UNDERSTANDING CULTURE AND SOCIETY

Lesson 1: Human Variation

~Nationality and Ethnicity
 NATIONALITY
- The identity that is tied to being part of a nation or country – a “group of people who
share the same history, tradition, and language” and who inhabits a particular territory
delineated by a political border and administrated by a government.
- Can be acquired by being born in a country or through legal processes.
 ETHNICITY
- Otherwise known as ethnic groups.
- A smaller cultural groups within a nation that share specific social environments,
traditions, and histories that may not be necessarily subscribed to by mainstream society.
~Social Differences
 GENDER
- Refers to the socially constructed roles, behaviours, activities, and attributes that a given
society considers appropriate for men and women. – World Health Organization (2013).
 GENDER IDENTITY AND SEXUAL ORIENTATION
 HETEROSEXUAL – inclines to be sexually attracted to a person of the
opposite sex.
 HOMOSEXUAL – a person who is sexually attracted to a person of the
same sex.
 GAY – a male who is romantically and sexually attracted to another male.
 LESBIAN – a female who is romantically and sexually attracted to
another female.
 BISEXUAL – individuals who are attracted to both sexes.
 ASEXUAL – individuals who are incapable of being attracted to any
sexes.
 POLYSEXUAL – individuals who are attracted to multiple types of
gender identity.
 PANSEXUAL – accommodates all types of gender.
 TRANSGENDER – people whose gender identities do not match their
biological identity as male and female.
 TRANSSEXUAL – individuals who believe that the discord between
their internal gender and the gender role that they have to perform can be
addressed through medical sexual reassignment.
 SOGIE (SEXUAL ORINETATION, GENDER IDENTITY, AND GENDER
EXPRESSION) – Enables for a wider and more fluid discussion of human identity.
 SEXUAL ORIENTATION – refers to a person’s biological identity.
  GENDER IDENTITY – an individual’s internal concept of self without strict
relation to the physical characteristics that the person has.
 GENDER EXPRESSION – is how an individual chooses to present himself or
herself in society.
 SOCIOECONOMIC CLASS
- varies between societies as the ideas associated with being poor or rich differ based on
the collective experiences of individuals.
DETERMINANTS OF SOCIAL STATUS:
 INCOME
 VALUE OF ASSETS AND AMOUNT OF SAVINGS
 CULTURAL INTERESTS AND HOBBIES
 ECONOMICSTATUS OF PEERS AND RELATIVES
 POLITICAL IDENTITY
- Refers to a set of attitudes and practices that an individual adheres to in relation to the
political systems and actors within his or her society.
 RELIGION
- The belief in the supernatural has been one of the universal preoccupations of humans
as early as 60 000 years ago.
 MONOTHEISTIC – believing in the existence of one god.
 POLYTHEISTIC – believing in the existence of multiple gods.
 EXEPTIONALITY/NON-EXEPTIONALITY
- The concept of exceptionality leans on the non-average capacity on an individual.
 CULTURAL VARIATION
- The variation in human conditions promotes diversity and plurality in cultural
traditions.
- Could lead to discrimination and ostracism.
 ETHNOCEMTRISM
- A perspective that promotes an individual’s culture as the most efficient and superior.
 CULTURAL RELATIVISM
- Promotes the perspective that cultures must be understood in the context of their
locality.

 RACE
- Was used as a form of human classification that was based on observable human traits
and characteristics
 RACISM – creates a deep social cleavage that further marginalizes the subjects
of racial oppression.
 BIOLOGICAL EGALITARIANISM
- A perspective that promotes the equality of our biological makeup despite out ancestry.
Lesson 2: Understanding Culture, Society & Politics
 - Culture, society, and politics are concepts.
- They exist in the realm of ideas and thoughts.
 SOCIALITY
- Defined by the very categories that humans possess. These categories are assigned by
society at large. They are socially constructed.
~Social Realities: Behaviour and Phenomenon
 ISTAMBAY
 LAGAY
 USE OF GO-BETWEEN
 FOOD TABOOS
 SAME-SEX PARTNERSHIP
~Values and Beliefs as Behaviour Motivators
-Human behaviour, whether individuals or collective, are propelled by powerful
motivators
-This motivators may be in the form of values and beliefs.
 VALUES
- A perspective or a collectivity’s principle or standard of behaviour and are considered
as judgement of what is important in life.
 BELIEFS
- Something one accepts as true or real.
~Social Dynamics: Social, Political, and Cultural Change
 SELFIEING
 POLITICAL DYNASTY
 TRANSNATIONAL FAMILIES
 YOUTH VOLUNTEERISM
 VIDEO GAMING
~The Social Science: Sociology, Anthropology, and Political Science
 SOCIAL FORCES
- Represent a constellation of unseen yet powerful forces influencing the behaviour of
individuals and institutions.
- They can be interpreted as any created way of doing things that influence, pressure, or
force people to behave, interact with others, and think in certain ways.
- Usually in the guise of rules written and unwritten.

