Who on Earth are we 7

Callum: Hello and welcome to the eighth programme in our series ‘Who on Earth are we.’ In the last programme Marc Beeby began an investigation 1 into the differences between cultures where the individual is seen as central – individualist cultures – and those where the group is the most important unit – collectivist cultures. Today he looks at more of these differences but to begin, here’s Rebecca Fong a teacher of inter-cultural communication at the University of the West of England, with a summary of some of the main points we heard last time.

Rebecca Fong

What does it mean to be individualist or collectivist? We've seen that within individualist societies there's a social pattern of people being linked very loosely - people are independent in these kinds of societies, whereas 2 in collectivist societies they tend to be a lot more interdependent - dependent on one another. In general individuals in individualistic cultures value autonomy（自治） and their personal goals, as we’ve said, take precedence over group goals, and their personal emotions, their personal happiness are very important. In the collectivist societies the group goals are more important - the norms 3（规范）, the duties, the obligations 4 of the group are very, very important and these are the things which people are expected to behave in accordance with.

Marc: Rebecca Fong, summarizing some of the main points from our last programme on individualist and collectivist cultures. Last time, we also heard that it’s very important to remember that cultures are not simply ‘individualist’ or ‘collectivist’. Rather, cultures tend to have either more individualist – or more collectivist – characteristics. So, where does your culture fit on the scale between extreme individualism and extreme collectivism? To help you decide, Rebecca Fong guides us through some more of the main differences between

the two, with help and comments from a group of people from around the world. Rebecca begins with the things people value…

 

Rebecca Fong

Some of the values that are upheld 5 （支持）by individualist societies are individual freedom and choice, self-sufficiency, equality. And these tend to be associated with things like education and affluence 6 （富裕）and social and geographic 7 mobility 8. (可动性，变动性)

 

Devon Krohn

I was brought up just outside London, and when I was 18 I went to university and I moved away from home and part of the reason why I chose Exeter University which is where I went was because it was a good distance away from home and that in our society that is part of the point of going to university. So I left home at 18 and I was out of university and qualified 9 by the age of 22 and when I went to teach in Germany there were lots of surprised faces that I was a teacher at the age of 22.

 

Rebecca Fong

Individualist societies tend to be more modern - people as a function of education have become more socially mobile and more geographically 10 mobile as well and the emphasis is perhaps a bit more on personal achievement, the affluence that comes with that, much more than on family values or group spirituality（精神性）.

 

James Keegan

In a society where you don’t have the hierarchies（分层） of royalty 11 and structures of that kind, you actually do seem to produce another substitute. And that substitute is wealth and possessions. In the United States, a great deal of value is placed on how you present yourself, what you have achieved.

 

Rebecca Fong

Collectivist cultures on the other hand uphold 12 tradition to a much greater extent. Security is very important, and good social relationships are very important. And often religion and a belief in the cycles of nature is important.

 

Rajni Badlani

Religion is extremely important in India even today, even among the very well educated. People go to temples, keep fasts and do it with a lot of faith. When we read that Christianity is now coming back to the West we feel quite happy and smug about the fact look, you know, we never gave up our religion. We do ape the West – that’s one thing that has come about again due to the media, TV etc - but where religion is concerned we stuck to our own traditions. We just said 'Well in the West if they don't practise religion well then they are a materialistic 13 lot -I mean that's our stereotype 14 of the West - only interested in making money, not spiritual - so we are now surprised that they are going back to religion - which we always had in out country.

 

Rebecca Fong

Hierarchy 15 comes with this - the importance of seniority the importance of respect for elders in a society or in a system.

 

George Zhang

In Chinese situation, the importance is about order -that means actually the hierarchy （等级制度）- age plays a great importance so the older people or the older generation are supposed to look after the young to be responsible for bringing them up and also in an appropriate manner and when the younger generation grows up obviously they are supposed to look after the old. So in this culture age always carries a sort of respect. The Confucius idea is that we need this hierarchy structure but it doesn't just go one way - the older ones have obligations to meet as well. So in Chinese culture you find that the older people stay or live together with their children. Obviously, with the rise of this kind of nuclear family this is disappearing however you probably still find that there are far more older people living with their children in China than probably compared in the West.

 

Annabel Port

I think there's a huge problem with loneliness（孤独，寂寞） for old people in Britain. As soon as they reach a certain age where they can't work anymore they often get shoved 16 off into old people's homes and we're generally quite selfish and don't want to have to worry ourselves looking after an elderly person in the home. I think that's very sad really.

