CULTURE AND SOCIETY

SOCIETY

• IS A GROUP OF INDIVIDUALS SHARING A COMMON CULTURE,

GEOGRAPHICAL LOCATION, AND GOVERNMENT.

THE CLASSIC DEFINITION OF SOCIETY IS BASED ON E.B. TYLOR'S CONCEPT,

• SOCIETY IS "THAT COMPLEX WHOLE WHICH ENCOMPASSES BELIEFS, PRACTICES,

VALUES, ATTITUDES, LAWS, NORMS, ARTIFACTS, SYMBOLS, KNOWLEDGE, AND
EVERYTHING THAT A PERSON LEARNS AND SHARES AS A MEMBER OF SOCIETY."
A SOCIETY IS CHARACTERIZED BY THE PRESENCE OF THE FOLLOWING ELEMENTS:

• A) SOCIAL SOLIDARITY, WHEREBY MEMBERS OF THE COMMUNITY LIVE TOGETHER FOR MUTUAL
BENEFIT;

• B) SHARED IDENTITY AND CULTURE AMONG MEMBERS THAT SERVE AS BASIS FOR THEIR
PATTERNS OF ACTION AND BEHAVIOR;

• C) A COMMON LANGUAGE;

• D) A LARGE POPULATION AND THE ABILITY TO SUSTAIN SUCCEEDING GENERATIONS OF MEMBERS;

• E) DEFINITE GEOGRAPHICAL AREA; AND

• F) POLITICAL, ECONOMIC, AND SOCIAL ORGANIZATION.

 FIVE (5) MAJOR TYPES OF SOCIETIES

1. HUNTING AND GATHERING COMMUNITIES

2. HORTICULTURAL AND PASTORAL SOCIETIES
3. AGRICULTURAL SOCIETIES
4. INDUSTRIAL SOCIETIES
5. POST INDUSTRIALIST SOCIETIES
 IS ONE OF THE IMPORTANT BASES THAT DEFINE AND INFLUENCE A
SOCIETY. CULTURE REFERS TO THE SET OF BELIEFS, IDEAS, VALUES,
PRACTICES, KNOWLEDGE, HISTORY AND SHARED EXPERIENCES,
ATTITUDES, AS WELL AS MATERIAL OBJECTS AND POSSESSIONS
ACCUMULATED OVER TIME AND SHARED BY THE MEMBERS OF SOCIETY
 TWO PRIMARY CATEGORIES OF CULTURE:

1. MATERIAL CULTURE IS COMPOSED OF THE PHYSICAL OR TANGIBLE OBJECTS

PRODUCED, SHARED, AND UTIL1ZED WITHIN SOCIETY SUCH AS TOOLS OR IMPLEMENTS,
PAINTINGS AND OTHER WORKS OF ART, ARCHITECTURAL STYLES, WEAPONRY, AND TOYS.
2. NONMATERIAL CULTURE IS CONSIST OF THE INTANGIBLE PROPERTIES AND ELEMENTS
OF SOCIETY THAT INFLUENCE THE PATTERNS OF ACTION AND BEHAVIOR OF ITS
MEMBERS.

EXAMPLES:

LANGUAGE, BELIEFS, VALUES, ATTITUDES, IDEAS, AND NORMS SHARED AMONG MEMBERS
OF SOCIETY.
 FOUR VITAL CULTURAL COMPONENTS

1. SYMBOLS REFER TO THINGS THAT CONVEY MEANING OR REPRESENT AN IDEA.

THEY ARE ESSENTIAL IN COMMUNICATION, SHAPING THOUGHTS AND IDEAS, AND
DEFINING A SOCIETY'S CULTURE.
2. LANGUAGE, IS A SET OF SYMBOLS THAT ENABLES MEMBERS OF SOCIETY TO
COMMUNICATE VERBALLY (SPOKEN) AND NONVERBALLY (WRITTEN, GESTURES).
3. VALUES ARE SHARED IDEAS, NORMS, AND PRINCIPLES THAT PROVIDE MEMBERS
OF SOCIETY THE STANDARDS THAT PERTAIN TO WHAT IS RIGHT OR WRONG,
GOOD OR BAD, DESIRABLE OR UNDESIRABLE.
4. NORMS ARE SHARED RULES OF CONDUCT THAT DETERMINE SPECIFIC BEHAVIOR
AMONG SOCIETY MEMBERS.
 CATEGORIES OF NORMS ACCORDING TO THEIR SOCIAL
IMPORTANCE

• . FOLKWAYS ARE NORMS THAT MAY BE VIOLATED

WITHOUT SERIOUS CONSEQUENCES.

• MORES ARE NORMS WITH MORAL CONNOTATIONS.

• LAWS ARE NORMS THAT ARE LEGALLY ENACTED AND

ENFORCED.
 PROCESS OF CULTURE AND IDENTITY
FORMATION
• SOCIALIZATION REFERS TO THE LIFELONG PROCESS OF FORGING
IDENTITY THROUGH SOCIAL INTERACTION.

• ENCULTURATION REFERS TO THE PROCESS BY WHICH AN INDIVIDUAL

LEARNS OR ACQUIRES THE IMPORTANT ASPECTS OF HIS OR HER
SOCIETY'S CULTURE.
 TWO MAJOR VIEWS IN ANTHROPOLOGY

• A) THE RELATIVISTIC APPROACH CONSIDERS CULTURES A EQUAL. THIS VIEW

HOLDS THAT THERE ARE NO "SUPERIOR" AND "INFERIOR" CULTURES, AND EACH IS
UNIQUE IN ITS OWN WAY.

• B) THE ETHNOCENTRIC APPROACH IS THE BELIEF THAT ONE'S NATIVE CULTURE

IS SUPERIOR OTHER CULTURES.
XENOCENTRISM - “THE BELIEF THAT WHAT IS FOREIGN IS BEST, THAT OUR OWN
LIFESTYLE, PRODUCTS, OR IDEAS ARE INFERIOR TO THOSE OF OTHERS.”