1. Field Note
1.1. Parsi: A religion practiced mainly in western India
1.2. The Parsi people make up a very small amount of India's population, yet they play major roles in the Indian economy as well as the global economy.
1.3. The Parsi population is declining, this could be due to the fact that:
1.3.1. They don't accept children born from only one Parsi parent
1.3.2. The Parsi are very educated, so many of them live in urban settings where children become a burden
1.3.3. Many of the Parsi followers have migrated to the U.S. and Europe in the past years
2. What are Local and Popular Cultures?
2.1. A Culture: a group of belief systems, norms, and values practiced by people.
2.2. A people can be recognized as a culture in one of two ways:
2.2.1. They call themselves a culture
2.2.2. Other people call them a culture
2.3. Usually, academics label cultural groups as folk cultures, or as a part of popular culture
2.3.1. Folk Culture:
2.3.1.1. Small
2.3.1.2. Usually rural
2.3.1.3. Incorporates a homogeneous population
2.3.1.4. Adheres to cultural traits
2.3.2. Popular Culture:
2.3.2.1. Large
2.3.2.2. Usually urban
2.3.2.3. Incorporates a heterogeneous population
2.3.2.3.1. Multiple identities
2.3.2.3.2. Across the world
2.3.2.4. Has quickly changing cultural traits
2.3.2.4.1. Matter of days
2.3.2.4.2. Matter of hours
2.3.2.4.3. Has material and nonmaterial culture traits
2.3.2.5. Main diffusion paths:
2.3.2.5.1. Transportation
2.3.2.5.2. Marketing
2.3.2.5.3. Hierarchal diffusion is very big
2.3.2.5.4. Communication networks
2.3.3. Local culture (sometimes used instead of folk culture):
2.3.3.1. A group of people in a particular place:
2.3.3.1.1. That see themselves as a collective or a community
2.3.3.1.2. Who share experiences, customs, and traits
2.3.3.1.3. Who work to preserve those traits and customs in order to claim uniqueness and to distinguish themselves from others
2.3.3.2. There are many ways that people chose to reject, accept, or alter cultural practices
2.3.3.3. Local cultures are constantly redefining or refining themselves based on:
2.3.3.3.1. Interactions with other cultures
2.3.3.3.2. Diffusion of cultural practices
2.3.3.4. Local cultures affect places by:
2.3.3.4.1. Establishing neighboorhoods
2.3.3.4.2. Building churches or community centers to celebrate special days
2.3.3.4.3. Expressing their material and nonmaterial cultures in certain places
2.3.4. Local and Popular cultures don't work on opposite ends of the continuum, they both operate on the same plane in what they do
2.4. Some academics think of folk and popular cultures as continuums, seeing most cultures as in between the two
2.5. It's not as important what the academics label a culture, it's what the people call themselves that counts
3. How are Local Cultures Sustained?
3.1. INTRO
3.1.1. Local cultures generally try to keep popular cultures out
3.1.2. Local cultures are sustained through customs
3.1.2.1. Customs are practices that groups of people routinely follow
3.1.2.2. Customs may vary slightly over time but stay pretty much the same
3.1.2.3. vs. in popular culture they completely change
3.1.3. Many coloanal powers in the 1800's wanted to assimilate their indigenous people to what their cultures were, often taking great means to do so.
3.1.3.1. Now many of the countries are formally apologizing for the things the government did to these people
3.1.4. Researcher Harrison found that while popular cultures are constantly changing, local cultures focus on NOT changing