 

Rebecca Fong

Individualists value privacy 17. They can have it whenever they want more or less, they can choose it and so it's a very important thing. Personal space is talked about a lot. But personal space doesn't really exist so much in the collectivist society. People learn to live within their groups and they actually find privacy quite frightening. If you are a business person and you go to China on business for example, you might find that from the moment you arrive at the airport until the end of your visit, every half hour is written down and scheduled, you are never left alone. This can be quite claustrophobic（恐怖的） for people from individualist cultures. But collectivists believe that it's polite to be hospitable（好客的） to take you into the group and to look after you for the duration of your stay and therefore you will find yourself with very little privacy during your time there.

 

Mounia el Kouche

I go to Morocco practically every year. I go there, I see my family and straightaway I get this overwhelming 18 feeling of relatives who are fussing（大惊小怪） over you, cooking dinner, visiting you, giving you presents and asking you so many questions about your life about what’s been happening in the past year, did you succeed in your studies? What’s been going on? Almost the whole holiday you're entertained, so to speak. One day you’re going here to visit these relatives, the next day you’re driving 50km to another town to see more relatives and cousins and aunties and uncles. Every single year there’s something going on. One cousin had a baby, another’s getting married so there’s parties, there’s weddings. It’s an absolutely crazy atmosphere.

 

Rebecca Fong

In individualist societies people believe themselves to be in charge of their own fate in charge of their own lives and they want also to be in charge of their own love matches and love relationships - so it's up to them who they fall in love with and who they marry. And they can choose to end relationships. Collectivists, on the other hand, often, but not always, have some social obligations as to getting married in the first place - usually they are expected to get married whereas the individualist has more of a choice about whether to marry or not.

Kyung-ja Yoo

Ideal marriage in Japan - for our generation anyway had been you quit your job as soon as you get married and then once you get married you are supposed to have children. In Japan you really don't have individual privacy. My situation was I got married quite young, as soon as I finished university. Otherwise you are not allowed to go out with boys! So you had to get engaged and once you're engaged people start asking when is the wedding, when is the wedding - so you are rushed into the wedding and then after the wedding you are supposed to have children and the people start asking you 'when you get pregnant 19 -you are not pregnant yet?' So somehow you are pressurised you have to prove you can get pregnant!

 

Rebecca Fong

Not only is a collectivist often expected to get married, but sometimes other people in the in-group - the family or the extended family - will have a hand in who they marry and they may find that they are marrying someone who they don't know very well and who they'll fall in love with later perhaps or - if not -who they will establish a good working relationship with, let's say, and build a family and continue the line and so on. This can seem very strange indeed to people from individualist cultures.

Marc: Rebecca Fong, ending our survey of some of the differences between individualist and collectivist cultures. You also heard from Devon Krohn and Annabel Port from Britain, Dr Rajni Badlani from India, Dr George Zhang from China, Mounia el Kouche from Morocco, Kyung-ja Yoo from Japan and Professor James Keegan in North America.

A final thought before we leave this topic. Many of the people we’ve heard from over the last two programmes have said that ‘things are changing’. In particular we’ve heard people say they believe that ‘the modern world’, or ‘the West’ is influencing collective cultures. A possible reason for this - and a vision of a possible future comes from the United States of America. Professor James Keegan:

The USA is the provider of most of our media output in terms of films, television shows and so on. So the rest of the world is much more aware of American customs, American styles, American norms, values, ways of doing things than America is aware of the rest of the world. As we move towards a much more globalised society then we’re going to have much more of an approach to what is seen as the dominant 20 type（支配型） of behaviour in order to achieve as an individual. And as a consequence, the model which is very well exported and seen all over the world, is the American way of life.

Marc: Professor James Keegan. Well, what do you think? Are collective societies really following a North American model and becoming more individualist? Perhaps it’s just that, as the world gets smaller, we adopt some of the things we like from the cultures that we come into contact with and adapt them to our own cultural situation On the other hand, is it possible that some cultures are beginning to react against what Professor Keegan describes as what is seen as ‘the dominant style of behaviour, the American way of life’? Difficult questions, but something to think about until our next programme. When I hope you’ll join me. (本文由在线英语听力室整理编辑)

 

 

点击收听单词发音  






1
investigation

  
 


n.调查，调查研究


参考例句：





In an investigation,a new fact became known, which told against him.在调查中新发现了一件对他不利的事实。
He drew the conclusion by building on his own investigation.他根据自己的调查研究作出结论。












2
whereas

  
 


conj.而，却，反之


参考例句：





They want a house,whereas we would rather live in a flat.他们想要一座房子，而我们宁愿住在一套房间里。
Some praise him,whereas others condemn him.有些人赞扬他，而有些人谴责他。












3
norms

  
 


n. 规范
名词norm的复数形式


参考例句：





deviation from the previously accepted norms 违背事先接受的准则
Everyone should abide by our social norms. 我们每个人都应该遵守社会行为准则。












