Subcultures and Countercultures

1. Subcultures and Countercultures

2. Subcultures • People who specialize in some occupation tend to develop a subculture- a world within the larger world of the dominant culture • Include any corner of life in which people's experiences lead them to have distinctive ways of looking at life or some aspect of it • Teenagers, body builders, politicians, etc. • Some US ethnic groups also form subcultures

3. Counterculture • The values and norms of most subcultures blend in with mainstream society • In some cases the group’s values and norms place it at odds with the dominant culture • COUNTERCULTURE • EX: motorcycle enthusiasts v. motorcycle gangs • Enthusiasts- emphasize personal freedom and speed AND affirm cultural values of success through work or education-Subculture • Gangs (Hells Angels for example) • stress freedom and speed but also value dirtiness, and contempt toward women, work and education- Counterculture

4. Counterculture continued • An assault on core values is always met with resistance. • To affirm their own values, members of the mainstream culture may ridicule, isolate or attack members of the counter culture • Mormons for example were driven out of several states before they finally settled in Utah

5. Theoretical Perspectives on Culture

6. Symbolic Interactionism • Explore how language, gestures, or values affect a culture • Asks “how are values defined in the US? Are the US values weakening? Is the US experiencing a moral decline?

7. Traditional v. Secular Values • Traditional values include the importance of • religion and God • absolute standards of good and evil • Importance of the family • Deference to authority • Male dominance in economic and political life • Intolerance of certain moral issues • Secular values emphasize reason and logic

8. Three Hypotheses • Wayne Baker America’s Crisis of Values investigates whether a crisis of values exists • Supported by 3 hypotheses • The trend hypothesis- traditional values are losing groups to secular ones • Comparative hypothesis- suggests that the values in the US are inferior to other democracies • Our traditional values result in higher rates of murder and poverty • Distribution hypothesis- aka “the culture war thesis” • 2 morally opposed groups fight for control in the US

9. Functionalism- Communitarianism • Considers how culture works to hold society together • Culture binds society through shared values and norms • Communitarianism- a functionalist approach to the understanding of culture in the US • Theory suggests that for society to function properly it must have a balanced relationship between community, market and government • Members must see themselves as individuals and as parts of the community • NOTE: NOT COMMUNIST!

10. Conflict Theory • Suggest that society is unified in a struggle for scarce resources • Unequal distribution of wealth means that some people win and others lose • How do we win?? • Example: McDonald’s is successful bc it prizes efficiency, practicality, and affordability • Sociologist George Ritzer suggests that the US models itself after McDonald’s through a process called “McDonaldization”

11. McDonaldization • Ritzer notes that in a capitalistic society, those who follow the McDonaldization process are likely to be financially successful • Efficiency • Calculability • Predictability • Technology • Warns that the use of technology dehumanizes our culture • Machines over human contact