cultural lag

(noun)

The term cultural lag refers to the notion that culture takes time to catch up with technological innovations, and that social problems and conflicts are caused by this lag.

Related Terms

Examples of cultural lag in the following topics:

  • Cultural Lag

    • Cultural lag can occur when technological innovation outpaces cultural adaptation.
    • The term cultural lag refers to the notion that culture takes time to catch up with technological innovations, and that social problems and conflicts are caused by this lag.
    • This delay is the cultural lag.
    • Cultural lag creates problems for a society in different ways.
    • As example of cultural lag is human embryonic stem cells.

  • Ogburn's Theory

    • Ogburn, in fact, proposed a slightly different variant of soft determinism, in which society must adjust to the consequences of major inventions, but often does so only after a period of cultural lag.
    • Cultural lag, a term coined by Ogburn, refers to a period of maladjustment, which occurs when the non-material culture is struggling to adapt to new material conditions.
    • Diffusion is the spread of an idea from one cultural group to another, or from one field of activity to another.
    • Adjustment is the process by which the non-technical aspects of a culture respond to invention.
    • Any retardation of this adjustment process causes cultural lag.

  • Material Culture

    • Material culture consists in physical objects that humans make.
    • People's relationship to and perception of objects are socially and culturally dependent.
    • This view of culture, which came to dominate anthropology between World War I and World War II, implied that each culture was bounded and had to be understood as a whole, on its own terms.
    • The result is a belief in cultural relativism, which suggests that there are no 'better' or 'worse' cultures, just different cultures .
    • They constitute an increasingly significant part of our material culture.

  • Cultural Universals

    • A cultural universal is an element, pattern, trait, or institution that is common to all human cultures worldwide.
    • Cultural universals are elements, patterns, traits, or institutions that are common to all human cultures worldwide.
    • There is a tension in cultural anthropology and cultural sociology between the claim that culture is a universal (the fact that all human societies have culture), and that it is also particular (culture takes a tremendous variety of forms around the world).
    • The idea of cultural universals—that specific aspects of culture are common to all human cultures—runs contrary to cultural relativism.
    • Discuss cultural universals in terms of the various elements of culture, such as norms and beliefs

  • Culture and Society

    • Culture is what differentiates one group or society from the next; different societies have different cultures.
    • Different societies have different cultures; however it is important not to confuse the idea of culture with society.
    • Material and nonmaterial aspects of culture are linked, and physical objects often symbolize cultural ideas.
    • For instance, the high culture of elites is now contrasted with popular or pop culture.
    • In this sense, high culture no longer refers to the idea of being "cultured," as all people have culture.

  • High and Low Culture

    • High culture most commonly refers to the set of cultural products, mainly in the arts, held in the highest esteem by a culture.
    • Gellner's concept of a high culture extended beyond the arts; he used it to distinguish between different cultures (rather than within a culture), contrasting high cultures with simpler, agrarian low cultures.
    • However, this definition of popular culture has the problem that much "high culture" (e.g., television dramatizations of Jane Austen) is also "popular. " "Pop culture" is also defined as the culture that is "left over" when we have decided what high culture is.
    • A postmodernist approach to popular culture might argue that there is no longer a clear distinction between high culture and popular culture.
    • Discuss the roles of both high culture and popular culture within society

  • Cultural Sociology: Researching Culture

    • How do sociologists study culture?
    • One approach to studying culture falls under the label 'cultural sociology', which combines the study of culture with cultural understandings of phenomena.
    • Cultural sociologists look for how people make meaning in their lives out of the different cultural elements that surround them.
    • Not surprisingly, cultural conflict is an optimal scenario for the exploration of culture and cultural interaction.
    • First, he found a cultural border that presented cultural conflict.

  • The Future of Culture

    • Examine how the process of globalization is predicted to influence the future of culture.

  • Nonmaterial Culture

    • Non-material culture includes the behaviors, ideas, norms, values, and beliefs that contribute to a society's overall culture.
    • Material and non-material culture are two parts of culture.
    • Culture as a general concept consists of both material and non-material culture.
    • Different cultures honor different values.
    • Together, they provide a way to understand culture.

  • Cultural Evolution

    • Although more inclusive, this approach to culture still allowes for distinctions between civilized and primitive, or tribal, cultures.
    • For instance, the high culture of elites is now contrasted with popular or pop culture.
    • In this sense, high culture no longer refers to the idea of being cultured, as all people are cultured.
    • Most social scientists today reject the cultured vs. uncultured concept of culture.
    • The result is a belief in cultural relativism, which suggests that there are no "better" or "worse" cultures, just different cultures.