 AUGUST COMTE
- Father of the disciplined for having coined the term “sociology”.
- Focus on two basic areas of study: social order and social change.
- Suggested two certain processes: Social Statistics and Social Dynamics.
  HERBERT SPENCER
- “Survival of the fittest”
- Social Darwinism
 KARL MARX
- “The communist Manifesto”
- Two social classes: bourgeoisie and proletariat.
 EMILE DURKHEIM
- Exceptionally instrumental in the formalization and later recognition of sociology as the
new science of the study of society.
- “Niche Problematique”
- Introduce the concept of “Social Fact”
 MAX WEBER
- Developed the concept of “Ideal Type”
 ANTHROPOLOGY
- Focuses on human diversity around the world. It looks at cross-cultural differences in
social institutions, cultural beliefs, and communication styles.
- The American Anthropology Association describes Anthropology as a science seeking
to “uncover principles of behavior that apply to all human communities.
- Anthropologist are looking for “cultural universal” instead of universal culture.
- “equal but different”
 FRANZ BOAS
- Father of American Anthropology.
~The Social in Guise of Inequality
 SOCIAL INEQUALITY
- occurs when resources in a given are distributed unevenly, typically through norms of
allocation that engender specific patterns along the lines of socially defined categories of
persons. It is normally the end result of social diversity
 SOCIOLOGISTS
- attributes the persistence of omnipresence of social inequality to the beneficial functions
it provides for the overall operation of society. This is exemplified by the merit system
(giving incentives) and division of labor (diverse skills and expertise).
 POLITICAL SCIENTISTS
- explain social inequality as a product of an asymmetrical distribution of power in
society.

 ANTHROPOLOGISTS
- take account of the “equal but different ways” of how people live in the world.
- The “difference dimension” is seen as representing the culture’s inherit value, hence it
is essential to the appreciation of culture sui generis (unique). While the “equal
 dimension” is interpreted on the basis of the logic that the same appraisal can be used to
judge even influential and renowned cultures
~Forms of Diversity

 CULTURE DIVERSITY
- The range of different societies or people of different origins, religions, and traditions
all living and interacting together.
 SOCIAL DIVERSITY
- The gaps between people as measured by the presence or absence of certain socially
desirable traits.
 POLITICAL SCIENCE
- Systematic study of government and politics.
It makes generalization and analyses about political systems and political behaviour and
uses these results to predict future behaviour.
 POWER RELATIONS
- Forms of interaction mediated by the use of deployment of authority and political
influence.

Lesson 3: Culture Society: The Perspective of Anthropology and

Sociology
~The Interpretive Dynamics of Society
  SOCIETY AS A CONCEPTS
- The word society was coined by social scientists to facilitate their exploration of social
phenomenon. It is a tool to grasp the complexity of the phenomenon it represents and a
means to explore its many other dimensions hidden by its normative use.
- As concepts, society represents an ideal type, which more or less depicts the form,
process, and dynamics of social reality embodies.
 SOCIETY AS FACTICITY
- Formally defined as constituting as fairly large number of people who are living in the
same territory, are relatively independent of people outside their area. And participate in
a common culture.
- Society has tripartite characteristics, namely omnipotent, omniscient, and omnipresent.

~Twice Concepts
 SOCIAL FORCES
- It is the driving influence in the behaviour.
 SOCIAL REALITY
- It is the driving influence in the culture, and community.

~Theorotical Perspective (Schools of Thought)

 STRUCTURAL FUNCTIONALISM –ROBERT MERTON & HERBERT SPENCER
- Also called the functionalist perspective.
- Focuses on the structure of society.
 - Society is held together through consensus.
 ROBERT MERTON
- There are two kinds of function.
 MANIFEST FUNCTION
- The intended and recognized consequences of some elements of society.
 LATENT FUNCTION
- The unintended and unrecognized consequences of an element of society.
 DYSFUNCTION
- The negative consequence an element has for the stability of the social system.
 ASSUMPTIONS OF FUNCTIONALISM
a) A society is relatively integrated whole.
b) A society tends to seek relative stability.
c) Most aspects of a society contribute to the society’s well-being and survival.
d) A society rests on the consensus of its members.
 CONFLICT THEORY
- Also known as the conflict perspective.
- Relabeled as Critical Historicalism.
- People who employ the conflict perspective focus on the force in the society that
emphasizes conflict, competition, change, and constraint within a society.
 ASSUMPTION OF CONFLICT PERSPECTIVE
- A society experiences inconsistency and conflict everywhere.
- A society is continually subjected to change.
- A society involves the constraint and coercion of some members of society.
 SYMBOLIC INTERACTIONISM – CHARLES HORTON COOLEY &
GEORGES HERBERT MEAD & HERBERT GEORGE BLUMER
- Also known as symbolic interactionist perspective.
- Focus on how people use symbols when interacting.

ESSENTIAL ELEMENTS:
a) MEANING
- The individual respond to people and things based on the meanings he or she
gives to those people or thing.
b) LANGUAGE
 - Meaning arise out of the social interaction, through the vehicle of language, that
the individual has with others.
c) THOUGHT
- The individual adjusts and modifies meanings through thoughts.
 ASSUMPTIONS IN SYMBOLIC INTERACTIONIST PERSPECTIVE
a) People’s interpretation of symbols are based on the meaning they learn from others.
b) People base their interaction on their interpretation of symbols.
c) Symbols permit people to have internal conversations. Thus, they can gear their interaction to the
behaviour that they think others expect of them and the behaviour they expect from others.