SOCIOCULTURAL
have permanent settlements, hence,
EVOLUTION
The Social as “Driver of Interaction”
-Gerhard Lenski (1924-2015), an American
sociologist, argued that human society
undergoes transformation and evolution and
in the process develops technological
advancement. For Lenski, the development
of technology, the information acquired by
humans on how to apply societal resources
as a response to human needs and wants,
leads to evolution and transformation of
societies.
Sociologists have classified the different
types of societies into six categories, each
of which possesses their own unique
characteristics:
1. Hunting and Gathering
2. Horticultural
3. Pastoral
4. Agricultural
5. Industrial
6. Post-industrial
Hunting and Gathering Societies
• The oldest and most basic way of
economic subsistence
• Produce simple forms of tools used
to hunt for animals and gather
vegetation for food
• Men are tasked to hunt large animals
• Women are responsible for the
collection of edible crops
• There is an equal division of labor
among the members.
• They frequently move and do not
they are nomadic.
• These societies are small compared
to the others.
• Family is the society's primary
institution.
• They have shaman or priest who acts
as the leader of the group.
• They believe that spirits live in the
world.
Horticultural Societies
• Described as semisedentary societies
because they do not frequently move
• Subsist through small-scale farming
• Produce and use simple forms of
hand tools to plant crops
• There is a surplus of food in
horticultural societies.
Pastoral Societies
• Means of subsistence is animal
domestication
• Classified as animal herders and
subsist based on the resources
provided by their animals
• Described as semisedentary
• Both horticultural and pastoral
societies are described as having
unequal relations because some
members act as the ruling elite.
Agricultural Societies and Neolithic
Revolution
• Humans began to farm and
domesticate animals as their form of
subsistence
• Produced cultivation tools and
developed farming skills that can
support and sustain a town
• Abundant supply of resources
produced through plant cultivation
led to the rise of early civilizations
• This new form of economic
subsistence is known Neolithic
Revolution, which transformed
societies to agricultural societies.
• Animal domestication provided
important contributions
• Agricultural societies developed and
population increased into millions
• Settled permanently and improved
the technology for farming
• Members of society produced
surplus of food supply
• Members of society developed
specialization
• Money became a form of exchange
replacing barter system
• Social inequality increased
Industrial Societies
• In the eighteenth century, Europe
experienced a dramatic rise in
technological invention, ushering in
an era known as the Industrial
Revolution.
• New sources of energy harnessed,
advanced forms technology applied,
and machineries were invented
• Changed from agricultural society to
production-and-manufacturing based
one
• In the eighteenth century, Europe
experienced a dramatic rise in
technological invention, ushering in
an era known as the Industrial
Revolution.
• New sources of energy harnessed,
advanced forms technology applied,
and machineries were invented
• Changed from agricultural society to
production-and-manufacturing based
one
Post-Industrial Societies
• Information societies are based on
the production of information and
services.
• Digital technology is the steam
engine of information societies
• Economy of information societies is
driven by knowledge and not
material goods, power lies with those
in charge of storing and distributing
information.
According to Bell (1999), post-industrial
societies are characterized by the ff:
• Transfer of labor workforce from
manufacturing to service
• Significant increase in the number of
professional and technical
employment
• Education as the basis of social
mobility
• Human capital as an essential aspect
of understanding the strength of
society
• Application of “intellectual
technology” which is based on the
application of mathematics and
linguistics and the use of algorithms
and software programming models
• Focus on communication
infrastructure
• Knowledge as source of invention
and innovation
Biological and Cultural
Evolution: From
Australopithecus to Homo
Sapiens
What is biological evolution?
-It refers to the changes, modifications, and
variations in the genetics and inherited traits
of biological populations from one
generation to another.
What is cultural evolution?
-Cultural or sociocultural evolution refers to
the changes or development in cultures from
simple form to a more complex form of
human culture.
-It happens as a result of human adaptation
to different factors like climatic changes and
population increase.
-Biological evolution is based on the theory
of evolution that was introduced by the
famous naturalist and geologist Charles
Darwin (1809-1882).
-Darwin hypothesized that the evolution of
species happens through the process of
natural selection.
-“Natural selection is the outcome of process
that affect the frequencies of traits in a
particular environment. Traits that enhance
survival and reproductive success increase
in frequency over time.” –Ember and
Peregrine (2002)
Three Important Principles of Natural
Selection
1. Variation
Every species is made up of
individuals wherein some are better adapted
to their environments compared to others.