4
obligations

  
 


n.债务( obligation的名词复数 )；义务；[法律]债券；合约


参考例句：





Belgium replied that she had always been faithful to her international obligations. 比利时政府答复说，比利时一贯忠实履行其国际义务。 来自《简明英汉词典》
It would never do to neglect official obligations. 玩忽职守是绝对不行的。 来自《简明英汉词典》












5
upheld

  
 


支持( uphold的过去式和过去分词 )； 维持； 赞成； 支撑


参考例句：





A federal judge upheld the undercover Methods: Used in the case. 一位联邦法官主张在此案中使用秘密的方法。
They upheld our opinions. 他们支持我们的意见。












6
affluence

  
 


n.充裕，富足


参考例句：





Their affluence is more apparent than real.他们的富有是虚有其表。
There is a lot of affluence in this part of the state because it has many businesses.这个州的这一部分相当富有，因为它有很多商行。












7
geographic

  
 


adj.地理学的，地理的


参考例句：





The city's success owes much to its geographic position. 这座城市的成功很大程度上归功于它的地理位置。 来自《简明英汉词典》
Environmental problems pay no heed to these geographic lines. 环境问题并不理会这些地理界限。 来自英汉非文学 - 环境法 - 环境法












8
mobility

  
 


n.可动性，变动性，情感不定


参考例句：





The difference in regional house prices acts as an obstacle to mobility of labour.不同地区房价的差异阻碍了劳动力的流动。
Mobility is very important in guerrilla warfare.机动性在游击战中至关重要。












9
qualified

  
 


adj.合格的，有资格的，胜任的，有限制的


参考例句：





He is qualified as a complete man of letters.他有资格当真正的文学家。
We must note that we still lack qualified specialists.我们必须看到我们还缺乏有资质的专家。












10
geographically

  
 


adv.地理学上，在地理上，地理方面


参考例句：





Geographically, the UK is on the periphery of Europe. 从地理位置上讲，英国处于欧洲边缘。 来自辞典例句
All these events, however geographically remote, urgently affected Western financial centers. 所有这些事件，无论发生在地理上如何遥远的地方，都对西方金融中心产生紧迫的影响。 来自名作英译部分












11
royalty

  
 


n.皇家，皇族


参考例句：





She claims to be descended from royalty.她声称她是皇室后裔。
I waited on tables，and even catered to royalty at the Royal Albert Hall.我做过服务生， 甚至在皇家阿伯特大厅侍奉过皇室的人。












12
uphold

  
 


vt.举起，支撑，赞成


参考例句：





We will loyally uphold the principles of the United Nations.我们将忠实地维护联合国的原则。
It's up to the government to uphold the rights of individual citizens.政府有责任维护各个公民的权利。












13
materialistic

  
 


a.唯物主义的，物质享乐主义的


参考例句：





She made him both soft and materialistic. 她把他变成女性化而又实际化。
Materialistic dialectics is an important part of constituting Marxism. 唯物辩证法是马克思主义的重要组成部分。












14
stereotype

  
 


n.固定的形象，陈规，老套，旧框框


参考例句：





He's my stereotype of a schoolteacher.他是我心目中的典型教师。
There's always been a stereotype about successful businessmen.人们对于成功商人一直都有一种固定印象。












15
hierarchy

  
 


n.等级制度；统治集团，领导层


参考例句：





There is a rigid hierarchy of power in that country.那个国家有一套严密的权力等级制度。
She's high up in the management hierarchy.她在管理阶层中地位很高。












16
shoved

  
 


推，猛推，乱推( shove的过去式和过去分词 )； 乱放； 随便放； 胡乱丢


参考例句：





The people shoved to get on the bus. 人们你推我挤争着上公共汽车。
He shoved me roughly aside. 他粗暴地把我推到了一边。












17
privacy

  
 


n.私人权利，个人自由，隐私权


参考例句：





In such matters,privacy is impossible.在这类事情中，保密是不可能的。
She wept in the privacy of her own room.她在自己房内暗暗落泪。












18
overwhelming

  
 


adj.势不可挡的，压倒的，无法抵抗的


参考例句：





The flood was overwhelming and the city was soon drowned.洪水来势凶猛，很快这个城市就被淹没了。
The act was adopted by an overwhelming majority.该法案以压倒多数通过。












19
pregnant

  
 


adj.怀孕的，怀胎的


参考例句：





She is a pregnant woman.她是一名孕妇。
She is pregnant with her first child.她怀了第一胎。












20
dominant

  
 


adj.支配的，统治的；占优势的；显性的；n.主因，要素，主要的人(或物)；显性基因


参考例句：





The British were formerly dominant in India.英国人从前统治印度。
She was a dominant figure in the French film industry.她在法国电影界是个举足轻重的人物。