Culture includes both behavior and material outcomes of that behavior. It both constrains and is constrained by nature, biology, social conditions, and other realities of human existence. But at the same time, it is inside our heads or part of our thoughts and feelings. It is expressed through our emotions and thought processes, our motivation, intention, and meaning as we live out our lives. It is through the culture that we construct, or give and take, meanings associated with the social and material world. Art, shelter, transportation, music, food, or clothing are material examples(Fevrer, 2005). The meaning we give these products influences how we use them. In interaction with the social world around us, we construct a religion, race, and connections between ideas, communities, people, nations, and social transformations within the constraints of the natural world. Therefore, culture includes multiple levels of traditions, values, and beliefs, as well as social, biological, and natural acts. These processes are driven by the meaning we give to and take from them. These meanings are fortified or changed in relations between people, as history unfolds. Thus, culture is not limited to the elites, but it affects all of us (Lee, 2002).
Each culture has got a unique behavior, for instance in northern tribes in Canada, people wrap themselves in furs and eat whale blubber different from the farmers in Southeast Asia, who clothe up for the weather and depend mainly on the rice they grow in their paddies. Therefore, cultures are set to deal with specific circumstances, like climate, level of technology, population, and geography. Despite the presence of cultural universals like courtship and religion, great diversity exists among the worlds many cultures. In addition, even within a single nation, certain segments of the populace develop cultural patterns that differ from the patterns of the dominant society. Subculture is a part of society that shares a certain pattern of beliefs and values that are unique from the ways of the larger community. Subculture can be viewed as a culture existing within a larger, dominant culture. The existence of many subcultures is characteristics of complex societies such as the United States.
In India, we found out that there were new subcultures that were developed among the employees at the international call centers established by multinational corporations. It was observed that, for one to serve customers from the United States and Europe, he or she had to be fluent in English. The corporations that employed them demanded more than proficiency in a foreign language. Indian employees were expected to adopt western values and work habits including grueling pace, which was never given much consideration by the United States. They were compensated by western-style dinners, dances, and coveted consumer goods. The Indians were only allowed to be off during the United State holidays such as Labor Day and thanksgiving day, but not on Indian holidays like the Diwali, and the Hindu festival of lights. Indian employees could only see their families during their offs and not during those festive seasons when their family members were home celebrating. Furthermore, no one was free to socialize with them. Therefore, as a result of this treatment to Indian call center employees; they established a tight-knit subculture based on hard work and a taste for Western luxury goods and leisure-time pursuit. These Indian employees were criticized by their fellow Indians who live a more conventional lifestyle and value their culture and traditions. Americans served by these Indian call center employees were rude and merciless to them (Fevrer, 2005).
Through analyzing the situation, we note that variations exist within cultures. Subculture occurs as a result of variations of particular social environments and evidence that differences can exist within a common culture. Variations just reflect the inequality of social arrangements within a society. For instance, the Indian employees of the call center corporation had to set their own culture from the rest of the Indian society because of the social arrangement which was not favorable for them to mingle freely with the rest of the people due to their tight schedule at work.
This problem could have been solved and prevented by the government and the corporations that employ workers by setting up a program that is beneficial to everyone. For instance, workers should be allowed enough time to attend their traditional cultures during important holidays like Diwali. This will enable them to meet and see their family members more frequently than it is. There should be the provision of classes to teach workers English languages to enhance their communication process. And finally, emphasize the need for free socialization through the elimination of discrimination based on language, race, and culture from the Americans.
In conclusion, each person views his or her culture as the most perfect. It is thus very tempting to evaluate one’s culture based on our understanding. For instance, the ethnocentric individual views his or her group as the center of culture and takes other cultures as deviations from what is normal. For example, the westerners who think cattle are to be used for food might look down upon Indias Hindu religion and culture, which view the cows as sacred. Therefore, Western companies often impose western culture on the country in which business is launched just as discussed above with the call center corporations in India, which is the same case with Wal-Mart.
Reference List
Fevrer, R. (2005).The demoralization of Western culture: social theory and the dilemmas of Modern living.USA: Continuum International Publishing Group.
Lee, C. (2002).Ballet in western culture: a history of its origins and evolution. New York: Routledge.