Understanding Culture Society and Politics
that his culture is best above all.
Common practices in other
countries
• Brazilians usually wear black shoes in
office.
• Eating with left hand is taboo in Saudi
Arabia.
• White flowers are given at funerals in
Japan.
• British people prefer tea to coffee.
• Arabs expect gifts to be opened in front
of the giver.
• Mexicans try to keep their hands on the
table during meal.
• Dog meat is a delicacy in China.
• Spaniards like to maintain eye contact
during conversations.
• Korean friends bow to ech other when
they meet.
Culture
• Culture is the shared product of a
human group or society.
• The term culture was first used by
pioneer English anthropologist Edward
B. Tylor in his book Primitive Culture,
published in 1871.
• He defined culture as a “complex whole
which includes knowledge, beliefs, arts,
morals, customs, and other capabilities
and habits acquired by man as a
member of society.”
Society
• Society it is an interacting of people who
shared the same culture. Culture is the
product of that interaction. In reality,
human society and culture cannot exist
independently of each other.
Ethnocentrism vs Xenocentrism
Ethnocentrism
• People have the tendency to believe
• Ethnocentrism is the tendency to use
one’s own culture as a standard against
which to judge other people’s cultures.
• Although ethnocentrism brings together
people and builds solidarity within a
particular society, it can justify prejudice
and discrimination.
Xenocentrism
• Xenocentrism, a culturally-based
tendency to value other cultures more
highly than one’s own, which is the
opposite of ethnocentrism.
• Xenocentric people are more
appreciative of other societies’ culture.
• Hence, social solidarity among the
people is difficult to establish.
Cultural Relativism
• The ideal way to view culture is cultural
relativism, the belief that people and
their ways of doing things can be
understood only in terms of the cultural
context of those people.
• It is not saying that all cultures are good,
or that any way of doing is acceptable.
• It means being objective enough to
understand people’s behaviors in terms
of their cultures and social situation
Humans as Social and Cultural
Beings
Humans as Social
• To be social means regardless of age,
human beings need others to survive.
• Examples:
1. Babies need people to care for them
physically and mentally
2. Teenagers need others to provide them
with their basic needs, schooling, and
guidance among others.
• Hence, to be social means that much of
what we become depends on the people
 that brought us up or influence us – first,
our parents, then later our playmates,
friends, teachers, and as we grow older,
the mass media may factor in.
Human as Cultural beings
• To be cultural means that our social
interactions are not instinctive. Instead,
we behave according to a set of ideas,
values, and norms, or the culture that
our society created. We, therefore,
understand the world using our cultural
lens.
The Components of Culture
1. Material culture – physical objects of
culture – machines, tools, books,
clothing, art works, furniture, and so on.
2. Nonmaterial culture – made up of
intangible things.
Whether material or nonmaterial, culture must
be shared and learned by each generation
through the process of social interaction.
Basic categories of non-material
culture
1. Symbol
• A symbol is anything that meaningfully
represents something.
• Language is our most important set of
symbols. Without language, much of
human thought would not be possible
Noam Chomsky
• suggest that human beings may have
evolved a biological structure within the
forebrain that facilitate the learning of
language.
2. Values
• Value is an idea shared by the people in
a society about what is good and bad,
right and wrong, desirable and
undesirable.
• Values are general, abstract ideas that
shape the ideas and goals of a society.
• Some examples are familism,
materialism, and individualism.
3. Norms and Sanctions
• Sociologists refer to norms as
expectations of how people are
supposed to act, think, or feel in
specific situations.
• Norms are either prescriptive
(they tell you what to do)
• Or proscriptive (they tell you what
not to do)
Types of Norms
1) Folkways - norms that have
little strength and broad limits,
be easily broken. Examples are
manners of eating, and
dressing, food preferences, use
of po and opo. It will mark the
distinction between rude and
polite behavior, so we form of
social pressure that
encourages us to act and
interact in certain ways.
