UNDERSTANDING CULTURE, SOCIETY, AND POLITICS

MODULE 2: CULTURE & SOCIETY AS A SOCIOLOGICAL & ANTHROPOLOGICAL

CONCEPTS
PART I: THE INTERPRETIVE DYNAMICS OF SOCIETY

INTRODUCTION:
This module tackles society as a fact, and culture as a concept, and how they are interrelated and
interact with each other. The three theoretical perspectives explaining the condition and status of
society are also briefly discussed to have a better and holistic understanding of society today. Social
forces, actors, and issues are explained as an important facet of examining society.

LEARNING OUTCOMES:
• Describe the interrelationship of culture and society
• Interpret the key sociological theories regarding the possibility of society
• Describe the construction of society through the hidden rules of society

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SOCIETY AS A FACTICITY
Society is formally defined as constituting a 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. This textbook definition of society is limited and limiting for several reasons. It is limited
simply because it belittles the most important component of this phenomenon-interactions. It is
limiting because the interpretive tradition of sociology may provide a more coherent definition of
society. In this perspective, society is seen as an outcome of multiple interactions of people upon which
succeeding interactions are made meaningful and possible. The definition simply means that society
only exists if there are people interacting and their interactions constitute the process that defines
society.
An informal way to concretize the above definition of society is to assess its power in shaping
the lives of the people inside it. At this point, bear in mind the twin concepts of social forces and social
facts because they are the mechanics of operation of society as a factual entity.
We can liken society to a deity. A deity or God is supposed to possess the tripartite (i.e., three-
fold) powers reserved for Him alone omnipotence, omniscience, omnipresence (all-powerful, all-
knowing, and everywhere). The analogy of society to a God suggests the immense power of society to
make or unmake lives of people. Society is all-powerful because its 'agents' control and runs the
machinery of social control. It is all-knowing because its 'library' keeps all possible knowledge and

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collects the memories of the people who form it. It is everywhere because its 'spies' are scattered in the
four corners of the land.
The tripartite powers of society are even more evident in its effects on our daily and routine
actions and behavior. Suffice it to say, everything that we do, think, and are capable of doing and
thinking all emanate from society. Every single action of ours is controlled by society. What we eat,
how to eat it, how to love, when to die, or how to die are all within the domain of society. If in case
we decided not to follow its whims and commands, it has the capacity and legitimate authority to
punish us, even take away our lives. Society controls the laws made and to be made and even the
lawmakers. Society is present even in the most personal fibers of our individual lives, in falling in love
for example, and even in the way we choose to die. In other words, society robs us of our freedom and
free will. Just like when eating in restaurants, we can only order what is on the menu, no more, no less.
This pessimistic rendition of society is not at all bad news. It is rather good news because by knowing
how society behaves, we can find ways to at least lighten the load it puts on us and pursue our
individual agenda and purpose in life. Knowing what we cannot expect in life given the limitations
imposed by our social locations, we can find alternative routes to pursue our dreams and aspirations.
Sociological awareness allows us to see opportunities where there are none and to create one if need
be. C.W Mills' rendition of the sociological perspective enjoins us to see the coordinates of our social
maps our biography and society's history and their intersections and from there chart more feasible
routes to achieving our dreams.
On a more practical note, limitations imposed on us by society are also forms of opportunity.
If we know a person's culture, we have all the ways and means to know so much about his food
preference, language, places the person wants to visit, etc., even if we were only given limited
information about him or her. Predictability of actions and behavior is the ultimate practical fruit of
our enslavement to society. Social scientists, notably sociologists, have been drawing from this well
of opportunities when they want to explore social issues that implicate social actors and the effects of
their actions.
If we are to translate the tripartite powers of society to the language of the social sciences, then
we can look at it this way:
Features of Society as God
Omniscience (All- Omnipotence (All- Omnipresent
knowing) powerful) (Everywhere)
In the God metaphor Its library creates, Its agents occupy and Its spies are present in
"Society as God" collects, stores,
control all the the four corners of its
retrieves, andinfluential positions territory.
manipulates in its human
memories. domain.
In the language of Symbols system, Machineries and Socialization agents
sociology "Society as language rules, and armory of social are present
a Fact use of language for control everywhere, even at
communication the very start of a
person's life.

