CESC REV 2 SEM 2 BY ROAA
of society based on its role within the larger
Introduction: Societal Structures
Introduction
Communities are intricate networks of people,
groups, and structures, shaping our society. Close
examination reveals nuanced relationships among
community members, emphasizing the importance of
understanding their functions and dynamics.
Social Status and Roles
Social status
● is all about the dynamic of individual
identity relative to its social environment.
This interaction between the self and the
community equates to the individual's
stature in said setting.
Role
● is a set of defined and expected behavior or
norms that is ascribed to a certain social
status.
● In communities, our roles shape perceptions
beyond our physical selves. Actions
reinforce or alter these roles, with
individuals having the choice to adapt or
challenge them. However, these choices
define one's standing, and going against
norms risks losing community benefits.
Theoretical Perspectives
Functionalism
● Emile Durkheim distinguishes between
individual and collective perspectives.
● He introduces the concept of collective
consciousness, comprising shared customs
and beliefs within groups.
● Functionalists see society as a machine with
individual parts, each with its own function
contributing to the whole.
● Each part influences the overall functioning
system.
Conflict Theory
● Conflict Theory, developed by Karl Marx,
emphasizes the role of economics in society.
● Marx identifies a class conflict between the
proletariat (working class) and the
bourgeoisie (owners of the means of
production)
● The proletariat are workers who labor for
wages, while the bourgeoisie control
industries and trade.
● Marx sees the bourgeoisie as the primary
oppressors due to exploitation inherent in
the capitalist system.
● Marx highlights alienation experienced by
workers when they are separated from
ownership of production, leading to a loss of
value in their work and detachment from
themselves and society.
Examples:
1. Alienation from production - A worker
simply does not directly gain from the good
or service produced
2. Alienation from process - A worker does not
control his or her time nor his or her way of
doing things
3. Alienation from others - A worker is judged
based on the performance of others, which
creates unwarranted competition from his or
her peers
4. Alienation from the self- A worker is seen as
just another worker in the factory line
● Upper and lower class conflict mirrors a
thesis-antithesis dynamic.
● Synthesis emerges from compromise during
conflict, creating a new societal layer.
● This synthesis persists until new discontent
prompts further change.
 ● Ongoing conflict can lead to significant
societal change or irreparable division.
● The apparent stability of the status quo is
overshadowed by inevitable change.
● Social volatility underscores the constant
challenge to established norms.
● Conflict and change are constants in such
social environments.
Symbolic Interactionism
● Symbolic Interactionism emphasizes how
society's characteristics are shaped by
ongoing consensus among its members.
● It focuses on individuals' histories and
perspectives rather than primary social
institutions.
● George Herbert Mead posits that individuals'
views are shaped by their unique
experiences and interactions over time.
● Meaning is derived from these experiences,
influencing individuals' perspectives on
society.
Mead's theory of symbolic interactionism can be
summed up in three main points:
1. Meaning can be different for each person
depending on his or her history, knowledge,
and ongoing experience.
2. The meaning, in itself, can change and will
inevitably change.
3. Action or reaction may be different
depending on how the person sees the
meaning.
Symbolic interactionism emphasizes individual
interactions in shaping shared meanings and society.
It rejects the idea of individuals as mere products of
institutions, highlighting their active role in creating
and reinforcing social norms. This perspective urges
us to consider whether we are passive recipients or
active creators of meaning in our surroundings.
Social & Political Structures
Social Structures
● Society is composed of various
intermingling structures that continually
make interactions, thus creating meanings
that centre on people. The structures created
make up a set of values that stem from the
collective consciousness of individuals.
● Social structures are built upon values
originating from the collective
consciousness, indicating society as a
communal construct we affirm daily. They
encompass behaviours, roles, and statuses
interrelated to form stable social networks.
Political Structures
Definition of Political Structures:
● Politics encompasses power, governance,
administration, and decision-making.
● Political structure involves not only the
government but also various groups,
institutions, and individuals within a society.
Interactions and Implications:
● Interactions between political systems and
other actors lead to policy recommendations
and adjustments affecting daily life.
● Examples include taxation policies affecting
purchasing power and government decisions
shaping behaviour patterns.
Democratic Governance:
● In democratic societies, governments derive
power from voter participation.
● Legitimacy to rule comes from the
electorate, highlighting the importance of
the voting process.
Checks and Balances:
● Societal checks, such as social movements,
prevent arbitrary policy-making and abuse
of political power.
● Weak societal engagement can lead to
oppressive regimes trampling on citizen
rights.
Local Governance in the Philippines: Community Engagement:

● The Philippine local government system is ● It serves as a platform for community

structured around barangays. participation and contribution to projects
● Barangays originated from early communal and services.
groups led by tribal chiefs or datus. ● Proximity allows for quick resolution of
● The former datu, later on, became the local issues and efficient service delivery.
cabeza de barangay as part of the ruling
upper class or the principalla. Economic & Social Structures
● Historical influences, including Spanish and
Economic Structures
American occupations, shaped the barangay
system, maintaining core structures over ● Societies run on production and
time. consumption within a market economy.
● The current economic system is
Role of the Barangay:
laissez-faire, allowing free production
● It serves as the primary unit for decisions without central control.
implementing government policies and ● The concept of the invisible hand operates
settling disputes. under the assumption of scarcity, where
● It facilitates the expression of collective supply and demand determine value and
views and community involvement. cost.
● Contrastingly, a planned or command
Creation Process: market involves state or government control
of production.
● Barangays can be created, merged, or ● A free market economy relies on
abolished by law or local ordinances. competition, akin to "survival of the fittest,"
● Creation requires a minimum population and where successful businesses grow based on
proper territorial identification. consumer choice.

Barangay Officials and Offices:

● Each barangay has a Punong Barangay, To learn more of economic structures, it is a necessity
Sangguniang Barangay members, to get to know the five various types of markets.
Sangguniang Kabataan chairman, Barangay
Secretary, and Barangay Treasurer. Perfect Competition:
● Additionally, there's a Lupong
Tagapamayapa for dispute resolution. ● Indefinite number of buyers and sellers.
● No single entity can control prices or supply.
Authority and Function: ● Products or services compete based on value
and cost.
● Barangay officials are deemed as persons in
authority, responsible for maintaining public Monopoly:
order and security.
● The barangay acts as a self-governing unit, ● Single seller controls production of a needed
providing basic services and addressing good or service.
local concerns. ● Consumers have no alternative sources.
● Can lead to exploitation of consumers due to
lack of competition.

Oligopoly:

● Market dominated by a few producers.

 ● Producers can manipulate prices and supply.
● Government regulation may be necessary to
prevent abuse.
Monopolistic Competition:
● Many sellers with differentiated products.
● Each seller has some degree of pricing
power based on differentiation.
Monopsony:
● Single buyer controls the market.
● Producers compete for the buyer's business
● Buyer holds significant bargaining power
over pricing.
Sociocultural Structures
The interactions generated in between these social
variables provide the syntheses from multitudes of
discourses that create the patterns of social norms. To
engage and see these patterns, we can look into
specific behaviora syntheses that are results of these
interactions.
Political Trends:
● History: The Philippines has a tumultuous
political history marked by power struggles,
shaping views on governance and human
rights.
● Civil Society: Civil society organizations
play a crucial role in raising social concerns
and filling gaps left by the government.
● Challenges: Political shifts hinder
continuous reforms, leading to bureaucratic
challenges and limiting societal progress.
Cultural Trends:
● Globalization: Post-Cold War globalization
led to cultural exchanges and appreciation of
foreign influences.
● Challenges: Over-patronization of foreign
brands can marginalize local products,
emphasizing the need for support for local
industries.
● Identity: There's a call to explore and
appreciate native culture and heritage to
strengthen Filipino identity.
Economic Trends:
● Resilience: Despite challenges, the
Philippine economy remains resilient,
buoyed by stable policies and industries like
BPO and electronics manufacturing.
● Challenges: Job accessibility,
underemployment, and inclusivity remain
issues, prompting government
Technological & Environmental Structures
Technological Structures
● In the Philippines, there's a need to prioritize
critical thinking and innovation in
governance. Research has been neglected,
leading to underdeveloped discoveries and
innovations. Lack of government support
leaves local industries struggling. The One
Town, One Product (OTOP) project is a
notable initiative to enhance local products,
but more efforts like this are needed for
market development.
ONE TOWN, ONE PRODUCT (OTOP)
PHILIPPINES
(Department of Trade and Industry, n.d.)
● OTOP-Philippines is a government program
promoting entrepreneurship and job
creation. It empowers local leaders to
develop competitive products or services
using indigenous resources. The program
provides comprehensive support, including
business counseling, technology assistance,
training, marketing, and product
development, through collaboration between
local and national agencies and the private
sector.
Environmental Structures ● Choices are not equal in terms of value to
the individual, therefore, these options can
● Community Risks: Philippines faces natural be sorted depending on relative alue or
calamities due to its geographical location importance
and urban mismanagement.
● Disaster Risk Reduction (DRR): UNICEF Transitivity
addresses vulnerabilities, focusing on
children's participation in DRR efforts. ● Choices or variables are interrelated to each
● Action: UNICEF conducts studies, other and follows the relation thereof.
establishes child-centered DRM models, and
Choices are ordered in such a way that an
partners with NGOs and LGUs for DRR
individuals’s choice follows a strong relation that
programs.
affects the final choice or determined outcome.
● Impact: Equity Focus: DRR efforts
prioritize hazard-prone and economically
impoverished areas, aiming to break the
cycle of poverty exacerbated by disasters. Competition & Conflict
● Community Involvement: Community
participation is crucial in DRR efforts, from ● Competition - we are in constant
local clean-up initiatives to emergency aid competition; we fight to survive the
trainings, fostering responsive and resilient competition in our own way, usually
communities. resulting in conflicts.
● Partnerships: Collaboration between ● Conflict - escalated competition; more
people, local governments, and international deliberate, more violent, coercive tactics.
organizations operationalizes DRR efforts, ● Conflict is good
addressing environmental challenges
cooperation & accommodation
effectively.
● Cooperation - when groups work together
Societal Dynamic & Processes
to achieve a common goal or task.
Social Exchange & Rational Choice Theory ● Accommodation - similar to a compromise;
represents neutrality in social interactions.
● People will choose what is best for them,
they always base their fundamental choices Social Change
on the subject of incentives.
● Society is ever-changing. It is never static
● Given choices, people will choose the most
since the people that make up the society
optimal among it.
are, in nature, continually changing
● Individual actions can either be motivated or
regarding their interaction on a certain
disuaded, depending on the exhange
milieu. Social change refers to the
between the choices at hand. The theory on
fluctuations or deviations in the order of
rational choices also applies to collectives
society. Changes that affect its institution,
because they are composed of rational
norms, or cultures are all variables that can
individuals that may have influencve on the
affect social change.
behavior or norms within the organization.
Perspectives of social change:

1. Evolutionary Theory - Explains that

BAsic tenets in rational choice theory
society follows an evolutionary development
Completeness from a simple commune and then moves
toward more complex systems
 2. Conflict Theory - Explains that conflict
between the holders of power and the
disenfranchised are the drivers of social
change and conflixt is a necessary
characteristics in social relations
3. Functionalist Theory - Explains that the set
roles and statuses hold social belance and
therefore, any change in the scheme will
have repercussions on the functions of other
roles and statuses.
COMMUNITY STRUCTURE, PROCESS,
DYNAMICS
● Community Structure is represented by
social hierarchy that are inheret to each
collective. The various social statuses and
roles are all a part of the system we live in.
● Community Process in itself is never linear
but a complex of web interactions that both
collerate and cause variable change to the
status quo
● Community Dynamics - actors are the
individuals, civil society groups, pressure
groups, and movements who all contribute
to the communities in the creation of
meaning.
● Community exists primarily on the wills of
its members. We are the ones that create the
value and meaning. The way we see our
community will determine its effects not
only to us, but also to many others. Our own
personal perspective and surroundings are
interrelated and never isolates, and they
come together to form a worldview that we
believe is true.
Societal Typologies
Urban Communities:
Characteristics:
● High population density with close
proximity of buildings.
● Residents often live in high-rise buildings
due to limited space.
● Access to various services like hospitals,
restaurants, and grocery stores is convenient
due to proximity.
Challenges:
● Pollution due to industrial activities and
dense population.
● High cost of living.
● Higher crime rates compared to suburban
and rural areas.
Suburban Communities:
Characteristics:
● Located on the outskirts of urban areas.
● Medium-sized population with less density.
● Predominantly residential areas with low- to
mid-rise buildings and more space for each
household.
Challenges:
● Limited economic activity compared to
urban areas.
● Access to schools and markets is farther
compared to urban areas.
Rural Communities:
Characteristics:
● Located in the countryside with houses far
apart from each other.
● Least population density among the three
types.
● Main livelihoods are farming and livestock
raising.
Challenges:
● Lack of access to basic services like
healthcare and education.
● Underdeveloped markets.
● Limited economic opportunities compared
to urban and suburban areas.
Formal and Informal Sectors

Formal Sector:

Characteristics:

● Comprises establishments and enterprises

complying with government requirements
and regulations.
● Legal entities with licenses and permits.
● Subject to government supervision and
protection.

Examples of Formal Sector:

● Multinational Corporations
● Corporate Firms
● Listed/Traded Companies

Informal Sector:

Characteristics:

● Lacks compliance with government

requirements and licenses.
● Operates outside formal regulations and
policies.
● Often referred to as the "shadow economy"
due to lack of state supervision.

Examples of Informal Sector:

● Street Food Vendors

● Freelance Workers
● Street Vendors