Economic Dimension
A dimension of culture where the focus is on the distribution of wealth. Unlike the day to day concept of the economy, being market driven and based on money, wealth may be distributed in many ways (with or without money) as part of the economic dimension. See "wealth."
Emigration
Moving out of a community or society.
Empire
Political domination of one nation over any number of others. The product of imperialism.
Empirical
Based on observations through any of the five senses.
Empowerment
Strengthening. When applied to an organisation or community, it also means capacity development. The "power" in empowerment is not only political power, but the ability to do anything that the community or organisation wants.
Enculturation
Primary socialisation. The process of making an animal, the human baby, into a human being. Humanization. Differs from "acculturation" or resocialisation. Some American sociologists reverse the "em" and "ac."
Endogamy
Marriage rules that allow one to marry only inside a specified group of which the individual is a member. Castes are usually endogamous. From "gamy" meaning marriage, and "endo" meaning within. Contrast with exogamy.
Enforcement
Social mechanisms intended to force individuals to conform to activities within allowed ranges or boundaries. Usually negative sanctions against those who do not conform. These can include the work of police officers, courts and prisons.
Environment
The physical environment or the ecology within which the people of a community or society are situated.
The political and administrative environment includes the laws, regulations and official practices in which an organisation or community may operate.
The political and administrative environment includes the laws, regulations and official practices in which an organisation or community may operate.
Epistemology
The study of how we know. Although philosophical, it is an important consideration of research in all sciences. Knowing
Equality
A very rare condition in nature. An ideal in political ideology; likely impossible. Equalitarian
Essentialising
Generalizing community characteristics on the basis of a limited number of objectives.
Esteem (Public)
High respect (prestige) for a person or group.
Esteem (Self)
The degree to which an individual respects his or her self.
Ethnicity
Belonging to an identifiable community whit specific cultural characteristics.
Ethnocentrism
Putting the value system of your own ethnic group at the centre of how you view the world. It means judging other groups by your standards, even when the other groups may have different standards. This approach is popular with those who believe there are universal standards and that they have them. Contrast with cultural relativity.
Ethnography
Exogamy
A rule of marriage that says a person must marry outside a defined group in which that person is a member. Very often lineages are exogamous, as an ideological extension of the incest taboo, but they allow and often prefer cross cousin marriages because cross cousins are outside each others’ lineages. Contrast with endogamy.
Experiments
A scientific research method in which the scientist or observer inserts some item and sees what effects result.
Factor
A variable which has the effect of maintaining a situation. Not quite the same thing as a cause (independent variable), in that the result is already existing.
Factors of Production
In classical economics, factors of production include land, labour and capital.
Faith
One for the four elementary ways (in epistemology) that we know something. It is based upon our beliefs.
Family
A social organisation based on a group of people, related by affinity and/or descent, and/or adoption.
Feminine
Characteristics of the female gender.
Feminism
An ideology seeking increased power, prestige, respect and wealth for females. It is based on the observation that they are generally distributed unevenly.
Feminist Sociology
A branch of sociology concerned with the inequalities and inequities faced by females. Feminist theory
First Nations
Descendants of the people occupying North America when the Europeans arrived. Elsewhere sometimes called "natives," "autochthons," "Aboriginals," or "Indians.
Formal Organisation
An organisation which has a recognised structure. Often contrasted with the family.
Freedom Fighter
Terrorist.
Functional
A condition of supporting the sustaining of an institution. Functional analysis
Gay
Gemeinschaft
Characteristics of communities: small, informal, face to face knowing of persons as whole persons. From the German word meaning community.
Gender
A concept borrowed from grammar. Social characteristics of being masculine or feminine, in contrast to sex which is biological and distinguishes between male and female.
Genes
Biological carriers of information which determine the physical characteristics of living things. DNA.
Gesellschaft
From the German word for society. Characteristics of society contrasted with those of community. Implies formality, regularized rules, cold and impersonal social organisation.
Gift
A transfer of wealth by means other than exchange. When something is given to another person with no expectation of return.
Glass Ceiling
An invisible social barrier that prevents women from getting job promotions to higher levels of responsibility and pay.
Global
World wide. Beyond national borders.
Gossip
Informal discussion, usually relating unacceptable behaviour.
Habitat
Place of residence. For humans, these include hamlets, villages, towns and cities.
