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Anthropology – The focus of Anthropology is on
understanding both our shared humanity and
diversity, and engaging with diverse ways of
being in the world.
Subfields of Anthropology
• SOCIOCULTURAL ANTHROPOLOGY –
interpret the content of particular cultures,
explain variation among cultures
• BIOLOGICAL ANTHROPOLOGY - is the study
of the past and present evolution of the
human species
• ARCHAEOLOGY - study the material
remains of present and past cultural
systems to understand the technical,
CULTURE - It is defined as the customary
beliefs, social forms and traits that defines a
specific racial, religious or social group
CHARACTERISTIC –
o SOCIAL
o CULTURE VARIES FROM SOCIETY TO
SOCIETY
o SHARED
o LEARNED
o TRANSMITTED AMONG MEMBERS OF
SOCIETY
o CONTINUOUS AND CUMULATIVE
SOCIOLOGY - Sociology is the study of social
life, social change, and the social causes and
and consequences of human behavior.
SOCIETY – Comes from the Latin word “socius”
which means comrade, companion or friend
POLITICAL SCIENCE - a social science
concerned chiefly with the description and
analysis of political and especially governmental
institutions and processes
POLITICS - Comes from the Greek word
“Politika” which means affairs of the cities
HUMAN CULTURAL VARIATION
• It refers to the difference in social
behaviors that different cultures exhibit
around the world.
• It refers to the rich diversity in social
practices that different cultures exhibit
around the world.
EXAMPLES OF HUMAN CULTURAL
VARIATION
▪ RELIGON – it is an organized system of
ideas about the spiritual sphere or
supernatural. (e.g. Islam, Christianity,
Judaism, etc.)
▪ ETHNICITY – It is the expression of the
set of cultural ideas held by a distinct
ethnics or indigenous groups. ETHNOS –
“GROUP”, “NATION”, “PEOPLE”
▪ NATIONALITY – The identity that is tied
to being part of a nation or country.
NATION – A “group of people who share
the same history, traditions and
language”
SOCIAL DIFFERENCES
• The differences among the individuals
on the basis of social characteristics and
qualities.
• Mostly based on an occasion of birth or
decision. E.g. male or female; tall or
short
• Some of the differences are based on
the choices we made. E.G. – some
people use to follow religion while
some are atheists by choice.
EXAMPLES OF SOCIAL DIFFERENCES
VARIATION
▪ GENDER – “refers to the socially
constructed roles, behaviors, activities,
and attributes that a given society
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considers appropriate for men and
women” (WHO 2013)
▪ SOCIOECONOMIC
▪ POLITICAL IDENTITY – Refers to the set of
attitudes and practices that an individual
adheres to in relation to the political
systems and actors within his or her
society.
SOCIAL CHANGE
• It is the transformation of social
institutions over time.
• It refers to any significant alteration
over time in behavior patterns and
cultural values and norms. By
“significant” alteration, sociologists
mean changes yielding profound social
consequences.
CAUSES OF SOCIAL CHANGE
1. Natural Disasters
2. Ethnic Diversity and the distribution of
natural resources
3. Reform and revolutionary movement
4. Charismatic leadership
SOURCES OF CHANGE IN SOCIAL
CHANGE
1. Innovation – is the social creation and
institutionalization of new ideas
2. Diffusion – It occurs when one group
borrows something from another group
such as norms, values, food, clothing,
and other innovation
3. Discoveries – When people reorganized
existing elements of the world they had
not notices before or learned to see in a
new way
LESSON 2 THE SIGNIFICANCE OF
STUDYING CULTURE, SOCIETY, AND
POLITICS
Edward Taylor, 1871 - A complex whole which
includes knowledge, belief, art, law, morals,
customs, and any other capabilities and habits
acquired by people as members of society.
➢ Culture is a person's social heritage or the
customary ways in which groups organize
their ways of behaving thinking and
feeling.
➢ It is transmitted from one generation to
another through language.
Two types of culture
▪ Material Culture – includes the physical
objects that can be seen, touched and
felt by others.
▪ Non-Material Culture – The knowledge,
beliefs, norms and rules that form a
society and its peoples’ behavior.
ELEMENTS OF CULTURE
Values – Culture’s standard for discerning
what is good and just in society.
Examples: Filipino hospitality, resiliency, close-
family ties, positive outlook in life and optimism
Norms – These are the standard an expected
behavior within a society.
❖ Informal Norms
▪ Folkways or Customs – they are
behaviors of less importance yet still
influence our behavior.
Examples: Doing “Mano Po”; Practicing
“Bayanihan”
❖ Formal Norms
▪ Mores – they are norms that has a
firm control to moral and ethical
behavior. Morally acceptable or
unacceptable
Examples: Pre-marital sex, Homosexual
relationships
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▪ Laws – they are ordinance of reason
enacted to protect the people from
the bad effects of outdated mores
Taboos – These are norms that are crucial to a
society’s moral center, involving behaviors that
are always negatively sanctioned.
Examples: Incest, cannibalism
Symbols – or things that stand for something
else and that often evoke various reactions and
emotions.
Examples: types of nonverbal communication
(e.g. gestures) fact material objects (e.g. flag).
Beliefs – These are specific statements that
people hold to be true.
Example: Superstitious beliefs
IMPORTANCE OF STUDYING CULTURE
1. Culture creates man to be creative and
resourceful by adapting and integrating
himself in the environment to survive
2. It determines outline of acceptable social
behavior such as protocols, good
manners, roles, and duties established by
folkways, mores, and laws
3. It carry-out meanings through different
forms of verbal and non-verbal
communication.
