Chapter 1: Starting Point for the Understanding of Culture, Society, and Politics Manifestations of Human Variations Through Cultural Diversity, Social Differences, and Political Identities. The creation of the global society plus humans into one plot where almost everything is interlinked and where change in one aspect will affect the other. However, despite the emergence of the idea of “one global society,” there remains visible manifestatio ns of human variations in society. Cultural Diversity. Culture plays a major role in our day-to- day living. It refers to “that complex whole which encompasses beliefs, practices, values, attitudes, laws, norms, artifacts, symbols, knowledge, and everything everythi ng that a person learns and shares as a member of society.” Social Differences. The society has various manifestations of social differences bas ed on unique social characteristics or qualities like social class, gender, age, educational attainment, occupation, and the like. In sociology, social differences is usually equated with social stratification, this describes the relative social position of persons in a given social group, category, geographical region, or other social unit. The Major Types of Social Stratification are: 1. Caste. Hereditary endogamous social group on which a person’s rank and his/her rights and obligations are ascribed or on the basis of his/her birth into a particular group. 2. Class. A Class. A person’s person’s position position is based upon achievement achievement.. 3. Estate. Gives Estate. Gives emphasis to birth as well as wealth and possessions. 4. Slavery. Had Slavery. Had economic basis wherein the master shows power over slave. Political Identities. The world is visibly divided into different countries. Each country has its own political system to run its government. A government is the system by which a state or community is controlled so as to put order. Significance of Studying Culture, Society, and Politics. Social Science is a very complex study. It is divided into different differ ent areas according to focus or subject. In this subjec t, a special focus on the interplay of Anthropology Anthropology (culture), Sociology (society), and Political Science Science (political identities and government) will be given focus with the use of transdisciplinary perspective to understand and explain social issues in the human society. Anthropology. Is the holistic “science of man”, a science of the totality of human existence. Two broad fields of Anthropology 1. Physical Anthropology. Physical anthropology or sometimes called biological anthropology mainly concerns about how humans emerged and evolved through time. This is under the study of human paleontology . paleontology . The second concern of physical anthropology is how human beings differ biologically. This is under the study of human variation. 2. Cultural Anthropology. Cultural anthropology is basically concerned with the differenced of cultures from time to time. There are three main branches of cultural anthropology 1. Archeology. Which studies past cultures through tangible or material remains. Archeologists Archeologists help reconstruct the life and culture of the humans in the prehistoric time. 2. Anthropological Anthropolo gical linguistics. Which is the anthropological study of languages where experts explain the difference of languages by culture and how it is constructed. 3. Ethnology. Which is the study of recent or present cultures. These disciplines try to explain the difference of culture before and the recent through vigorous research, example: concept of beauty, marriage practices, etc. Sociology. Is the study of relationships among people. It is the study of the society and the behavior of people in the society.
There are two major approaches to examine human society: 1. Macrolevel perspective - Macrosociology examined the social structure, the social institutions, social organizations, and social groups. - Uses the structural functionalist perspective and the conflict perspective in examining the larger social structure. 2. Microlevel perspective - Microsociology places more emphasis on the role of the individuals in society. - Uses the symbolic interactionist perspective to look into the interactions between or among individuals in society. Below is the table that shows the comparison of the major theoretical approaches in sociology based on the following points: view of society, level of analysis, views on the individual, social order, and social change. Comparing Major Theoretical Approaches Functionalist Conflict Interactionist View of Stable, wellCharacterized by tension Active in influencing and Society integrated and struggle between affecting everyday social groups interaction Level of Macrosociological Macrosociological Microsocial analysis as a Analysis Analysis of large- Analysis of large-scale way of understanding the Emphasized scale patterns patterns larger phenomenon View of the People are People are shaped by People manipulate individual socialized to power, coercion, and symbols and create their perform societal authority social worlds through functions interaction View of the Maintained Maintained through force Maintained by shared Social Order through and coercion understanding of everyday cooperation and behavior consensus View of Predictable, Change takes all the time Reflected in people’s Social reinforcing position and may have Change positive
Political Science. Deals with systems of government and the analysis of political activity and political behavior. It deals extensively with the theory and practice of politics which is commonly thought of as the determining of the distribution of power and resources. Subfields of Political Description Science Comparative Politics It is a subfield which studies the politics within other nations. This subfield tries to compare theories on a specific nation to other nations. International Relation Is a subfield which studies politics among nations. In this subfield conflict, diplomatic affairs, and international law is being studied. Political Theory Is a subfield which studies classical and modern politics. This subfield aims to discover what theory suits the characteristics of good politics. Public Administration Is a subfield which studies bureaucracies on how it is functional and how to improve it by certain theories. Constitutional Law Is a subfield which studies how laws are made and being applied on a certain nation or state. Its major aims is to study legal systems. Public Policy Is a subfield which studies the interface of politics and economic. It aims to create a plan to develop programs that would be sufficient and adequate to societies.
