Understanding Culture, Society, and Politics

(UCSP)

Week 1

ARTICULATION OF CULTURAL, SOCIAL,

AND POLITICAL IDENTITIES

 C. Wright Mills – wrote the book entitled “Sociological Imagination” where he made a
distinction between troubles and issues:

 Troubles (personal challenges) – private matters that can be explained in terms

of personal characteristics which can be resolved by changing an individual’s
character or immediate relationships

Examples: motivation levels, mood, personality, ability, immediate relationships

with family, acquaintances, or co-workers

 Issues (social challenges) – public matters that can be explained by factors

outside individual’s control and immediate environment

Examples: unemployment rate, changing climate, unequal access to education,

limited resources

 Sociological Imagination – quality of mind that help people to use information in a way
that they can think about what is going on in the world and of what may be happening
within themselves

CULTURAL, SOCIAL AND POLITICAL CHANGE

 Change is inevitable. No society remains the same all throughout its history.

 Cultural change is the modification of a society through innovation, invention, discovery,

or contact with other societies.

Examples: the invention of the internet and smartphones, arranged marriages and
surrogacy, the material culture the people are using to aid their lives

 Social change is the alteration of mechanisms within social structure, characterized by

changes in cultural symbols, rules of behavior, social organizations, or value systems

Examples: society accepting the LGBTQ+ community, roles of male and female in the
family

 Political change refers to a subject matter that is in constant flux. It deals not only with
the major processes of growth, decay, and breakdown but also with a ceaseless ferment
of adaptation and adjustment of political systems.

Examples: people power, coup d’ etat and martial law, women occupying positions in
the national government, number of youths who are critical of the government

 Agents of Change
(1) Innovation – invention of something new – an idea, a process, a practice, a
device, or a tool. They are syntheses, refinements, new applications and
reworking of existing inventions
  Leslie White – anthropologist who believes that “invention is the mother of
necessity.” He argued that (a) when the cultural base is capable of supporting an
invention, that invention will come into being whether people want it or not, (b)
the rate of change is tied to the size of the cultural base, and (c) inventors must
live in a society with a cultural base sufficiently developed to support their
inventions

cultural base - number of pre-existing inventions

(2) Action of Leaders – it represents a trigger to social change. A leader is

someone who has the power to influence others or who is in-charge or in
command of a social situation

(3) Conflict – struggle of agency or power in a society. It occurs when two (2) or
more actions oppose each other in a social interaction

Week 2
INTERSECTIONS OF ANTHROPLOGY, SOCIOLOGY
and POLITICAL SCIENCE

 FIRST INTERSECTION: The three (3) are classified as branches of Social Science

 Social Sciences is a division of science that deals with the functions and
structure of human society as well as the interpersonal relationships of
individuals as members of society.

 Natural Sciences investigate the behavior and nature of living creatures in its
physical aspect.

 SECOND INTERSECTION: Empirical proof as basis for truth

 The three (3) disciplines have the need for rational proof and that the
recognition that the basis of truth must be found in reason. The empirical proof
became the basis for science.

 Socrates (Socratic Method) – question and answer method

 THIRD INTERSECTION: Objectivity in science

 Science is careful observation and gears towards objectivity (avoids biases) but
total objectivity is impossible to achieve.

 Max Weber – “Science is value-free investigation.”

Week 3
ANTHROPOLOGY, SOCIOLOGY AND POLITICAL SCIENCE:
Inquiry and Importance

 ANTHROPOLOGY

 Definition
  Anthropology is the scientific study of the origins of humans, how we
have changed over the years, and how we relate to each other, both
within our own culture and with people from other cultures. Anthropos
is the Greek word for “human being,” and logos means “the study of.”

 Proponents
 Franz Boas – considered as Father of Modern Anthropology
 Felipe Landa Jocano – country’s first and foremost cultural
anthropologist

 Subject Inquiry
(1) The main concern of Anthropology is to understand the diversity and
dispersion of human beings from the standpoint of cultural differences.
(2) Anthropology emphasizes comparing human groups to understand the range
of variation of human behavior.