3.1.5. A local culture also might work against culture appropriation which is:
3.1.5.1. The process where other cultures copy a culture and use for their benefit
3.1.5.2. i.e. not telling certain musical or baking secrets
3.2. Rural Local Cultures
3.2.1. Rural local cultures usually have it easier because they are so isolated
3.2.2. Local cultures sometimes become rural because of persecution
3.2.3. One major example is the Anabaptist groups
3.2.3.1. They started migrating to get more rural, therefore away from persecution
3.2.3.2. Started in Catholic and Protestant Churches
3.2.3.2.1. They were the main persecuters
3.2.3.3. Have gotten all the way to Canada and the U.S., having been first mainly in Europe
3.2.4. Rurality makes it possible for cultures to have borders and define their space
3.2.5. Makah Native Americans
3.2.5.1. From Washington
3.2.5.2. Went whaling until the whales became endangered and the U.S. stopped them
3.2.5.3. When the whales went off the endangered list (1990's) they started waling again
3.2.5.4. They wanted to connect with their past
3.2.5.5. Many people didn't support their view
3.2.5.6. They successfully hunted, under many influences including what weapons to use (a.50 caliber rifle)
3.2.5.7. After they went on the hunt and killed it, it was put on hold because of things in court
3.2.5.8. Then the government said "make a waiver to the Marine Mammal Protection Act" so they did
3.2.5.9. and it was still under review in 2011
3.2.6. Little Sweden, U.S.A.
3.2.6.1. Everyone started sharing stories of the Swedes who migrated to their town
3.2.6.2. People, Swedish and not Swedish, began celebrating their Swedish Heritage
3.2.6.2.1. Festivals
3.2.6.2.2. Holidays
3.2.6.2.3. Dress (on special occasions)
3.2.6.2.4. Tourism
3.2.6.3. They use NEOCALISM
3.2.6.3.1. Seeking the regional culture and strengthening it in response to the uncertain modern world
3.2.6.4. People in Lindsborg, Kansas declared their town Little Sweden
3.3. Urban Local Cultures
3.3.1. Some cultures stay alive in tight ETHNIC NEIGHBOORHOODS
3.3.1.1. Neighborhoods comprised of entirely one culture in a bigger city
3.3.1.1.1. Cities like Brooklyn and Boston have many different ethnic neighborhoods
3.3.2. The major challenge here is infiltration by other cultures
3.4. Local Cultures and Cultural Appropriation
3.4.1. COMMODIFICATION
3.4.1.1. The process where something that wasn't an object to be bought or sold becomes just that
3.4.2. Commodification affects local cultures multiple ways:
3.4.2.1. Their material culture
3.4.2.2. Their nonmaterial culture
3.4.3. When commodification happens, people ask the question of authenticity
3.4.3.1. To gain an "authentic" experience in a place, you need to not experience the stereotype of the place
3.4.3.1.1. The one story problem
3.4.4. Authenticity of places
3.4.4.1. A local culture doesn't need to be mystical in order to be authentic
3.4.4.2. Guinness and the Irish Pub Company
3.4.4.2.1. Guinness saw sales going down in beer, so they went global, exaggerating a steriotype
3.4.4.2.2. Guinness partnered with the Irish Pub Company
3.4.4.2.3. Now Guinness beer is in all the different Irish pubs in the Irish Pub Company
4. How is Popular Culture Diffused?
4.1. Intro
4.1.1. Social Media is a huge contributor to popular culture diffusion
4.1.2. Some counties, like China, prohibit the use of things like Facebook
4.2. Hearths of Popular Culture
4.2.1. Popular culture diffuses hierarchically in the context of time-space compression
4.2.2. Establishing a hearth
4.2.2.1. Typically, a hearth begins with contagious diffusion
4.2.3. Manufacturing a Hearth
4.2.3.1. Television is a major way ideas and products get passed around
4.2.3.2. Diffusion of Innovation Model
4.2.3.2.1. Inovator
4.2.3.2.2. The "trend-setter"
4.2.3.2.3. Early Adopter
4.2.3.2.4. Early Majority
4.2.3.2.5. Late majority
4.2.3.2.6. Laggards
4.2.3.3. Reterritorialization
4.2.3.3.1. The process where people start to produce an aspect of popular culture themselves, doing so in the context of their local culture and place, and making it their own
4.2.4. Replacing old Hearths with New: Beating out the Big Three in Popular Sports
4.2.4.1. Baseball, basketball, and Football Have been the big three sports in the U.S.
4.2.4.1.1. They have developed more as technologies have improved
4.2.4.2. Now other sports are generating revenues that are more than these Big Three
4.2.5. Stemming the Tides of Popular Culture-Losing the Local?
4.2.5.1. The influence of largely industrialized countries in global popular culture makes many people feel threatened by cultural homogenization
4.2.5.2. The rapid diffusion of popular culture can cause consumers to lose track of the hearth of a good or idea
4.2.5.3. Japan is known for it's video games
4.2.5.4. North America is known for it's movies, music, sports, and fast-food
4.2.5.5. Western Europe is known for fashion, art, and philosophies
4.2.5.6. Korea is known for it's entertainment industry
4.2.5.7. To protect Local cultures, some countries regulate how much foreign things are being showed in relation to non-foreign things
4.2.5.8. Richer countries tend to promote local culture, and vise-versa
4.2.5.9. Local cultures will interpret, choose, and reshape the influx of popular culture
5. How can Local and Popular Cultures be seen in the Cultural Landscape?
5.1. Intro
5.1.1. Cultural Landskape
5.1.1.1. The visible imprint of humans on the earth
5.1.2. Placelessness
5.1.2.1. One place looking exactly like the next
5.1.3. Cultural Landscapes blend together in three ways:
5.1.3.1. Architectural Forms
5.1.3.1.1. Skyscrapers and their diffusion
5.1.3.2. Individual businesses and products
5.1.3.2.1. Businesses that are global
5.1.3.3. Wholesale burrowing of idealized landscape images
5.1.3.3.1. Global-local continuum
5.1.3.3.2. Strip malls looking exactly the same
5.2. Cultural Landscapes of Local Cultures
5.2.1. Some cultures group their houses in bunches, creating little villages
5.2.1.1. Mormon villages
5.2.2. Other cultures spread the homes out
5.2.2.1. Homesteads