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 Examples in social Language, symbols, Laws, norms, values, Family, peers, school,
science concepts arts, science, belief system, church. government
religion, education

WHAT MAKES SOCIETY POSSIBLE: THREE THEORETICAL PERSPECTIVES

The three classical theories of the origin of society are (1) the structural functional, (2) the
conflict theory, and (3) symbolic interactionism. These theories are called by different names, but their
basic assumptions about the "possibility" of society remain the same. The basic question they ask is
not historical in nature (as referred above); rather it inquiries about the nature of the processes that
created the possibilities of human interaction. The question is: "What makes society possible?"

STRUCTURAL FUNCTIONALISM AND SOCIAL ORDER

The structural-functional school of thought looks at social "order." It argues that society is
made possible by cooperation and interdependence. Given this line of argumentation, this view sees
society as a system with parts, and these parts have their respective functions to perform. The health
and condition of the entire system is dependent on these two processes of functions and
interdependence.
As such, this basic allusion to parts, functions, and interdependence reflects the succeeding
theoretical principles in almost all areas of sociological investigations-from social stratification, to
deviance, to institutions, to socialization. This overemphasis on functions proves to be providential to
the structural-functional perspective because with it, proponents of this school of thought are able to
uncover interesting insights about the nature of social inequality and deviance, insights that remain
elusive even to the symbolic interactionism approach.

CONFLICT THEORY AND CONFLICT

The Marxist-inspired perspective on the question of society looks at the other side of the issue,
instead of putting importance to social order, the conflict perspective sees society as an arena. Social
actors are gladiators fighting for their very lives. The winner takes the rewards and is assured of
freedom. Resources and their scarcity make up the bone of contention in every conflict situation.
However, the conflict approach does not take the usual assumptions about the nature and ethos of
conflict. Rather than emphasizing competition, which is very clear in the metaphor of "arena" and
"gladiators this view sees conflict as something positive and advantageous. For the proponents of this
view, conflict makes change and dynamism-features of society that have not been clearly conceived
by the structural functional theory possible. Conflict brings about a new set of relations and
interactions, which produces new dynamism in society. So, to answer the question "What makes
society possible?" the conflict theory invokes the social processes rather than functions and
interdependence.

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SYMBOLIC INTERACTIONISM AND MEANING-MAKING
Unlike the previous two theories, symbolic interactionism does not deal with either order or
conflict. Instead, it explores the issues of meaning-making and why this is crucial in understanding
order or conflict as processes that brought about society.
Humans as social beings have the capacity to generate meaning from their surroundings, be it
social or otherwise. Meaning is important because it is the basis of actions towards or against specific
elements of the environment. Meaning cannot be derived easily as it is lodged on and ascribed to
symbols-anything that can stand as a representation of something. Symbols, like meaning, are
interpreted intersubjectively by social actors. The constellations of meaning assigned to an object,
event, or person become the basis of social interactions, and they are constitutive of events and social
phenomena. The latter statement means that interpretation of symbols may have a reality-making effect
on people implicated in an interaction situation. W.I. Thomas' definition of situation is a classic
example of why definitions of situations have real effects on people's actions and interactions. So, to
answer the question "What makes society possible," the symbolic interactionist perspective would say
symbols and meanings.

RULES: INVISIBLE HAND OF SOCIETY

Rules are guides in the performance of roles and in everyday actions and interactions. They
provide order in a system characterized by the presence of many actors with different businesses and
agenda to pursue. What orchestrate the simultaneous, yet orderly transactions and interactions are the
rules.
With this thought, rules are essential in the everyday conduct of the members of society. In
cases where there are conflicts, rules become the arbiter of disagreements and people's respect for rules
gives them this organizing power over human actions over time.
However, not all rules are visible, that is, written and understood by all. The written ones are
easily seen and hence are easily observed and obeyed. A lot of difficult situations are made simpler by
written and visible rules. The situation is different, however, in cases where rules are invisible and
unwritten. At first, you may surmise that invisible rules create more disorder than order, which they
are meant to establish in the first place. This assumption proves to be incorrect as our lives are made
more meaningful by unwritten rules. Our mundane and daily actions are guided by these unseen rules
when riding public transportation like jeepney, when queuing at a McDonald's or Jollibee order
counter, when reciting in class, when using the toilet, when crossing the street, etc.
Unwritten rules are exciting to study because they give invaluable insights into the nature of
social behavior. Without us realizing it, almost 90% of our day-to-day actions are governed and shaped
by these invisible rules. You may not know that rules exist, for example, in certain contexts or
situations. By simply observing how people act, behave, and interact, you may gain sufficient
information as to what unseen rules are in operation in particular situations and contexts.

