• Society- socius (companion or ally, associate) refers to an autonomous group or

organization of people occupying a distinct geographic territory who interact with

others and share a common culture
• Culture- complex whole which encompasses beliefs, practice, values, attitudes, laws,
norms, artifact, symbols, knowledge, and everything.
- The way we live humans. It is the way we act and think as well as the objects that
we make as carry out our particular way of life every day.
• Animals- rely on instincts and reacting to the stimuli.

Societal features
• Size- society is relatively large in terms of the number of members, a trait common in
most societies today.
• Territory- all societies occupy a definite area or space on the planet.
• Common culture- way of living otherwise they would not be able to coherently
relate and interact with one another.
• Sense of belongingness- members of society must identify with it and feel that they
belong here.
• Autonomy- expressed in society’s capacity to sustain its existence vis-a-sis other
societies through social institutions that organize, manage and regulate it from
within.

Cultural elements- symbols, language, values, norms, rituals, forms of expression and
artifacts
• Symbols- anything that humans create and use to mean something else.
-tangible and intangible
• Language- system of symbols shared by members of society to enable them to
communicate with one another, it is the most important set of symbols for
communication and transmitting culture ever created by humans.
• Values- society’s shared ideas or standards of what is right or wrong, ethical or
unethical, acceptable or unacceptable, worthy or unworthy and desirable or
undesirable.
• Ideal or real culture- between the standards that society’s members are
expected to adhere to and what actually happens or occurs in society.
• Norms- rules that guide human behaviour and interaction in society.
• Folkways- informal norms, are rules of casual behaviour that do not take much
effort to think about.
• Mores- most specific, clearly stated and strictly enforced norms that carry
corresponding punishments for those that break them or fail to follow them.
• Laws- set of norms of promulgated, enacted or codified by members of society.
• Taboos- highest form of mores, these are norms that must be strictly adhered to
or observed with no exceptions. Forbids sexual relations between close relatives.
• Rituals- established ways, sets of actions or ceremonies that mark the transition
of a person from one part to another in the life course.
• Ritualized actions- is something carried out routinely but without necessary
regard for any symbolic meaning.
 • Ritual action- carefully carried out based on established rules or standards where
the act or set of acts carries symbolic meaning or religious significance to the
performer.
• Artifacts- material expressions of culture. These are all the objects made by
humans, fashioned out of raw materials provided by nature or from other
objects already produced by humans.

Six types of societies

• Foraging societies- the simplest societies. They depend on hunting and
fishing for animals and gathering edible plants for survival.
• Pastoral societies- engaged largely in herding cows, goats and sheep mainly
for subsistence and for transportation: hence, they are also called herders.
• Horticultural societies- domestication of animals also came the
domestication of plants I areas conductive to growing edible crops.
• Agricultural societies- produce crops in a more efficient and intensive manner
using sophisticated knowledge and technology resulting in surpluses.
• Industrial societies- coverts raw materials to finished products using
machines and in much larger quantities.
• Post-industrial societies- centred on providing services and facilitating the
exchange of correct information with the use of advanced communication
technologies.

Material culture- tangible or physical objects that have been created by members of society
out of the raw materials in nature.
Nonmaterial culture- intangible or nonphysical aspects of culture.

CHARACTERISTICS OF CULTURE
• Culture is learned
• Culture is transmitted
• Never static and is transformed
• Cumulative

• Cultural universals- refer to traits, behaviours, practices and values that are shared
by all cultures.
• Cultural diversity- refers to variations in the cultural patterns and elements between
within societies.
• High culture- patterns that differentiate a society’s elite from the rest.
• Popular culture- patterns that have a wide presence and acceptance in any given
culture.
• Subculture- has its own set of standards and expectations that give it a sense as
opposed to non-members
• Counterculture- any group whose values and beliefs challenge, run counter to or
even reject the larger culture
• Multiculturalism- is the recognition that many societies are now culturally diverse
and that the only way to deal with this diversity is to promote the equality of
different cultures.
• Ethnocentrism- is the attitude of judging another culture based on the standards of
one’s culture.
• Cultural relativism- where one suspends one’s cultural views and biases by seeing
another culture according to the standards of that culture.