Culture, Society
and Politics
The significance of Culture:
✘
Makes it possible for man to adopt and
integrate himself to his environment
✘
Establish patterns of acceptable social
behavior such as good manners and
right conduct
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It conveys and facilitates meaning
✘
It enables man to create things and
tools
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It contributes an overall human
satisfaction like arts, recreational
activities, etc.
Characteristics of Culture
1.
Culture is learned
2.
Culture is shared
3.
Culture is based on symbols
4.
Culture is integrated
5.
Culture is changing
Components of Culture
1.
Symbol. Things that convey meaning or represent an idea
that is essential in shaping the feelings and ideas of a society.
2.
Language. A set of symbols that enables a members of a
society to communicate verbally and nonverbally.
3.
Values. Shared ideas and principles that provide members of
society the standards that pertain to what is right and wrong,
good and bad, desirable and not.
Components of Culture
4.
Norms. Shared rules of conduct that determine specific
behaviour among society’s members. There are three
categories of norms:
✗
✗
✗
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.
Society
✘
“A society consists of individuals belonging to groups which may
vary in size (Mike O’Donnell).”
✘
“A society is a group of people who live in a particular territory, are
subject to a common system of political authority, and are aware of
having a distinct identity from other groups around them (Anthony
Giddens).”
✘
“A society is a group of interacting individuals sharing the same
territory and participating in a culture (Ian Robertson).”
SOCIETY
Elements of Society
1.
Social solidarity
2.
Shared identity and culture
3.
A common language
4.
Large population/ability to sustain succeeding
generations of members
5.
Definite geographical area
6.
Political, economic and social organization
The Significance of Society
✘
It is an avenue for economic inter-dependence
✘
Characterize the totality of a territory
✘
It serves as a representation of our identity
✘
A symbol of political independence
Five major types of societies
based on how they changed and
developed over time
Its basic social and economic
units were the family and local
clan.
Emerged from the shift to a sedentary life
and by the introduction of agriculture as a
more stable food production method than
hunting and gathering.
Established the first permanent
settlements and cities in Mesopotamia and
China. Its spread leads to the foundation
of many civilizations.
Emerged from the Industrial revolution that took placed
on England. Technological advancements resulted in the
invention of machines that improved production. Urban
cities and centers were developed at this time.
Knowledge is a commodity and technological
innovation is key to long-lasting growth and
development.
POLITICS
Politics
✘
activities that relate to influencing the actions and policies of a
government or getting and keeping power in a government
(Encyclopedia Britannica).
✘
comes from the Greek word polis, meaning everything that
concerns or belongs to the polis, or city-state.
✘
the study of the state, its aims and purposes the institutions by
which those are going to be realized, its relations with its individual
members and with other states.
✘
study of the government, a collection of officers who make,
interpret and enforce rules for the whole community.
Sociology,
Anthropology and
Political Science
Anthropology
✘ is a branch of knowledge which deals with the scientific study of man,
his works, his body, his behavior and values in time and space
(Palispis, 2007)
✘ It is a systematic study of the biological, cultural and social aspects
of man. It integrates elements from the biological sciences and
humanities to fully understand the human species including its past
practices and social patterns across diverse culture.
Sociology
is the scientific study of society, including
patterns of social relationships, social
interaction, and culture.
Political Science
is a systematic study of a state and its
government, with the relationships of men
in the community, with relations to groups,
to the state itself and to other sovereign
counties.
Cultural Relativism
is the ability to understand a culture on its
own terms and not to make judgments
using the standards of one's own culture
Cultural Relativism
✘
The goal of this is to promote understanding of cultural
practices that are not typically part of one's own culture.
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Cultural Relativism is important to anthropology and one of
the things that makes anthropology unique because it is a tool,
a method for attempting to see things from a multiplicity of
viewpoints so as to better understand them.
Cultural Relativism
✘
Cultural Relativism does not mean that anything a culture
does is good or moral. This is one of the ones that confuse
people.
✘
Cultural relativism teaches us that, marriage patterns are
cultural options, not objective truth.
✘
Cultural Relativism doesn’t mean that cultures can’t be
compared.
✘
There is sometimes a strange notion that there are no
commonalities between cultures.
Thank you! 🥰