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CULTURE AS A CONCEPT
Culture according to E.B. Tylor "is that complex whole which includes knowledge, belief, art,
morals, law, custom, and any other capabilities and habits acquired by man as a member of society."
The Cambridge English Dictionary states that culture is "the way of life, especially the general customs
and beliefs, of a particular group of people at a particular time."
As a defining aspect of what it means to be human, culture is a central concept in anthropology,
encompassing the range of phenomena that are transmitted through social learning in human societies.
The word is used in a general sense as the evolved ability to categorize and represent experiences with
symbols and to act imaginatively and creatively. This capacity is often thought to be unique to humans,
although some other species have demonstrated similar, though much less complex, abilities for social
learning. It is also used to denote the complex networks of practices and accumulated knowledge and
ideas that are transmitted through social interaction and exist in specific human groups or cultures.
Some aspects of human behavior such as language; social practices such as kinship, gender,
and marriage; expressive forms such as art, music, dance, ritual, and religion; and technologies such
as cooking, shelter, and clothing are said to be cultural universals, found in all human societies. The
concept material culture covers the physical expressions of culture, such as technology, architecture,
and art, whereas the immaterial aspects of culture such as the principles of social organization
(including practices of political organization and social institutions), mythology, philosophy, literature
(both written and oral), and science make up the intangible human heritage of a society.
In the humanities, one sense of culture, as an attribute of the individual, has been the degree to
which it has cultivated a particular level of sophistication in the arts, sciences, education, or manners.
The level of cultural sophistication has also sometimes been seen to distinguish civilizations from less
complex societies, such hierarchical perspectives on culture are also found in class. based distinctions
between the high culture of the social elite and the low, popular culture or folk culture of the lower
classes.
In common parlance, culture is often used to refer specifically to the symbolic markers used by
ethnic groups to distinguish themselves visibly from each other, such as body modification, clothing,
or jewelry. Mass culture refers to the mass-produced and mass-mediated forms of consumer culture
that emerged in the twentieth century. Some schools of philosophy, such as Marxism and critical
theory, have argued that culture is often used politically as a tool of the elites to manipulate the lower
classes and create a false consciousness. Such perspectives are common in the discipline of cultural
studies. In the wider social sciences, the theoretical perspective of cultural materialism holds that
human symbolic culture arises from the material conditions of human life, as humans create the
conditions for physical survival, and that the basis of culture is found in evolved biological
dispositions.
When used as a count noun, culture is the set of customs, traditions, and values of a society or
community, such as an ethnic group or nation. In this sense, multiculturalism is a concept that values
the peaceful coexistence and mutual respect between different cultures inhabiting the same territory.
Sometimes "culture" is also used to describe specific practices within a subgroup of a society, a
subculture (e.g., "bro culture") or a counterculture Within cultural anthropology, the ideology and

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analytical stance of cultural relativism holds that cultures cannot easily be objectively ranked or
evaluated because any evaluation is necessarily situated within the value system of a given culture.

CULTURE AND SOCIETY

The relationship between society, culture, and personality is stressed by Ralph Linton: "A
society is an organized group of individuals. A culture is an organized group of learned responses. The
individual is a living organism capable of independent thought, feeling, and action, but his
independence is limited, and all his resources are profoundly modified by contact with the society and
culture in which he develops."
A society cannot exist apart from culture. A society is always made of persons and their
groupings. People carry and transmit culture, but they are not culture. No culture can exist except as it
is embodied in a human society; no society can operate without cultural directives. Like matter and
energy, like mind and body, culture and society are interdependent and interactive, yet they express
different aspects of the human situation. One must always keep in mind the interdependence and the
reciprocal relationship between culture and society. Each is a distinguishable concept in which the
pattern and organization of the whole is more important than any of the component parts.

REFERENCE/S:
Contreras, A. P., Dela Cruz, A. R. D., Erasga, D. S., Fadrigon, C. C. (2018). Understanding Culture,
Society, and Politics. Phoenix Publishing House, Inc. Quezon City, Philippines

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