Culture

1.   This chapter includes the culture definitions of various authors (Tylor, Geerts, Kottak). How are these definitions similar? How are they different? How has reading this chapter altered your own understanding of what culture is?

Anthropologis Clifford Geertz defines culture as ideas based on cultural learning a symbol. Clifford Geertz said that culture is a system about concepts that inherited in symbolic form, which is the human way to communicate, preserve, and develop their knowledge and attitude towards life.

Conrad Phillip Kottak (2006) underlines that basically anthropological study about "human adaptability", ie, how humans adapt to their environment over time. Therefore for Kottak, Anthropology will attempt to explore human diversity in what he calls "time and space".

Edward Tylor proposed that cultures—systems of human behavior and thought—obey natural laws and therefore can be studied scientifically. Tylor’s definition of culture still offers an overview of the subject matter of anthropology and is widely quoted: "Culture or civilization, in the broad sense of the word ethnographic, is the whole idea that embrace knowledge, belief, art, morals, custom, and any other features permissibility and learned behavior by humans as members of society '(Tylor 1968 [1871]). So today the first definition one made ​​by Tylor to the 'culture' still longer considered useful by anthropological crowded.

Similarities: all discusses about humans and how to adapt and develop to the environment.

What I got for understanding: Culture is a way of life that developed and owned jointly by a group of people and passed from generation to generation. Culture is made up of many complex elements, including religious and political systems, customs, languages​​, tools, clothing, buildings, and works of art. Culture was studied. Culture is a holistic lifestyle. culture is complex, abstract, and broad. Many aspects of culture helped define communicative behavior. The element of socio-cultural spreads human social activities.

2.   Our culture—and cultural changes—affect how we perceive nature, human nature, and “the natural.” This has been a theme that has and continues to fascinate science fiction writers. Recall the latest science fiction book, movie, or TV program that creatively explores the boundaries between nature and culture. How does the story develop the tension between nature and culture to craft a plot?

Laskar Pelangi is a novel set in the Belitung society around the 70's tells about kids who still have dreams, hope, and love. Their school, SD Muhammadiyah schools are failing if the number of pupils of the new school year does not reach ten. The presence of ten children joyfully welcomed by everyone. This is the beginning of achieving their dreams.

Laskar Pelangi is a portrait of Belitung which is like two sides of a coin. Some of them can enjoy the lead-managed by PN (State Enterprises) Timah. Some have to work hard in order to survive. In circumstances like this, in the midst of natural wealth and poverty Billiton, Laskar Pelangi kids reaching for their dreams. 

Laskar Pelangi movie is a work of art that has cultural values ​​and education. In the circumstances, presented in the film the original culture Belitung people and how they interact with each other. It makes an art of its own to develop the story ‘how the tension between nature and culture to craft a plot’. Throughout the plot in the face of various problems in the children's adventure school 'Laskar Pelangi', culture and nature of the Belitung is the main setting stage or film, in which the state of the Belitung is a religious society and uphold high religious harmony, and as well as their jobs are being lead workers and other hard work of the others mentioned above.

      3.   In American culture today, the term “diversity” is used in many contexts, usually referring to some positive attribute of our human experience, something to appreciate, to maintain, and even to increase. In what contexts have you heard the term used? To what precisely does the term refer?

The chapter’s  “Appreciating Diversity” discusses how notions of human, cultural, and animal rights may come into conflict. The notion of cultural rights recalls the previous discussion of cultural relativism, and the issue raised there arises again. However, in my opinion, term “diversity” can be differences in race, heritage, customs, belief systems, physical appearance, mental capabilities, etc. Diversity should be respected and valued because nobody is completely the same as anyone else, even within the catagories above. People tend to reject what is different. Our differences/diversities can lead to growth as a society or it can lead to violence and hatred. We must value our diversity in order to work together for the common good of our society/world. Like our motto “Bhinneka Tunggal Ika” (Unity in Diversity). The terms refer to society with their differences.

                 But diversity is not a barrier or gap between one person and another. Diversity becomes very beautiful when it's diversity and come together in harmony, mutual respect and respect, such as music lyrics with his verse. "Diversity like a music, when harmony; diversity is beautiful." So we need to manage this "diversity" together.

4.    What are some issues about which you find it hard to be culturally relativistic? If you were an anthropologist with the task of investigating these issues in real life, can you think of a series of steps that you would take to design a project that would, to the best of your ability, practice methodological cultural relativism? (You may want to review the use of the scientific method in an anthropological project presented in Chapter 1.)

Cultural relativism is the view that all beliefs, customs, and ethics are relative to the individual within his own social context. In other words, “right” and “wrong” are culture-specific; what is considered moral in one society may be considered immoral in another, and, since no universal standard of morality exists, no one has the right to judge another society’s customs. (source: www.gotquestions.org, Acces on 15th of September 2012) .

