Cultural worldviews Notes

How Do Cultural Worldviews Shape How People Understand Reality?

1. A worldview is a broad framework for making sense of life.
2. A cultural worldview is a worldview shaped by the shared culture of one or more groups a person belongs to.
3. It influences how people answer questions such as:
   1. What is "right" and "wrong"?
   2. What does a "good life" look like?
   3. Who counts as "us" and "them"?
   4. How should power and resources be shared?
   5. What traditions should be protected, and what should change?
4. Cultural worldviews matter in Individuals and Societies because they influence both individual behaviour and the behaviour of institutions (such as schools, legal systems, governments, and media).
5. They also help explain why different communities may respond differently to the same event, policy, or global trend.

How Does Culture Provide Shared Meanings That Hold Social Groups Together?

1. Culture is not only about visible things like food, clothing, or festivals. It also includes invisible elements such as beliefs, moral expectations, and ideas about what counts as success.
2. One influential definition describes culture as a "complex whole" that includes knowledge, belief, art, law, morals, custom, and other acquired habits of people living in society.
3. This is important because it shows that culture shapes both what people do and what they believe people should do.
4. Social groups rely on shared expectations so that individuals can cooperate.
   1. When people broadly agree on what is normal or acceptable, everyday life becomes more predictable and stable.
   2. That stability supports the survival and prosperity of the group.

What Is The Link Between Values, Norms, And Ethics To Culture And Behaviour?

1. Cultural worldviews strongly influence values (what a person or group considers important) and norms (unwritten rules about acceptable behaviour). When a society formalizes norms into enforceable rules, they become laws.
2. Many societies have been shaped by religion, and in some countries religion remains directly linked to governance through state religions or religious legal systems.
   1. Other countries have secular legal systems that are not controlled by a religion, even if some values historically developed from religious traditions.
3. Either way, legal systems function as social tools: they clarify what behaviour will and will not be tolerated and help set the norms of the group.

How Does Socialization Explain Where Cultural Worldviews Come From?

1. Family and upbringing: early ideas about respect, gender roles, success, and conflict.
2. Religion and belief systems: moral principles, rituals, community identity.
3. Schools and education: official knowledge, citizenship values, national narratives.
4. Peer groups: belonging, status, and "acceptable" behaviour.
5. Media and social media: role models, stereotypes, trends, and political messaging.
6. Laws and institutions: what is rewarded or punished, and who has authority.

How Do Worldviews Change Through Cultural Diffusion And Global Contact?

1. In a globalized world, culture is increasingly fluid.
2. People adopt foods, sports, music, language, fashion, and celebrations from other places.
3. The spread of cultural ideas from their place of origin to other regions, groups, or nations is called cultural diffusion.

Diffusion can lead to homogenization or diversification?

1. Cultural diffusion can be understood in two contrasting ways:
   1. Cultural homogenization: cultures become more similar, sometimes driven by global brands, shared media, and worldwide consumer trends.
   2. Cultural diversification: people have access to more choices, mixing cultural elements in new ways and creating hybrid identities.
2. Another related idea is glocalization, where global products or companies appear worldwide but are adapted to fit local tastes and styles.

How Do Cultural Worldviews Influence Identity, Belonging, And Diasporas?

1. Cultural worldviews are closely tied to identity, including a person's sense of belonging to communities (ethnic, national, religious, linguistic, or local).
2. In today's world, many people experience identity as flexible and multi-layered, rather than singular.
3. Migration patterns also shape cultural worldviews.
   1. A diaspora is the spread of people from an original homeland to other countries and regions, often leading to communities that maintain some cultural traditions while also adapting to new environments.
4. Diasporas can create cultural bridges (sharing language, food, art, and business networks) but can also raise questions about integration, discrimination, and cultural preservation.

Case study

Whitechapel, London

• Whitechapel is a neighbourhood shaped by large diaspora communities, particularly Bangladeshi British residents.
• It has developed cultural institutions such as mosques, language schools, community centres, and businesses selling familiar foods.
• These institutions support cultural continuity, helping communities maintain language, religion, and traditions.
• At the same time, they interact with wider British society, contributing to London’s multicultural economy and cultural life.
• This shows how diaspora neighbourhoods can preserve identity while also being integrated into the national culture.

How Does Social Media Accelerate The Spread And Contestation Of Worldviews?

1. Faster diffusion of trends, language, and political ideas.
2. Increased exposure to different cultures, sometimes increasing empathy and curiosity.
3. Greater risk of echo chambers, where people mainly encounter ideas that match their existing worldview.
4. More visible culture conflicts, as different value systems meet in shared online spaces.

How Does Cultural Diffusion Create Benefits And Risks For Cultural Sustainability?

1. Cultural diffusion can enrich people's experiences and broaden horizons. It can increase creativity, innovation, and understanding across groups.
2. However, it can also threaten aspects of culture that are harder to "market," especially minority languages and local traditions.
3. A common concern is that global dominance of one language in technology, entertainment, and online communication can pressure smaller languages and reduce their everyday use, particularly among young people.
4. This connects to the broader question of whether minority groups should protect their culture and identity in the face of globalization.
   1. There is no single correct answer, but strong analysis considers multiple perspectives.