Hegemony (Cultural)
Informal cultural influence from one community or society to another. Cultural hegemony is a concept borrowed from the political concept of hegemony.
Hegemony (Political)
Informal power and influence from one community or society to another.
Heterogeneous
Mixed. Not uniform. A community may be heterogeneous when it has in it many languages, separate social classes, different ethnic groups, various religious groups, variations in income and wealth, and a high division of labour.
Hierarchy
An arrangement of power in a group or organisation, shaped usually like a pyramid with a small number at the top wielding much power and a wide base of persons at the bottom with little of no power.
Home
Something more than a residence. A word not often with equivalents in other languages. It implies many elements of gemeinschaft and sentimentality.
Homogeneous
Blended. Consistent in composition. A community is homogeneous where there is very little variation in social classes, wealth, languages, religions or ethnicity, and a minimal division of labour.
Homophobia
A fear of homosexuals or of homosexuality. The fear is suggested to be a result of the observation that we all have at least little bit of latent homosexuality, and we fear that in ourselves.
Homosexual
A person who is attracted sexually to persons of the same sex.
House
A building housing a residence.
Household
A group of people sharing the same residence, and who cook and eat together as a unit.
Humanity
The characteristic that makes us, as a biological species, human. It is acquired as we acquire culture.
Idea
A concept that begins as part of our thoughts, but can also be then written and communicated. One of the two essential elements, along with our actions, that comprise culture and society, in contrast to the individuals that carry it.
Identity
A symbol of something that makes it possible for us to recognise it.
Many human beings believe that they are separate individual entities and that they have free will. Those who do are socialised to believe this.
Many human beings believe that they are separate individual entities and that they have free will. Those who do are socialised to believe this.
Ideology
One of the six dimensions of culture is composed of our values. Ideology is a set of values applied to what we think would be best for how we govern our society or community. Ideological Dimension
Ignorance
Not knowing. One of the five factors of poverty as a social problem. Do not confuse ignorance with stupidity or foolishness. Ignorance
Immigration
Migrating in to a community or society.
Imperialism
A set of social structures, beliefs and practices that support an empire. Colonialism. Where one country exercises formal (political and economic) control over another.
Incest
Sexual intercourse between mother and son, between father and daughter and between brother and sister. Do not confuse this with child sexual molestation.
Incest Taboo
The widespread (perhaps universal) fear and loathing people have for the act of incest.
Income
Wealth coming in to an individual or to a family.
Income Generation
From the word "generation" (related to genesis, creation) where wealth is created, not merely transferred from one group or person to another. Wealth must have value by being useful and scarce. Not necessarily money.
Industrial Revolution
The world wide technological transformation from a dependence upon agriculture as the main source of wealth, to the dependence upon capital (tools, factories) in industry to produce wealth. The revolution is still not complete in many countries, and yet some other societies have gone beyond industrialisation to a post industrial industry of information technology.
Industrialisation
A relentless progression in societies, with an increase of factories, monetary capital and factory production.
Industry
Industry strictly means work. It is now applied to each sector of production in a society. The owners and managers have captured the word and use it to mean themselves, excluding labour in their usage.
Influence
Indirect power.
Information
The content of a communication process. Composed of symbols to which humans attach meaning. One of the sixteen elements of organisational capacity and community strength.
Inorganic
Material lacking life. Chemicals outside carbon, hydrogen and oxygen combinations. A level of organisation below organic and superorganic.
Institution (Social)
A social institution is an identifiable pattern of social interaction.
Institution (Total)
A total institution is a formal organisation in which prisoners or patients are kept. Includes mental institutions and prisons.
Institutional Dimension
One of the six dimensions of culture. In includes social interaction and patterns of communication.
Interaction
Human behaviour in which individuals consider the meaning of their actions, the assumptions and expectations of other persons’ interpretations of the action, and in response to other persons’ behaviour. The way we behave in the presence of others. More than action. Interaction
Interactional Dimension
The institutional dimension of culture.
Intermarriage
Marriage between persons of different groups.
Intervention
An action taken by a person or agency intended to correct a dysfunction or to change a person or group.
Intolerance
An attitude of not accepting some persons or categories of persons as they are.
Intrinsic
Within itself. A characteristic of an object that is in the object itself rather than in the mind of the observer. Currency, for example, has no intrinsic value but has value because of the faith we have in what it symbolizes.
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