Chapter 2: Defining Culture and Society from the Perspectives of Anthropology and Sociology People rarely distinguish the difference between the terms “culture” and “society”, but for sociologists, the two terms have different meanings and the distinction is important. A society describes a group of people who share a common territory and a cul ture. By “territory”, sociologists refer to a definable region- as small as a neighborhood (e.g., barangay), a city (e.g., Manila), a country (e.g., Philippines), to as large as the global regional context (e.g., Asia). While “culture” refers to “that comp lex whole which encompasses beliefs, practices, values, attitudes, laws, norms, artifacts, symbols, knowledge, and everything that a person learns and shares as a member of society”. To clarify, a culture represents the beliefs, practices, and artifacts of a group, while society represents the social structures and organization of the people who share those beliefs and practices. Neither society nor culture could exist without the other. Types of Society. Sociologists have classified the different types of societies into six categories, each of which possesses its own unique characteristics. Hunting and gathering societies Pastoral societies
Horticultural societies
Agricultural societies
Industrial societies
Post-industrial societies
These are the earliest forms of society. These are small and generally with less than 50 members and is nomadic. The members survive primarily by hunting, trapping, fishing, and gathering edible plants. Rely on products through the domestication and breeding of animals for transportation and food. These are common in areas where crops cannot be supported and only have to move when the land in which animals gaze is no longer usable. These societies rely on the cultivation of fruits, vegetables, and plants in order to survive. They are often forced to relocate when the resources of the land are depleted or when the water supplies decrease. They rely on the use of technology in order to cultivate crops in large areas, including wheat, rice, and corn. Productivity increases, and as long as there are plenty of food, people do not have to move. They use advanced sources of energy to run large machinery which led to industrialization, Innovations in transportation led people to travel, work in factories, and live in cities. Their economy is based on services and technology, not production. The economy is dependent on tangible goods, people must pursue greater education, and the new communications technology allows work to be performed from a variety of locations.
Aspects of Culture. Cultures have key features (classification and elements) and characteristics that are present in all cultures. Classification of Culture. Cultural components that are visible and tangible are called material culture which include all material objects or those components or elements of culture with physical representation such as tools, furniture, buildings, bridges, gadgets, etc. There are components of culture that are nontangible or without physical represent ation and these are called nonmaterial culture which can be categorized into cognitive and normative nonmaterial culture.
Cognitive culture includes the ideas, concepts, philosophies, designs, etc. that are products of the mental or intellectual functioning and reasoning of the human mind while the normative culture includes all the expectations, standards and rules for human behavior. Elements of Culture. All cultures consist of key elements that are crucial to human existence:
Beliefs are conceptions or ideas people have about what is true in the environment around them like what is life, how to value it, and how one’s beliefs on the valu e of life relate with his or her interaction with others and the world. These may be based on common sense, folk wisdom, religion, science, or a combination of all of these.
Values describes what is appropriate or inappropriate (good or bad; desirable or undesirable; worthy or unworthy) in a given society or what ought to be. These are broad, abstract, and shared to influence and guide the behavior of people. People live in a culture wherein s ymbols are used to understand each other. Symbols can be verbal (words) or nonverbal (acts, gestures, signs, and objects) that communicate meaning that people recognize and shared.
Language is a shared set of spoken and written symbols. It is basic to communication and transmission of culture. It is known as the storehouse of culture.
Technology refers to the application of knowledge and equipment to ease the task of living and maintaining the environment. It includes all artifacts, methods and devices created and used by people.
Norms are specific rules/standards to guide appropriate behavior. Societal norms are different types and norms. Types
Proscriptive Prescriptive Folkways Mores
Forms Taboos Laws
Defines and tells us things not to do Defines and tells us things to do Also known as customs, these are norms for everyday behavior that people follow for the sake of tradition or convenience. These are strict norms that control moral and ethical behavior. Mores are norms based on definitions of right and wrong. These are norms that society holds so strongly that violating it results in extreme disgust. Often times the violator of the taboo is considered unit to live in that society. These are codified ethics, and formally agreed, written down and enforced by an official law enforcement agency.
By themselves, norms are guidelines for human behavior. Sanctions encourage conformity to norms. S anctions are socially imposed rewards and punishments in society which may be formal or informal. Characteristics of Culture 1. Dynamic, Flexible, and Adaptive. This is basically means that culture interact and change. Most societies interact with other societies, and lead to exchanges of material (e.g., tools and furniture) and nonmaterial (e.g., ideas and symbols) components of culture. 2. Shared and may be Challenged (given the reality of social differentiation). As we share culture with others, we are able to act in appropriate ways as well as predict how others will act. 3. Learned through socialization and enculturation. It is not biological, we do not inherit it but learn as we interact in society. Much of learning culture is unconscious. We learn, absorb, and acquire culture from families, peers, institutions, and the media. The process of learning culture is known as enculturation. 4. Patterned social interactions. Culture as a normative system has the capacity to define and control human behaviors. Norms are cultural expectations in terms of how one will think, feel, or behave as set by one’s culture. 5. Integrated. This is known as holism, or the various parts of a culture being interconnected or interlinked. All aspects of a culture are related to one another and to truly understand a culture, one must learn about all of its part, not only a few.
6. Transmitted through socialization/enculturation. As we share our culture with other, we were able to pass it on to the new members of society or the younger generation in different ways. 7. Requires language and other forms of communication. In the process of learning and transmitting culture, we need symbols and language to communicate with others in society. Ethnocentrism/Xenocentrism and Cultural Relativism as Orientations in Viewing Other Cultures Ethnocentrism is the view of things in which one’s own group is the center of everything and all others are scaled and rated with reference to it. Each group nourishes its own pride and vanity, boasts itself superior, exalts its own divinities, and looks with contempt on outsiders. Xenocentrism. People are highly influenced by the culture or many culture outside the realm of their society. In this globalized society, one ’s exposure to cultural practices of others may make one to give preference to the ideas, lifestyle, and products of other cultures which is termed by John D. Fullmer as xenocentris m. Cultural Relativism. Is the principle that an individual human’s beliefs and activities should be understood by others in terms of that individual’s own culture. It also c overs ideas of moral relativism (ethics depend on a social construct), s ituational relativis m (right or wrong is based on the particular situation), and cog nitive relativis m (truth itself has no objective standard).
