic religion focusing on the identity and cultural traditions of the Jewish people.

Ethnicity

Identity with a group of people who share cultural traditions of a particular homeland.

Race

Identity with a group of people perceived to share physical traits, often seen as a social construct.

Multiculturalism

A policy of maintaining a diversity of ethnic cultures within a community.

Syncretism

The blending of traits from two different cultures to form a new trait.

Cultural Imperialism

The dominance of one culture over another, typically the spread of Western culture globally.

Time-Space Compression

The process by which technology makes distant places seem closer and accelerates cultural diffusion.

Acculturation

When a minority group adopts aspects of the dominant culture but retains its distinct heritage.

Assimilation

When a minority group completely adopts the dominant culture and ceases to be distinct.

Ethnic Enclave

A place with a high concentration of an ethnic group distinct from surrounding areas.

Centripetal Forces

Attitudes that unify people and enhance support for a state.

Centrifugal Forces

Attitudes that divide a state.

Ethnic Cleansing

A process in which a more powerful ethnic group forcibly removes a less powerful one.

Genocide

The mass killing of a group of people in an attempt to eliminate the entire group from existence.