The Core Concepts in Sociology video explores the behavior patterns of people, with the central theme being that behavior is formed by the contexts in which they live in. In the 37 minute multi-segment program, I was most pleased by the discussion on culture and globalization.
In the program, sociologists define culture as “a set of practices of ways of making sense of our daily lives. Culture is constituted by norms and values which are rules of culture of culture that have to be learned. The norms and values vary from society to society. For instance, a family is made up of adults and children who all live together in one house while that is not the case with cultures in parts of New Guinea. Studying other societies enable us to realize that they socially constructed and the practices are unique to a specific culture. The cultural norms and values of different cultures are formed through practice and experience.
Cultural norms and values are not cast in stone as they evolve with time and globalization has had great effect to cultural changes across the globe. Communications media has enabled people from different cultures of the world to learn and even adapt to new norms and values. As such, we are fast moving to a global culture in which people from across the world are increasingly behaving in the same ways. It is almost certain there will be one uniform global culture in the future.
Israel: The First Forty Years
Culture and socialization
The independent state of Israel was created on May 20, 1948 by the United Nations Resolution. It is located in the Middle East along the Mediterranean Sea, bordered by Egypt, Jordan, the Gaza Strip, Syria, Lebanon, and the West Bank. The Declaration was read by Israel’s first Prime Minister, David Ben-Gurion. Jews from exile came back to the country in their thousands.
The culture of Israel was formed before the founding of the State of Israel and it integrates both secular and religious heritage of lives. The Israel culture largely reflect the Jewish history in exile, particularly the Zionist movement ideology that begun in late 19th century. Zionism associates t he Jewish people with the Land of Israeli where the Jewish nationhood concept initially evolved between 1200 BCE and 70 CE. In the period during and after the Holocaust, Zionism was an equivalent to political Judaism. Though Israeli culture is largely varied, Israel itself is a family-oriented society characterized by a strong sense of community.
Politics and Wars
From 1948 to 1949, Israel fought off Arab armies from Egypt, Jordan, Lebanon, Syria, and Iraq fighting for Palestinians. Some Palestinians adopted Israeli citizenship while many other chose to immigrate to Arab West Bank and Gaza strip and other Arab nations (Frankel, 1991).
In 1956, Israel claimed the Suez Canal from Britain and France and staged an attack against Egypt in the Sinai Desert region. In the six-day war, Israel won against a combined force of Egypt and its allies to occupy the West Bank and reunited Jerusalem. Egyptian president Anwar Sadat and Israel Prime Minister Menachem Begin shared the 1978 Nobel Peace Prize for their reconciliation efforts that resulted in signing of a peace treaty in 1979 in Paris.
Reference:
Frankel, W. (1991). Israel: The First Forty Years. Video retrieved from: http://digital.films.com/play/3PTF6S