4. It produces tangible objects relevant to
man such as instruments, tools,
equipment, structures, and all
technological advancements.
5. contributes to the totality of living of
humankind as well as on how they can
make their lives enjoyable, easier, and
comfortable.
SOCIETY
o Refers to a group of people who live in
a definable community and share the
same culture.
IMPORTANCE OF STUDYUBG SOCIETY
Societies are formed through social interaction
of its member. These members need to
understand their roles and functions to
propagate patterned behavior in a structured
society.
1. human connection and
interconnectedness
2. symbolizing identity of the members
3. characterizing the boundaries of a
territory
4. representing political independence
and economic interdependence
POLITICS
o in its broadest sense, is the activity
through which people make, preserve
and amend the general rules under
which they live.
o “the heart of politics is often portrayed
as a process of conflict resolution, in
which rival views or competing interests
are reconciled with one another.”
IMPORTANCE OF STUDYING POLITICS
1. Each society possesses distinctive
characteristic of political structure.
Political science deals primarily in the
study of government and state
processes.
2. Understanding deeply a political life
suggests that politics can be reduced to
the question of who gets what, where,
when, and how.
Lesson 3 Culture and Society as
Anthropological and Sociological
Concepts
Aspects of Culture;
▪ Dynamic, Flexible, & Adaptive – Culture
changes constantly throughout the
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time. It varies on the societal structure
and the capacities of its members to
respond.
▪ Shared & Contested – through its
elements is enjoyed by group of people
who lived together. It also allows its
members to predict the behavior of
other members but it is no assurance
that they will think and act similarly.
▪ Learned through socialization or
enculturation – is to learned with
practice through continued process. It is
a lifelong process in which social
interaction plays a vital role.
▪ Patterned social interactions – creates
patterned behavior and social
interactions that can be transmitted
through socialization and enculturation.
▪ Requires language and other forms of
communication – will be successfully
transmitted if it uses language and
other forms of communication within
their context.
▪ Transmitted through
socialization/enculturation
➢ Socialization – is a process of
learning and internalizing rules and
patterns of society (Sociological
Perspective)
➢ Enculturation – is a process of
learning and adopting ways and
manners of culture. (Anthropological
Perspective)
▪ Integrated and at times unstable – to be
always functioning must maintain its
components integrated. Language must
have all its idea and ideals intact for the
successful transmission from one
person to another.
Lesson 4 Perspectives in/Approaches to
the study of Culture and Society
1. Cultural Relativism – refers to not
judging a culture to our own standards
of what is right or wrong, strange or
normal. “NO CULTURE IS SUPERIOR TO
OTHER CULTURE”
2. Relativistic Approach – considers
cultures as equal. This view holds that
there are no superior and inferior
cultures, and each is unique in its own
way.
3. Ethnocentrism – OPPOSITE of Cultural
relativism. your native culture is the
most natural or superior way of
understanding the world.
4. Ethnocentric Approach – the belief that
one’s native culture is superior to other
cultures. Ethnocentric societies tend to
have a negative view of other countries
and people.
o Xenocentrism – the tendency to consider
their culture as inferiors to others.
Preferences of the Foreign
o Xenocentricsm – One clear indication of
the existence of xenocentrism is our
preferences for imported goods on the
assumption that anything from abroad is
better.
o Xenophobia – Dislike of or Prejudice
against people from other countries.
Theoretical Perspectives in Society
Structural Functionalism, Conflict
Theory, and Symbolic Interactionalism
Structural Functionalism –
Emile Durkheim – French Social Scientist. He
argued that parts of society are interdependent
and that this interdependency imposes
structure on the behavior of institutions and
their members
Conflict Theory – domination and power
over consensus and conformity. Rich get richer,
poor gets poorer. assumes that there is a
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constant power struggle among the various 4. Homo sapien (wise man) - lived 200,000
social groups and institutions within society. years ago,
Conflict theorists study the culture of o Neanderthal - Discovered in
“dominant classes” and analyze how this cave Neanderthal valley,
culture is imposed on other classes. Dusseldorf Germany (1856)
o Cro Magnon - 40,000 lived in
Symbolic Interactionism – We give meaning the last ice age of Europe
to things based on our Social Interaction discovered by Louis Lartet
LESSON 5 Bio-Cultural-Evolution Cultural Evolution
Stages of human evolution 1. PALEOLITHIC - Early human lived in a
1. Hominid (man like primates) = Great nomadic lifestyle. Used primitive stone
apes, Chimpanzee, Gorillas Orangutans tools.
– 40 M years Lived 2. NEOLITHIC - 10,000 B.C-4,500 and 2,000
o Ramapithecus – 4 M year lived, B.C on various parts of the world
Discovered in Siwalik Hills India Created ideas of religion
o Australopithecus (Southern Ape)
– 5 M Year lived, with small
brain, walk straight and use
simple stone. Ought to live on
Africa million years ago
o Australopithecus afarensis (Lucy)
– in Haddar, Addis, Ethiopa
(Africa) by Donal C. Johnson
(American), a teenage girl was
discovered
2. Homo habilis (handy man)- Apelike,
ability to make and use tools is a unique
quality of humans and recognized to be
the first true human.
o Zinjanthropus – Lived about 1.75
M years
o Lake Turkana Man -about 5 feet in
height has brain twice the size of
chimpanzee
3. Homo erectus (upright man)- lived 1.89
M discovered in Asia. first manlike
creature that walk straight, same brain
with modern human.
o Pithecanthropus erectus - “Java
Man”
o Sinanthropus pekinensis - (Peking
Man)
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