2. Heritability
Organisms produce progeny with
different sets of traits that can be inherited.
3. Differential reproductive success
Organisms that have traits most
suitable to their environment will survive
and transfer these variations to their
offspring in subsequent generations.
From Hominids to Homo Sapiens
Sapiens: The Biological and Cultural
Evolution of Modern Humans
-Fossils refer to the human, plant, and
animal remains that have been preserved
through time.
-Artifacts refer to objects that were made
and used by humans.
-Hominid is the general term used by
scientists to categorize the group of early
humans and other humanlike creatures that
can walk erect during the prehistoric times.
-There are four categories of hominids
based on the age of artifacts and fossils
were found:
-Sahelanthropus;
-Ardipithecus;
-Australopithecus; and
-Homo (Homo habilis, Homo
erectus, and Homo sapiens)
Sahelanthropus
-Had both apelike and humanlike
characteristics
-A skull to the Australopithecus and modern
human
-Height almost similar to chimpanzee
-Brain size of about 320-380 cubic cm
-Small teeth similar to other hominids
Had the ability to walk upright
Ardipithecus “ape on the ground”
• Height about 4 feet
• Weight of about 120 pounds
• Skull size similar to an ape
• Small brain
• Biped (walked on two legs or feet)
• Lived in jungles and forests like the
chimpanzees
Australopithecus “southern ape”
• Brain size of 500 cubic cm (cc)
• Upright
• Biped
• Tool users only and not tool makers
• Used sticks and stones for digging
• Lived in small social groups
• Distance of movement was estimated
to be 15 km
• Food scavengers
• Ate insects, eggs, plants, fruits, and
sometimes meat
The Homo Species
• much more intelligent group of
hominids
• classified as humans and not
humanlike creatures because they
had bigger brains and were bipedal
• Homo habilis (handy man)
• Homo erectus (upright man)
• Homo sapiens (wise man)
Homo habilis (handy man)
• Height about 3 to 4 feet
• Brain size half the size of the modern
human
• Made tools which were used as
cutting tools and made from volcanic
stones
• Used tools for hunting and food
gathering
Homo erectus (upright man)
• Brain size of 1,000 cc or about 2/3 of
the modern human brain size
• Height of about five feet
• Walks upright
• Made complex tools used for
digging, cutting and scraping
• first Homo to use fire and to live in
caves and small houses
• first Homo to use spoken language
Homo sapiens (wise man)
• Large brain size that is almost
similar to the brain of modern
humans
• Lived in shelters
• Food gatherers
• Ate plants and fruits
• Hunted animals
• Learned to gather and cook shellfish
• Used fire
• Crafted metals
Political Evolution
What is Political Science?
The development of early civilizations
showed the political evolution of society. A
civilization develops because of a society’s
highly advanced level of culture, social
organization, political developments,
judicial system, arts, and other forms of
culture at a particular time.
The Ancient or Early Human
Civilizations in the World
Sumerian Civilization – Tigris and
Euphrates River in West Asia
Indus valley – Indus River Valley in India
Shang Civilization – Huang Ho/Huang He
River in China
Egyptian Civilization – Nile River
The Four Major Civilizations in the
World
• Flourished along the river plains or
river valleys
• These river valley civilizations are
considered the cradle of human
civilizations.
What are the characteristics of these
civilizations?
1. Developed and highly advanced
cities
2. Well-defined city centers
3. Complex and systematic institutions
4. Organized and centralized system of
government
5. Formalized and complex of religion
6. Job specialization
7. Development of social classes
8. Implementation of large-scale public
works and infrastructure
9. Sophisticated and detailed forms of
arts and architecture
10. Advanced technology
11. System of writing and recording
Political System of Civilizations
• Had a highly centralized and well-
organized form of government
whose leaders are powerful
• Had a clear hierarchy of official with
specific functions and
responsibilities
• Had codified laws and rules that
were obeyed and followed by the
people
• These civilizations also developed an
organized, stable, and effective
government to ensure the safety of
the people and supervise the
production and distribution of food
supply.
• Political leaders of early civilizations
were also tasked to do the following:
-Craft laws
-Implement laws
-Impose justice and punishment
-Collect taxes
-Sometimes act as religious leaders
as well
Social and Political Systems of the Four
Major Civilization
THREE FACES OF Logos originally meaning word, reason,
speech, or account and later doctrine, theory
SOCIAL SCIENCES or science
SOCIAL SCIENCES Literally then, Anthropology is the science
of nature of human beings
Social sciences are a group of academic
disciplines that examine society and how Anthropology
people interact and develop as a culture.
