Understanding Culture and Society
The Concept of Ethnicity
The concept of ethnicity has replaced the concept of race because there is no scientific basis to validate the use of race. The concept of race has been used ideologically by dominant groups to justify subjugation and extermination of others, leading to attempts to ban its use.
Cultural Relativism
Cultural relativism is a way of looking at cultural diversity that rejects ethnocentrism. It proposes that each culture has its own internal logic, and we must respect the views of its members without attempting to label them. The inability to accept the worldview of another culture as valid, correct, or acceptable is associated with ethnocentrism.
Judging a culture based on its own values and habits, rather than imposing the dominant values of another culture, aligns with the concept of cultural relativism.
Ethnocentrism
In his text on ethnocentrism, Claude Lévi-Strauss describes it as a long-standing attitude of rejecting cultural, moral, religious, social, and aesthetic practices that differ from one’s own. Negative assessments of different cultural patterns have historically been used to justify violence against others.
Policies for Social Repair
When a state implements policy actions to address racial and social inequalities, these are appropriately called affirmative action programs, which are a form of reparative policy.
Culture and History
A people’s history significantly influences their culture, primarily through their relationship with their cultural heritage. Individuals act within a society, often unconsciously influenced by this heritage.
High Culture vs. Popular Culture
The division between high culture and popular culture reflects a power dynamic. A minority has access to scholarly knowledge, while the majority does not. 
Mass Media and Society
Mass media are integral to the modern social landscape, influencing all spheres of social life, including religion, occupation, recreation, education, and politics. They disseminate behaviors and lifestyles.
The “mass” phenomenon is both quantitative and psychological. It’s a demographic phenomenon of urban concentration and a psychological one, as individuals are influenced by the products of mass culture.
Types of Culture
- Popular Culture: Common modes of being and feeling characteristic of a group, forming their heritage.
- Class Culture: Ways of life resulting from unequal economic conditions between groups or sectors within a society.
- Mass Culture: Content circulated through mass media like television, film, and the internet.
- National Culture: The culture associated with a nation, often prioritized over ethnicities in modern times.
Brazilian Culture
Common traits defining Brazilian culture include behaviors like a conciliatory knack and an ability to avoid deep conflicts.
Historically, the elite who held political power for a long time marginalized indigenous and African groups.
Stereotypes and Stigma
Conservative sectors of society tend to stigmatize certain identity traits, which can then be used to justify discrimination. Prejudice, an amplified form of ethnocentrism, prevents individuals from having a broader social experience that includes others.
Anthropological Research
Field research, particularly participant observation, is crucial for anthropological understanding. This type of research requires researchers to shift their values to understand others from their own perspectives. Observers must establish empathetic relationships with their subjects, prioritizing the other’s perspective without exploiting them.
Urban Tribes
Urban tribes are identified through traits like dress, slang, and beliefs, which allow others to recognize them. They often represent an attempt by young people to escape the mass culture imposed by big cities and capitalism.
Malinowski and Anthropology
Bronisław Malinowski’s work, particularly his early fieldwork, helped establish anthropology as the study of alterity (the relationship with the other). He focused on the specific logic and characteristics of each culture.
Traditional vs. Modern Societies
In traditional societies, a single group’s cultural traditions are the sole reference for constructing cultural identity. In modern societies, cultural identity is shaped by multiple influences, including media and traditions.
The term “urban tribe” describes a trend of young people forming distinct groups within larger urban settings.