 Importance of the Study

(1) Anthropology synthesizes the learning of other disciplines into one
comprehensive picture of what it means to be human.

 SOCIOLOGY

 Definition
 Sociology is the scientific study of society, social institutions and social
relationships. It is interested in describing and explaining human
behavior, especially as it occurs within a social context. It is derived from
the Latin word socius meaning associate or companion and the Greek
word logos which means the study of.

 Proponents
 Auguste Comte – considered as Father of Sociology
 Randy David and Walden Bello – notable Filipino sociologists
 Emile Durkheim – French sociologist who explained that individuals are
more products rather than the creator of society

 Subject Inquiry
(1) The main concern of Sociology is sociological analysis – analysis of human
society and culture within a sociological perspective.
(2) Sociology focuses on human interaction on the mutual and reciprocal
influencing by two (2) or more people of each other’s feelings, attitudes and
actions.

 Importance of the Study

(1) It is through the study of Sociology that the truly scientific study of the
society has been possible.
(2) It is the task of Sociology to study the social problems through the methods
of scientific research and to find out solution to them.

 POLITICAL SCIENCE

 Definition
 Political Science is an academic discipline which deals with the
systematic study of the state and government. The word
“Politics” is derived from the Greek word polis which means “city state”
or what today would be equivalent to sovereign state.
The word “science” comes from the Latin word scire which means
“to know.”
  In ancient Greece, polis or the city-state was the most popular and general form
of political organization.

 Proponents
 Aristotle – regarded as the Father of Political Science
 Clarita Carlos, Alexander Magno, and Felipe Miranda – Filipino political
scientists

 Subject Inquiry
(1) The chief concern of Political Science is with the political behavior of
individuals, groups of individuals, agencies, institutions, and organizations,
among others.

 Importance of the Study

(1) Imparting knowledge of the state
(2) Imparting knowledge of government and administration
(3) Imparting knowledge about the world
(4) Creation of democratic values – The success of democracy depends upon
the political consciousness of its people. Political science makes people
conscious of their rights and duties.
(5) Creation of good citizenship – Good citizenship implies “the contribution of
one’s instructed judgment to public good.
(6) Lesson of cooperation and toleration – Society cannot prosper without
cooperation.

 Aristotle regarded Political Science as “the supreme science” or the “masters of

all science” because of its importance and utilitarian value.

Week 4
DEFINING CULTURE AND SOCIETY

 Culture is an ensemble of practices, values and meanings common to a collective entity.

It is the totality of activities and objects through which meaning is generated and
circulated in a given collective entity.

 Cultural knowledge includes all the things individuals learn while growing up
among a particular group: attitudes, standards of morality, rules of etiquette,
perceptions of reality, language, notions about the proper way to live, ideas
about how the world works and so forth.

 Anthropological Perspective of Culture and Society

1. Is learned from other people while growing up in a particular society or
group;
2. Is widely shared by the members of that society or group;
3. So profoundly affects the thoughts, actions, and feelings of people in a
group; and
4. In large part accounts for the differences between groups of people in how
they act, think and feel.

 Sociological Perspective of Culture and Society

1. Is the perspective people come to share as they interact;
2. Includes everything tangible and intangible that a people of a society create,
acquire from other societies and transmit to subsequent generations;
3. Comprises the things that people have, the things that the do and what they
think; and
 4. Is what people share with each other within a society.

 Society is a group of people living in a given territory who share a culture and who
interact with people of that territory more than with people of other territory.

 Essential principles or aspects of culture:

1. Consists of tangible and intangible components;
2. Biological, environmental and historical forces shape and change culture;
and
3. Culture is a tool that people use to evaluate other societies and to adapt to
problems of living.