Example: In Papua, if we are naked or just wearing ‘koteka’ then it will be considered reasonable, but in other parts of Indonesia when dressed like that it would be considered impolite. In fact, such cases can’t be judged wrong when seen from the perspective of the Papuans themselves. We can’t say they are wrong because that’s their custom, and we could not justify our opinion because we have a different perspective.

Using the comparative method, we can gather, learn, compare, and ultimately concluded cultures that we have collected from different regions and use it as a reference that culture embraced by a society can’t be easily blamed.

There is a link between the cultural ethnocentrism relativity although positive-negative in terms of different meanings. The cultural relativism emerged as a reaction to the growing presence of European ethnocentrism, which is always a good measure-bad and right and wrong of a culture based on culture, while cultural relativity principle that individual's beliefs and activities should be understood by the culture in their respective areas and take to anyone to appreciate a different culture or have differences with the culture, resulting in an assessment of cultural relativity. (source: Wisnu Jati, Kurniawan. Upaya Menangkal Etnosentrisme Dalam Memahami Perbedaan. 2011). 

This means that there is no a community of people who are entitled to claim their culture is superior compared with other cultures.

 5.   What are the mechanisms of cultural change described in this chapter? Can you come up with additional examples of each mechanism? Also, recall the relationship between culture and individuals. Can individuals be agents of cultural change?

One way is diffusion, or borrowing of traits between cultures. Such exchange of information and products has gone on throughout human history because cultures have never been truly isolated. Contact between neighboring groups has always existed and has extended over vast areas (Boas 1940/1966). Diffusion is direct when two cultures trade, intermarry, or wage war on one another. Diffusion is forced when one culture subjugates another and imposes its customs on the dominated group. Diffusion is indirect when items move from group A to group C via group B without any first hand contact between A and C. In this case, group B might consist of traders or merchants who take products from a variety of places to new markets. Or group B might be geographically situated between A and C, so that what it gets from A eventually winds up in C, and vice versa. In today’s world, much transnational diffusion is due to the spread of the mass media and advanced information technology. (source: Kottak, Conrad Phillip. Cultural Anthropology: Appreciating Cultural Diversity, 14^th Edition. Page: 42. 2011). Example: diffusion that occurs in people of Indonesia are various words that which is in Bahasa Indonesia. Without we realize, Indonesian itself are samples of the diffusion process that occurs in society. Many words in Indonesian is the result of absorption of the foreign language dan regional languages​​, such as Javanese, Sundanese, and others.

Acculturation, a second mechanism of cultural change, is the exchange of cultural features that results when groups have continuous first hand contact. The cultures of either group or both groups may be changed by this contact (Redfield, Linton, and Herskovits 1936). With acculturation, parts of the cultures change, but each group remains distinct. In situations of continuous contact, cultures may exchange and blend foods, recipes, music, dances, clothing, tools, technologies, and languages. (source: Kottak, Conrad Phillip. Cultural Anthropology: Appreciating Cultural Diversity, 14^th Edition. Page: 43. 2011). One example of acculturation is a Lion Dance Arts, which was originally derived from Chinese culture, has now been acculturated with local arts

Independent invention—the process by which humans innovate, creatively finding solutions to problems—is a third mechanism of cultural change. Faced with comparable problems and challenges, people in different societies have innovated and changed in similar ways, which is one reason cultural generalities exist. (source: Kottak, Conrad Phillip. Cultural Anthropology: Appreciating Cultural Diversity, 14^th Edition. Page: 43. 2011). One example is the independent invention of entrepreneurship of Tela Tela Fried Cassava in Indonesia. Indonesia is one of the great leading cassava producer in ASEAN. This opportunity was exploited by a businessman named Febri Triyanto, S.Si to create an innovative business products from cassava in the form of Tela Tela Fried Cassava, a product that uses fried cassava with flavor powder . Then, of course, people who love to eat cassava Indonesia will flock to buy it. Finally, its branches spread all over Indonesia and became a 'culture' of the entrepreneur to open a branch business Tela Tela Fried Cassava as profits quickly and surely.

The system shapes the way individuals experience and respond to external events,

but individuals also play an active role in the way society functions and changes. Practice theory recognizes both constraints on individuals and the flexibility and changeability of cultures and social systems. Of course, an individual can change the existing culture systems theories and concepts he puts forward. But of course the sustainability of the theories and concepts he puts forward should be able to believe and approved by the community where he belong so it will be carried out together. If not, then the agents of cultural change failed. Individuals can become agents of cultural change when the sustainability performance can be supported by the community in which he resides.