Understanding Culture, Society and Politics: Justice Emilio Angeles Gancayco Memorial High School

Department of Education
Division of Bataan
JUSTICE EMILIO ANGELES GANCAYCO MEMORIAL HIGH SCHOOL
SENIOR HIGH SCHOOL DEPARTMENT
UNDERSTANDING CULTURE, SOCIETY AND POLITICS

Part 2: Defining Culture and Society from the Perspectives of Anthropology and Sociology
Learning Competency: Explain the anthropological and sociological on culture and society. UCSP11/12SPU-1c-6
I. SOCIETY AND CULTURE ACCORDING TO THE THREE DISCIPLINES
ANTHROPOLOGY:
 It studies the different cultures of different societies.
 It examines and provides explanations for the existence of different cultural patterns as well as the similarities
and differences between different cultures.
Culture
 A complex whole since it is a collection of knowledge, experiences, beliefs, values, attitudes, meanings,
language and material objects and possessions which is acquired by people in the course of generations
through individual and group struggle.
 A system of knowledge shared by a large group of people.
Two Major views of Anthropology with regard to how cultures should be considered in comparison to
others:
1. Ethnocentrism
 The belief that one’s native culture is superior to other cultures.
 An act of judging cultural practices without understanding their culture which leads to self-serving but
distorted view of others life.
 Ethnocentric societies tend to have a negative view of other countries and people.
2. Cultural Relativism
 Considers cultures as equal. This view holds that there is no “superior” and “inferior” cultures, and each is
unique in its own way.
SOCIOLOGY:
 Relates culture with the overall context of social order.
Three sociological perspectives that explain social order:

1. Structural functionalism
 Operates on the assumption that society is a stable and orderly system.
 Consider culture as a glue that binds society together, leading to social order.
2. Conflict theory
 Assumes that there is a constant power struggle among the various social groups and institutions within
society.
 Conflict theorists study the culture of “dominant classes” and analyze how this culture is imposed on other
culture.
3. Symbolic interactionism
 Views individual and group behavior and social interactions as defining features of society.
 Symbolic interactionists believe that culture provides shared meanings to the members of society.
 The more meanings are shared, the more society ensures social order.
Learning Competency: Describe society and culture as a complex whole. UCSP11/12SPU-1c-7

II. SOCIETY AND CULTURE
SOCIETY:
 A group of individuals sharing a common culture, geographical location, and government.
 It enables individuals to acquire necessary survival skills, maximize their potential, and share resources.
 The classic definition of society is based on E.B. Taylor’s concept which states that society is “that complex
whole which encompasses beliefs, practices, values, attitudes, laws, norms, artifacts, symbols, knowledge, and
everything that a person learns and shares as a members of society.”
Five Major types of societies according to how they changed and developed over time
1. Hunting and gathering
 Date as far back as several million years ago and were considered the first societies.
Lecture Handouts Prepared By Mr. John Albert R. Dela Rosa – SHS Teacher II - Social Science Page 1
 The basic social and economic units were the family and local clan which organized hunting and gathering
activities and distributed the accumulated food supply.
2. Horticultural and pastoral societies
 More sedentary life, and the introduction of agriculture as a more stable food production method.
 Horticultural societies relied on the cultivation of plants as their primary source of food, while pastoral
societies depended on the domestication of animals.
3. Agricultural societies
 Food production became more efficient due to the new methods of farming, the invention of more
advanced tools, and the establishment of permanent settlements.
4. Industrial societies
 Technological advancements resulted in the invention of machines that improved production.
 The rise of urban centers or cities was also a major development during this period.
5. Post-industrialist societies
 Knowledge is a commodity and technological innovation is key to long-lasting growth and development.
ELEMENTS OF SOCIETY
1. Social solidarity, whereby members of the community live together for mutual benefits.
2. Shared identity and culture among members that serve as basis for their patterns of action and behavior.
3. A common language.
4. A large population and the ability to sustain succeeding generations of members.
5. Definite geographical area.
6. Political, economic, and social organization.
CULTURE:
 Refers to the set of beliefs, ideas, values, practices, knowledge, history and shared experiences, attitudes, as
well as material objects and possessions accumulated over time and shared by the members of society.
COMPONENTS/ELEMENTS OF CULTURE
1. Symbols
 Refer to things that convey meaning or represent an idea.
 They are essential in communication, shaping thoughts and ideas, and defining a society’s culture.
2. Language
 Is a set of symbols that enables members of society to communicate verbally and nonverbally.
3. Values
 Shared ideas, norms, and principles that provide members of society the standards that pertain to what is
right or wrong, good or bad, desirables or undesirable.
4. Norms
 Shared rules of conduct that determine specific behavior among society members.
a. Folkways
- Are norms that may be violated without serious consequences.
b. Mores
- Are norms with moral connotations.
c. Laws
- Are norms that are legally enacted and enforced.
5. Artifacts
 It constitutes society’s material culture.
Learning Competency: Identify aspects of culture and society. UCSP11/12SPU-1c-8

