UNDERSTANDING

CULTURE, SOCIETY
AND POLITICS
Importance of Understanding Culture,
Society and Politics?

Culture, society and politics are essentials in

understanding human behavior and social
groups.
By understanding the idea of culture, society
and politics, we learn more about our country,
and we are able to come up with solutions to
existing problems.
It helps people to know how to interact with
others both within and outside of their own
society and culture.
 Culture

• refers to the knowledge,

language, values, customs, and
physical objects that are
passed from generation to
generation among members of
a group.
 Culture
• encompasses religion,
food, what we wear, how
we wear it, our language,
marriage, music, what we
believe is right or wrong,
how we sit at the table,
how we greet visitors, how
we behave with loved ones.
 Society
• Is generally defined as an
organized group or groups
of interdependent people
who shares a common
territory, language,
culture and who act
together for collected
survival and well being.
 Politics
• refers to the theory,
art, and practice of
government.
• It involves making
decisions that apply to
group of members
• Each person interacts meaningfully
with one another as a member of
society. Culture encompasses the
meaningful processes and products
of these social interactions. People
interact in society as individuals
and as groups with duties and
privileges. In the exercise of duties
and privileges, a person as a
member of society engages in
political activities.
 SOCIAL DIFFERENCES

• The differences among the

individuals on the basis of
social characteristics and
qualities are known as social
differences. Social differences
are the complex differences
and they include class, race,
culture, age, ability, gender,
socioeconomic class, political
identity, religion, etc.
 Human Variation
• Human Variability or Human Variation is
the range of possible values for any
measurable characteristics, physical or
mental, of human being. Differences can be
trivial or important, transient or permanent
 Common Human Variations
1. Sexual Orientation
a. bisexual-attracted to both sexes
c. Heterosexual- attracted to opposite sex
d. Homosexual- attracted to a person with the
same sex
e. Pansexual- accommodate all types of gender
f. Polysexual- attracted to multiple types of
gender identity
 Common Human Variations
2. Human genetic variation-
Sex (male, female), skin or
eye coloring, complexion,
hair color, body hair.
3 Body shape and size- height
(shortness, dwarfism,
tallness, gigantism), body
type (thinness, obesity).
 Cultural Variation
- Refers to all alterations affecting new traits or
trait complexes, to changes in a culture’s content
and structure. These changes are caused by
several factors such as the physical environment,
population, technology, war and conquest.
Eathquakes, repeated flooding, severe droughts
and other interruption in the physical
environment drastically alter the people’s
lifestyles.
 Human Cultural Variation
• refers to the differences in social behaviors that different
cultures exhibit around the world. What may be considered
good etiquette in one culture may be considered bad
etiquette in another. (globalsociology.pbworks.com).
Example
• Showing the thumb held upwards means in Latin America,
especially Brazil, but also in many other countries
„everything’s ok”, while it is understood in some Islamic
countries as well as Sardinia and Greece as a rude sexual sign.
Furthermore, the sign of thumb up may signify the number
"one" in France and a few other central european countries.
 Social change
• Refers to variations or modifications in
the patterns of social organization, of sub-
groups within the society, or of the entire
society itself. Examples of social change
include the industrial revolution, the
abolition of slavery, the civil rights
movement and women's suffrage
movement.
 Three (3) Causes of Social Change
1. Invention- defined
as a new use of
existing knowledge.
a. material inventions
(e.g. mobile
phone, airplane,
bow and arrow)
b. social inventions
(alphabet, texting,
jejemon)
 Three (3) Causes of Social Change
2. Discovery- is the process by which
something is learned or reinterpreted.
Discovery influences change by causing
people to learn new things which may
change their viewpoints, or change their
routine to better themselves based off of
the new information found through
discovery. For example, when early
explorers began to explore the ocean, they
discovered that the Earth wasn't flat, but
rather was round. This lead to new maps
being printed, as well as new waterways
and trade-routes developing due to new
exploration under the idea that there was
no "end of the Earth" to fall off of.
 Three (3) Causes of Social Change
3. Diffusion- spread of culture traits from one group
to another through trade, migration, and mass
communication.
• Diffusion has occurred within America several
times, such as when the English settlers developed
new planting and harvesting methods from the
Native Americans; the Native American’s culture
provided the settlers with a means of survival, and
therefore the settlers easily adopted their culture.
Sun Diagrams

Human
Variation
 EVALUATION

Answer the following questions.

• Enumerate the three (3) reasons of social
change
ASSIGNMENT
Explore the origins and dynamics of culture,
society and political identities.
 References
• https://www.reference.com/world-view/examples-social-
change-1fabeebed74b9037
• https://www.britannica.com/topic/social-change
• https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Identity_politics
•
https://www.livescience.com/21478-what-is-culture-definitio
n-of-culture.html
. Retrieved on November 1
• http://www.cicb.net/en/home/examples. Retrieved on
November 1
• https://www.bing.com/search?q=religion+definition&qs=AS&
pq=religion&sk=AS1&sc=8-8&cvid=61B6FB81D858419683F79
FCFD731AAF2&FORM=QBRE&sp=2