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Understanding Culture, Society, and Politics

Culture and Society
 What is Culture?

At the end of the lesson, you will be

able to:
•Understand the nature of culture and
society through the lenses of
anthropology and sociology
•Identify the c haracteristics and
aspects of culture
•Apply Anthropological, Sociological
Perspectives in understanding culture

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 What is Culture?

Society means a group of people sharing customs,

laws, and organizations in a speci c geographic
location.
Culture, as de ned by Edward Tylor (1871), is the
complex whole which includes knowledge, belief, art,
morals, law, custom, and any other capabilities and
habits acquired by man as members of the society.

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 Culture
Characteristics of Culture
Culture is learned
- Enculturation - It is process of being socialized into specific culture and helps
individuals become functional members of society
- Example: Language
Culture is relative
- No aspects of culture appear to be the same
- Sapir-Whorf Hypothesis - theory proposes that languages that cultures use is relative.
It reflects and encompasses the totality of being part of a group.
- Cultural universalism - sharing common elements of cultures across the globe, but the
details vary.
- Culture shock - this happens because people do not mind cultural differences
- Example: The definition of beauty
Culture is shared
- Transmission of knowledge
- Sharing of meanings connected to materials, ideas, and behavioral patterns
- Example: weaving
Culture is symbolic
- Humans are the only living animal that can do that. Symbol is an object, word, or
action that stands for something else and is defined culturally.
- Example: hand gestures
Culture is adaptive and maladaptive Photo: Constantine Agustin, CC BY-SA 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons
- It helps the humans to survive
- Example: technological innovation
Cultures change
- it is inevitable and occurs in all societies.
- Subculture is a small group that operates relatively smoothly within larger culture.
- Counterculture is a kind of subculture that refuses the norms of the larger culture.
- Example: Clothes

 Components of Culture

Non-material Culture- It is
intangible.
Beliefs - values and morals shape
the behavior of individuals and are
embedded deeply in cultures
Norms - are share rules of conduct
that determine specific behavior
among society members
Formal norms - are established,
written, and enforced in society
Informal norms - those that you
will only learn when you deviated
from it
Mores - appeal to the moral views
and principles of a group. It can be
protected legally by the law of
other formal norms
Folkways - not strictly enforced and
without any moral underpinnings

Material Culture - It is tangible

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