I. ASPECTS OF CULTURE AND SOCIETY
Aspects of Culture
a. Dynamic, flexible, and adaptive
b. Shared and contested
c. Learned through socialization or enculturation
d. Patterned social interactions
e. Integrated and at times unstable
f. Transmitted through socialization/enculturation
g. Requires language and other forms of communication
Other sociological terms with regards to culture and society

 Socialization
 Refers to the lifelong process of forging identity through social interaction.
 Enculturation
 Refers to the process by which an individual learns or acquires the important aspects of his or her
society’s culture.
 Context
 Refers to a particular circumstances of a certain culture and is defined by location, weather, time
period, and other factors.
 Multiculturalism
 An ideology that acknowledges and promotes cultural diversity within society.
 Entails the establishment of political groups and institutions comprised of people from diverse cultures.
 Cultural sensitivity
 Advances awareness and acceptance of cultural differences but encourages a critical stance in dealing
with issues regarding diversity.
 This view believes that not all cultural practices, traditions, and views can be integrated, and that
distinct cultures can harmoniously coexist in society.
Learning Competency: Become aware of why and how cultural relativism mitigates ethnocentrism. UCSP11/12DCS-1d-10
I. Cultural Relativism mitigates Ethnocentrism
Ethnocentrism
 Diminishes or invalidates “other” ways of life and creates a distorted view of one’s own. As a result, this
could affect individual behavior and relationships with other cultures.
 Extreme forms of ethnocentrism have led to wars or colonization.
Cultural Relativism
 Recognizes and accepts the cultural differences between societies.
 This view believes that every aspect of a culture can justified by the context in which the culture has been
formed.
 No particular culture therefore can claim superiority over other cultures.
Xenocentrism
 Consider one’s own culture as inferior to others.
Learning Competency: Identify forms of tangible and intangible heritage and threats to these. UCSP11/12DCS-1e-11
I. Tangible and Intangible Heritage
Cultural Heritage
 It is an expression of the ways of living developed by a community and passed on from generation to
generation, including customs, practices, places, objects, artistic expressions and values. Cultural Heritage is
often expressed as either Intangible or Tangible Cultural Heritage (ICOMOS, 2002).
Cultural Heritage types
 Cultural Heritage can be distinguished in:
1. Built Environment (Buildings, Townscapes, Archaeological remains)
2. Natural Environment (Rural landscapes, Coasts and shorelines, Agricultural heritage)
3. Artifacts (Books & Documents, Objects, Pictures)
Tangible and Intangible Cultural Heritage
 Tangible Cultural Heritage
 Refers to physical artifacts produced, maintained and transmitted intergenerationally in a society. It
includes artistic creations, built heritage such as buildings and monuments, and other physical or tangible
products of human creativity that are invested with cultural significance in a society.
 Intangible Cultural Heritage
 Indicates ‘the practices, representations, expressions, knowledge, skills – as well as the instruments,
objects, artefacts and cultural spaces associated therewith – that communities, groups and, in some cases,
individuals recognize as part of their Cultural Heritage’ (UNESCO, 2003).
Some Threats in Preserving Cultural Heritage (Dela Rosa, et.al. 2014).
 Natural hazards -Forgotten by the elders
 Human-induced hazards -Unwillingness to learn
 Assimilation/ Acculturation
 Lack of transcription
*** END OF PART 2 ***


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Department of Education

UNDERSTANDING CULTURE, SOCIETY AND POLITICS

Three sociological perspectives that explain social order:

Learning Competency: Describe society and culture as a complex whole. UCSP11/12SPU-1c-7

Learning Competency: Identify aspects of culture and society. UCSP11/12SPU-1c-8

Other sociological terms with regards to culture and society

* END OF PART 2 *

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