• It is the study of people throughout the
a subject within the field of social science, world, their evolutionary history, how they
such as economics and politics behave, adapt to different environments,
communicate and socialize with one another
FACES OF SOCIAL SCIENCES
• The study of anthropology is concerned
Anthropology
both with the biological features that make
Economics us human and with social aspects (language,
culture, politics, family and religion)
Geography
4 Fields of Anthropology
History Political
Cultural anthropology
Science
Physical anthropology
Psychology
Linguistic anthropology
Sociology
Archaelogy
THREE FACES OF SOCIAL SCIENCES
Cultural anthropology – cultural (or socio-
Anthropology cultural) anthropologists are interested in
Sociology learning about the cultural aspects of human
societies all over the world.
Political Science
Physical/Biological anthropology –
physical anthropology is the anthropological
study of the human body.
Biological (or physical) anthropologists-
carry out systematic studies of the non-
cultural aspects of humans and near humans.
Non-cultural refers to all of those biological
characteristics that are genetically inherited
WHAT IS ANTHROPOLOGY? in contrast to learned.

From the Greek Near-human is a category that includes

monkeys, apes, and the other primates as
Anthro means human beings well as our fossil ancestors
Linguistic Anthropology cultural, and psychological factors that
manually influence the operation of
It is the study of human language
government and the body of politics.
Linguistic anthropologists study the human
communication process
CULTURE, SOCIETY AND POLITICS
Archaeology
AS CONCEPTUAL TOOLS
It is the study of what humans left behind,
They exist in the realm of ideas and
through excavation, which means digging
thoughts.
things up. Archaeologists are interested in
recovering the prehistory and early history Concept can be conceived more as a ‘means’
of societies and their cultures. They rather than as an ‘end’.
systematically uncover the evidence by
WHY IS IT IMPORTANT TO STUDY
excavating, dating, and analyzing the
SOCIAL SCIENCES
material remains left by people in the past.
It helps us improve ourselves, as well as our
Sociology – it is a social science that studies
society.
human societies, their interactions, and the
processes that preserve and change them. It We will know about the different culture and
does this by examining the dynamics of religion in the world and how to value and
consistent parts of societies such as respect our culture.
institutions, communities, populations,
It helps us to gain knowledge of the society
gender, racial or age groups. It also studies
we live in.
social status, as well as societal disorder in
the form of crime, deviance, and revolution. Mindfulness of others.
Social differences – the differences among It makes us an efficient citizen of a
the individuals on the basis of social democracy, and it also helps us to solve the
characteristics and qualities practical problems in our daily life.
-complex differences To understand human behavior
-can create discrimination
-can create problems in a society
Political Science
It is the systematic study of government and
politics. It deals extensively with the
analysis of political systems, the theoretical
and practical application to politics, and the
examination of political behavior.
The contemporary discipline, however, is
considerably broader than this,
encompassing studies of all the societal,
CHANGES IN CULTURE
AND SOCIETY/THREE
SOCIAL PARADIGMS
Culture and Cultural Change
What is culture?
Culture is…
• shared patterns of behaviors and
interactions, cognitive constructs and
understanding that are learned by
socialization
• "culture" derives from a French term,
derived from the Latin "colere,"
which means to tend to the earth and
grow, or cultivation and nurture
• consists of the values, beliefs,
systems of language,
communication, and practices that
people share and that can be used to
define them as a collective
Enculturation and Culture Shock
• Enculturation refers to the gradual
acquisition of the characteristics and
norms of a culture or group by a
person, another culture, etc.
• Culture shock, individuals who have
stayed for quite a good portion of
their lives in a foreign culture may
be shocked by their birth culture
once exposed to it again.
•
WHAT IS CULTURE SHOCK?
-commonly experienced by travelers,
expats and exchange students, “culture
shock” describes the impact of moving
from a familiar culture to an unfamiliar
one.
Ethnocentrism
• ethno comes from the Greek, refers
to a people, nation, or cultural
grouping
• centric comes from Latin and refers
to the center
• refers to the tendency of each other
society to place its own culture
patterns at the center of things
 • It is the practice of comparing other
cultural practices with those of one’s
own and automatically finding those
cultural practices to be inferior.
• It is the belief that your native
culture is the most natural or superior
way of understanding the world.
Functions of Ethnocentrism
1. It encourages the solidarity of a
group.
2. It hinders the understanding or the
cooperation between groups.
3. It becomes a vehicle for the
promotion of social change.
