Can someone give me a simple explanation of cultural <span title="complex/imperialism/convergance/homogeneity?">complex/imperialism/conve...</span>

Question

I just need help making sure that I have those 4 definitions correct. (I know they are kinda simple but im 14, I don't trust myself. Lol.)

Answer 1

A cultural complex is when you have different cultures that share a particular technology, such as cattle herding or, say, yam cultivation.  In Africa many widely different cultures all practice cattle herding, and in the South PAcific many cultures cultivate (grow) yams (they are similar to but different from sweet potatoes).  Sharing that basic technology could be regarded as a cultural complex, since their basic lifestyles will mean they have similarities.  In industrial society, the Frech and Americans share aspects of the same cultural complex of industrial capitalism, like mass consumption, reliance upon technology for communication and transportation, even though they are different cultures.  

Imperialism is a bit more complex.  Essentially it is when a society expands its influence over a very wide area in terms of politics, economics, and/or social aspects of culture like language and religion.  The Romans had an imperialistic society where they conquered neighboring groups and forced them to become part of their empire in terms of political organization, econonomic systems, and culture (speaking latin and worshipping Roman gods).  The USA is often considered to be a society of &quot;cultural imperialsim.&quot;  The USA doesn&#039;t capture people&#039;s land and force them to be part of the country, but because of it&#039;s temendous economic and political power it spreads American culture around the world through products like Disney movies, McDonald&#039;s hamburgers, fashion, music, and other aspects of culture.

Convergence is when two different cultures evolve the same cultural trais independently of each other.  China and the US have very different societies with different family structures and marriage institutions, but as China has become more industrial, like the US, they find that many of the social problems in the US have started to occur in China, like an increase in divorce rates, and more problems with caring for the elderly because children are more likely to move away, leaving no one to care for the parents when they get old.

Homogeneity is when you find very little cultural difference  in a society.  In a city, for example, there are lots of people with different cultures.  A small town in the countryside though will be more homogenous- not many people who are of  different races, ethnicities, religion, languages, etc.

Hope that helps.