2) Mores - considered as essential
and therefore must be stricly
enforced. Some mores are
enacted by the state and are
referred as law. Examples
cheating in exams and having
extramarital affairs. It will
determine what is considered
moral and ethical behavior;
they structure the difference
between right and wrong.
3) Taboos - is an activity that is
forbidden or sacred based on
religious beliefs or morals.
Norms that are deeply held that
even the thought of violating
them upsets people. Breaking a
taboo is extremely
objectionable in society as a
whole. Around the world, an act
may be taboo in one culture
and not in another.
Sanctions
 The obedience to or violation of
norms results in sanctions.
Sanctions are rewards and
punishments.
• Positive Sanction –
REWARD for people who
exhibit expected or desired
behavior.
• Negative Sanction – is a
form of punishment for
violating important norms.
• Formal Sanctions – are
applied by people with
positions of formal authority.
• Informal Sanctions – are
applied by common people
4. Beliefs
• Consists of people’s ideas about
what is real and what is not.
• Hence, beliefs are what people
consider as factual.
People judge as factual may not be
scientific because our beliefs come from
many sources: our parents, religious
leaders, and personal observations.
Analyzing Culture
Cultural Universal
• every human society lives within human
and environmental limits. survival is
depends on basic needs.
Subculture
• an ethnic, regional, economic or social
group exhibiting characteristic patterns
of behavior sufficient to distinguish it
from others within an embracing culture
or society.
Counterculture
• a culture with values and mores that run
counter to those of established society.
Cultural Integration
• occurs when cultural traits are logically
consistent with one another, or simply
neutral to one another.
Common Sources of Cultural Change
• Innovations – productions of new
cultural trait
• Inventions – creations of new cultural
products
• Cultural diffusion – process by which
cultural traits are transmitted from one
group or society to another.
Enculturation
• process by which an individual learns
norms and values of a culture through
unconscious repetition.
• Processing of one owns culture.
Assimilation
• ethnic minority adopts the belief,
languages and customs of the dominant
community, losing their own culture in
the process.
• refers to the manner in which people
take new information.
Acculturation
• process of cultural change that result
from conflict with a foreign culture and
also adapting to or borrowing traits from
another culture.
Culture and Philippine Values

Modes of Acquiring Culture
Adaptation of Culture
Example of Beliefs
1. Fitting your wedding dress prior to your
wedding day will cost problem.
2. When someone sees you headless, it
means you're about to die.
3. When a woman sings while cooking, she will
end up a spinster.
4. When three people pose for picture,the one
at the center will be first to die.
5. Sweeping the floor at night will bring you
badluck.
Two Components of Culture
Sociologists describe two interrelated aspects
of human culture: the physical objects of the
culture (material culture) and the ideas
associated with these objects (non-material
culture).
1. Material culture consists of tangible
things. It refers to the physical objects,
resources, and spaces that people use
to define their culture. These include
homes, neighborhoods, cities, schools,
churches, synagogues, temples,
mosques, offices, factories and plants,
tools, means of production, goods and
products, stores, and so forth.
2. Non-material culture consists of
intangible things. Non‐material culture
refers to the nonphysical ideas that
people have about their culture,
including beliefs, values, rules, norms,
morals, language, organizations, and
institutions.
1. Imitation
2. Indoctrination or Suggestion
3. Conditioning
1. Parallelism means that the same culture
may take place in two or more different
places.
2. Diffusion refers to those behavioral
patterns that pass back and forth from
one culture to another. This is the
transfer or spread of culture traits from
one another brought about by change
agents such as people or media.
3. Convergence takes place when two or
more cultures are fused or merged into
one culture making it different from the
original culture.
4. Fission takes place when people break
away from their original culture and start
developing a different culture of their
own.
5. Acculturation refers to the process
wherein individuals incorporate the
behavioral patterns of other cultures into
their own either voluntarily or by force.
Voluntary acculturation occurs through
imitation, borrowing, or personal contact
with other people.