 Three (3) Major Sociological Perspectives

1. FUNCTIONALIST VIEW OF CULTURE

 Societies can operate smoothly only if their members are able to
meet the demands and challenges of the environment in effective,
coordinated ways.
 It believes that society is held together by social consensus/cohesion
to achieve what is best for the society as a whole.
 The drawbacks of the perspectives are avoiding social change,
neglecting the negative functions of the events in the society and
justifying the existing status quo.

2. CONFLICT VIEW OF CULTURE

 Originated out of Karl Marx’s ideologies on class struggles and social
conflict
 Concerned with how the groups that control the means of material
production impose their products, values and norms on other groups
 Those “who have” own the means of production and they are powerful
enough to force, control and manipulate those who “have not.”
 The owners of production are imposing culture.

3. SYMBOLIC INTERACTIONIST VIEW OF CULTURE

 Concerned with the symbolic properties of culture
 Culture is an elaborate and complex symbol system that has been
constructed and passed on from one generation to another
 Symbols are essential to civilization because: (a) culture emerge and are
perpetuated as a result of symbols, (b) interaction between people
cannot take place without symbols, and (3) infants are transformed into
human beings when they acquire symbols.
 A symbol may be defined as any kind of physical form – a material
object, a color, a sound, a word, an odor, a movement, a taste – that
receives its value or meaning from those who use it.

Week 5
SOCIETY AND CULTURE AS A COMPLEX WHOLE

 Culture is a complex whole which includes knowledge, beliefs, arts, morals, law,
customs, and any other capabilities and habits acquired by humans as members of
society. It includes everything that a group of people has, thinks, and does. It is precisely
the reason why society and the culture they shared and transmit within are a COMPLEX
WHOLE.

 FOUR IMPORTANT ASPECTS OF CULTURE AND SOCIETY

(1) BELIEFS – conceptions that people accept as true about how the world operates
and where individuals fit in. Beliefs can be rooted in blind faith, experience,
 tradition or scientific method. Whatever the origin, the belief can exert powerful
influence on behavior.

Examples:
superstitious beliefs (in child birth, Filipinos believe that there are foods that
should be excluded from the prenatal diet)
beliefs backed-up by evidences and sciences (the changing climate)

(2) VALUES – general and shared perception of what is good, right, appropriate,
worthwhile, and important with regard to modes of conduct. While beliefs are
conceptions about the world and how the people in it operate, values are
conception about the world and how the people should be.

 Individualism is not part of traditional Filipino culture considering the

elements of pakikitungo (smooth interpersonal relations),
pakikisama (to be sensitive, concerned and supportive) and pakikiramay
(to sympathize and share sufferings).

 Filipino values are stirred with emotions and concerned of their affective
end-results.

 Filipino values lean towards an orientation of having fatalistic outlook.

 There are observations that Filipinos also tend to have a greater

attachment on personalities and group affiliations.

(3) NORMS – guidelines that govern moral standards

A. Folkways – norms that apply to routine matters like eating, sleeping,

appearance, posture, and relations to people, animals, and the
environment.
Examples: kamayan practice, sharing of common dishes, paying respect to
elders
Consequence of violating folkways: disapproving stare, whispers behind
one’s back, laughter

B. Mores – norms that people define as pivotal to the well-being of the group
and are considered final and unchangeable
Examples: Taking another person’s life, committing crimes
Consequence of violating mores: imprisonment, institutionalized, or
execution (in other countries)

(4) SYMBOL - any kind of physical phenomenon – a word, an object, a color, a sound, a
feeling, an odor, a movement, a taste, to which people assign a meaning or value.

Examples:
(a) color green – to some, it is a symbol of life, to others, a color of power
(b) cross – to some, it is a sign of divinity, to others, a symbol of faith
(c) I love the sweet smell of gasoline, my students find it unpleasant
(d) The meaning assigned to suntanned skin (US and Africa)
(e) The roles assigned to people