The Social

Sciences and
the Three
Faces of the
Social
 Society in its broader sense involves:
o Social (Actions and Interactions)
 Actions deals with the the fact or process of
doing something, typically the way in which a
mechanism works or a person moves.
 Interaction deals with reciprocal action or
influence. It happens when people reacts with
the action done by other people.
 (see I and Thou relationship by Martin
Buber)
o Cultural (Practices and Traditions)
 Practices deals with the actual application or use of an
idea, belief, or method, as opposed to theories relating to
it. It is the customary, habitual, or expected procedure or
way of doing of something. (it is a micro level in terms of
perspective)
 Traditions deals with the transmission of customs or
beliefs from generation to generation, or the fact of being
passed on in this way. More so, it is a long-established
custom or belief that has been passed on from one
generation to another.
 Political (Power relations)
 Power relations are the interactions between different groups
in a society. Power relations are the ability of one group or a
person to control others, and they exist at all levels of
society.
 It is a key sociological concept with several meanings and
considerable disagreement surrounding them.
 Power relations take place in interpersonal relationships,
among members of a community and on larger scales. They
can be associated with gender, socioeconomic status,
political status and more. In places where different groups
live together, one is more likely to exert control over the
others.
As formal and systematic studies of society,
these three facets are referred to as the social
sciences, also known in the academia as
disciplines.
These disciplines may be likened to a lens
which changes the way the wearer sees things
in terms of color, focus and detail.
In other words, they change a person’s
perspective.
In a way, each discipline provides unique
ways of seeing and an equally way of
zooming in on social details.
Regardless of their distinctive angles of
looking, they share a common goal; to
understand the social and to explore how
it drives the unfolding of society as we
know it.
 Together , these sciences show the three faces of the
social with each discipline representing unique facets
of it. And give their disciplinal foci, they provide a
precarious yet captivating portrayals of social life as
1.SOCIOLOGY – Impinged upon by social forces.
2.ANTHROPOLOGY-Routinized by cultural
practices
3.POLITICAL SCIENCE-Constantly enmeshed in
power relations.
CULTURE, SOCIETY AND POLITICS AS
CONCEPTUAL TOOLS
Culture, Society and Politics are Concepts.
They exist in the realm of ideas and thoughts.
As such they cannot be seen or touched and
yet they influence the way we see and
experience our individual and collective lives.
As social beings.
 Concepts- are created an have been used to have a
firm grip of phenomenon.
 It is described as the rational purport of a word or
a conception.
 This simply suggests that to turn a phenomenon into
a concept means to make it more rational.
 Instead of using a word more or less automatically,
an attempt is now made to scrutinize it and try what
is essential to it.
 One way to create a concept is by definition.
 Just like any other words concepts are initially
invented as icons to represent a phenomena and in the
process, assist their user to describe the facets of
social experience in relation to the phenomena
concerned.
 As their sharpness as icons became indubitably useful
and practical they began not only to be used as a tool
to explore social sciences and phenomena, their
organizing effect are utilized as well in making sense
of social realities altogether.
What is interesting about conceptual
tools, they allow us to form other
concepts, or relate concept to each other
or even deconstruct old ones and replace
them with something new.
Concept is one of the great tools of all
scientific knowledge. (Weber)
 Concept as a Heuristic Tool
(Simplifying Tool)
 Concepts allow the discovery of new aspects of
phenomenon.
 Concept can be conceived as a means rather than an end
wherein culture is the perfect example.
 With the concept of culture the anthropologists are able to
explore and make sense of the complex processes and
dynamics that characterize the variety of ways of living
practiced and observed around the world.
By simplifying such complex diversities
into a handy word, they are able to grasp
other issues such as values, belief systems,
socializations and host of other concepts.
In the same way society as a concept has
been exploited by sociologist to explain the
oftentimes confusing matrices and social
interactions.