Ucsp Notes

UNDERSTANDING CULTURE, SOCIETY, AND POLITICS
Week 1: Discussing the Nature, Goals and Perspectives in/of Anthropology, Sociology and Political Science
Social Science
 The discipline under which identity, culture, society, and politics are studied
 comprised of disciplines that study the overall function of a society, as well as the interactions among individual members of an institution.
 Anthropology, Sociology, and Political Science are among the disciplines under Social Science.
Edward B. Taylor – 18th century English anthropologist
Anthropology - a behavioral science that deals with the study of culture - its components, characteristics, functions, modes of adaptation, cultural values,
and practices
Culture – is a complex whole which encompasses the beliefs, practices, values, attitudes, norms, artifacts, symbols, knowledge, and everything
that a person learns and shares as a member of society.
Sociology – behavioral a behavioral science that deals with the study of society - its origin, evolution, characteristics, dimensions, and basic social functions
Society – a group of people living together in a definite territory, having a sense of belongingness, mutually interdependent of each other, and
follows a certain way of life.
Political Science – deals with the study of politics or government.
 It also dwells on the study of the foundations of the state and the principles of government.
 It examines the way people govern themselves, the various forms of government, their structures, and their relationships to other institutions.
Politics – involves a set of activities that are associated with making decisions in groups or other forms of power relations between individuals,
such as the distribution of resources or statuses
Week 2: Analyzing the Concept, Aspect, and Changes in/of Culture and Society
Society – a group of people living together in a definite territory, having a sense of belongingness, mutually interdependent of each other, and follows a certain way of
life.
 The focal point of society is man’s social behavior since his behavior is greatly shaped by the society and culture where he belongs.
Culture – is a dynamic medium through which societies create a collective way of life reflected in beliefs, values, music, literature, art, dance, science, religion, ritual
technology, among others.
Culture and society can be defined using anthropological and sociological perspectives.
The Three Anthropological Perspectives
1) Evolutionist – Intellectual Perspective – explains that death and belief in soul and the spirits play important roles
2) French Sociology School Perspective – lead by Emile Durheim suggests that society can sustain and reproduce by themselves.
3) British Functionalist School Perspective – explains anxiety caused by the rationally uncontrollable happenings as the basic motivation for the emergence
of religious faith.
Sociological Perspectives
1) Symbolic Interactionism Perspective - people attach meanings to symbols and they act according to their subjective interpretation of the symbols.
2) Functionalist Perspective – also called functionalism, believes that each aspect of society is interdependent and contributes to society’s functioning as a
whole.
3) Conflict Perspective – through Karl Marx’s writing on struggles, shows competition for scarce resources and how the elite control the poor and the weak.
Characteristics or Aspects of Culture and Society
Culture
1) Culture is everything - because it is what a person has, does, and thinks

2) It is learned - for an individual learns through his or her family, school, church, and other social institutions
3) It is shared - because a particular behavior is not a culture when only one person practices it
Society
1) It affects biology - because humans are born into cultures that have values on beauty and body
2) It is adaptive - it’s a tool for human survival
3) It is maladaptive – culture can cause problems when it doesn’t change when the environment does
Change is constant and over time, culture goes with the societal changes. As a result, culture becomes dynamic.

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UNDERSTANDING CULTURE, SOCIETY, AND POLITICS

Edward B. Taylor – 18th century English anthropologist

Political Science – deals with the study of politics or government.

The Three Anthropological Perspectives

Characteristics or Aspects of Culture and Society

1) Culture is everything - because it is what a person has, does, and thinks

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