What is cultural change?
• Horton & Hunt: “changes in the
culture of society is called cultural
change.”
• Kingsley Davis: “cultural changes
embarrass occurring in any branch of
culture including, art, science,
technology, philosophy etc. as well
as changes in the forms and rules of
social organization.”
• David Dressler and Donald Caens:
“It is the modification or
discontinuance of existing ‘tried’ and
‘tested’ procedures transmitted to us
from the culture of the past, as well
• as the introduction of new
procedures.”
How does culture change?
• Culture changes through
developments in technology, political
belief and religious ideas.
• Cultural change occurs due to the
diffusion of ideas from one society to
another.
• Cultural change also occurs through
syncretism, or when ideas from
different cultures mix.
Sources of Cultural Change
• Discovery- It is a new perception of
an aspect of reality that already
exists.
Example
People used to think that girls weren’t
athletic. As girls began to compete in sports,
relationship between men and women
changed
• Invention- It is the combination or
new use of existing knowledge to
produce something that did not exist
before.
Example
The invention of steam engine change our
world.
 • Diffusion- It is the spreading of Why is culture important to society?
cultural traits from group to another
• It is constructed by our society.
group.
• It reflects the inner workings of an
Example
individual society.
-American food in the Philippines.
• It defines values, influences
-Chinese traditions and beliefs in the personality development and
Philippines. influences career choices.
• Acculturation. It is cultural • Society could not function without
modification of an individual, group, cultural norms that assist in
or people by adapting to or governing behavior and values, and
borrowing traits from another culture could not exist without
culture. societal influences to create it.
Example
-Learning new language
-Modifying behavior to conform new social
norms
• Assimilation. It is the process of
combination of two cultures in to one
culture with comprising cultural
traits.
Example
Discarding traditional fashion choices and
clothing in preference for the fashion of the
dominant culture.
CULTURAL
RELATIVISM
Cultural Relativism
Definition of Cultural Relativism in the
Perspective of Sociology
In Bolivia, 14-year-old girls can get married.
In China, men have to wait until they’re 22.
Ethnocentrism
According to Khan Academy (2020),
ethnocentrism means you use your own
culture as the center and evaluate other
cultures based on it.
What is cultural relativism?
According to Khan Academy (2020),
cultural relativism refers to not judging a
culture to our own standards of what is right
or wrong, strange or normal.
• It is the idea that all norms, beliefs,
and values are dependent on their
cultural context and should be
treated as such.
• Cultural relativism means that the
function and meaning of a trait are
relative to its cultural setting.
• A trait is good or bad only with
reference to the culture in which it is
to function.
• The concept of cultural relativism
does not mean that all customs are
equally valuable, nor does it imply
that no customs are harmful.
• The central point in cultural
relativism is that in a particular
cultural setting certain traits are right
because they work well in that
setting while other traits are wrong
because they would clash painfully
with parts of that culture.
Examples
• Fur clothing is good in Arctic but not in
tropic.
• To be fat is good in societies which
occasionally face long periods of
hunger.
• In our society, to be fat is known to
be unhealthy and fat people are not
admired.
• Here in the Philippines, premarital
sex is morally unacceptable. If go to
another country, teenagers want to
lose their virginity at a young age.
• One society makes any prohibitions
on women; while another society
allows women to have equal
opportunities and obligations as men.
Two complementary reasons in appreciation
of other cultures:
1. acquisition of sufficient knowledge
about the culture in question
2. direct exposure to other cultures
The Importance of Cultural Relativism
• It is a tool to suspense of your own
personal viewpoints and cultural bias
temporarily to try to understand the
conditions of a particular cultural
practice or problem.
• Cultural Relativism does not mean
anything a culture or group of people
believe is true.
• Cultural Relativism does not mean that
anything a culture does is good or
moral.
• Cultural Relativism doesn’t mean that
cultures can’t be compared.
Xenocentrism and Xenophobia
Xenocentrism
• It refers to a preference for the foreign.
• It is characterized by a strong belief that
one’s own products, styles, or ideas are
inferior to those which originates
elsewhere
Culture as Heritage
• Cultures have tangible and intangible
components.
• Cultural artifacts both tangible and
intangible may become “heritage
objects” by their sheer age and
association with momentous historical
events and noteworthy personalities.
• The typical heritage artifacts are sites
and objects, while typical intangible
heritage may be associated with events.
• Preservation of cultural heritage is
tantamount to protecting them from
external threats such as destruction,
mutilation, and desecration through
frivolous use/representation.