6. Assimilation occurs when the culture of
a larger society is adopted by a smaller
society, that smaller society assumes
some of the culture of the larger society
or cost society.
7. Accommodation occurs when the larger
society and smaller society are able to
 respect and tolerate each other’s culture
even if there is already a prolonged
contact of each other’s culture.
Causes of Cultural Change
1. Discovery is the process of finding a
new place or an object, artefact or
anything that previously existed. For
example, the discovery of fire led to the
art of cooking; discovery of oil, of
organisms and substances; of diseases;
of atoms and sources of energy.
2. Invention implies a creative mental
process of devising, creating and
producing something new, novel or
original; and also the utilization and
combination of previously known
elements to produce that an original or
novel product. It could be either social or
material or it could also be invention of
new methods or techniques.
3. Diffusion is the spread of cultural traits
or social practices from a society or
group to another belonging to the same
society or to another through direct
contact with each other and exposure to
new forms.
Diffusion involves the following social
processes:
a. Acculturation – cultural borrowing
and cultural imitation
.b. Assimilation – the blending or fusion
of two distinct cultures through long periods of
interaction
c. Amalgamation – the biological or
hereditary fusion of members of different
societies
d. Enculturation – the deliberate
infusion of a new culture to another
4. Colonization refers to the political,
social, and political policy of establishing
a colony which would be subject to the
rule or governance of the colonizing
state. For example, the Hispanization of
Filipino culture when the Spaniards
came and conquered the Philippines.
5. Rebellion and revolutionary movements
aim to change the whole social order
and replace the leadership.
The Concepts, Aspects and
Changes In/Of Culture and Society
Concept of Society
Meaning and Nature of Society
• According to sociologist, a society is a
group of people with common territory,
interaction, and culture. Understanding
Culture, Society, and Politics, defined
society as group of people who share a
common territory and culture. It is a
group of people living together in a
definite territory, having a sense of
belongingness, mutually interdependent
of each other, and follow a certain way
of life.
• Society is derived from the Latin term
“societas”, from socius, which means
companion or associate. Thus, it refers
to all people, collectively regarded as
constituting a community of related,
interdependent individuals living in a
definite place, following a certain mode
of life.
• Definition of society has two types - the
functional definition and the structural
definition. From the functional point of
view, society is defined as a complex of
groups in reciprocal relationships,
interacting upon one another, enabling
human organisms to carry on their life-
activities and helping each person to
fulfill his wishes and accomplish his
interests in association with his fellows.
• From the structural point of view, society
is the total social heritage of folkways,
mores and institutions; of habits,
sentiments and ideals. The important
aspect of society is the system of
relationships, the pattern of the norms of
interaction by which the members of the
society maintain themselves.
 REASONS PEOPLE LIVE
TOGETHER AS A SOCIETY
• For survival – No man is an island.
No man can live alone. From birth to
death, man always depended upon
his parents and from others. The
care, support, and protection given
by them are important factors for
survival.
• Feeling of gregariousness – This is
the desire of people to be with other
people, especially of their own
culture. People flock together for
emotional warmth and
belongingness. the need for
approval, sympathy and
understanding to which the individual
belongs is a psychosocial need.
• Specialization – Teachers,
businessmen, students, physicians,
nurses, lawyers, pharmacists, and
other professionals organize
themselves into societies or
associations to promote and protect
their own professions.
Major Functions of Society
Characteristics of Society
1. It is a social system. A social system
consists of individuals interacting with
each other. A system consists of sub-
parts whereby a change in one part
affects the other parts. Thus, a change
in one group of individuals will affect the
stability of the other parts of the system.
2. It is relatively large. The people must be
socially integrated to be considered
relatively large than if the people are
individually scattered. Thus, the people
in a family, clan, tribe, neighborhood,
community are socially integrated to be
relatively large in scope.
3. It socializes its members and from those
from without. Since most of society’s
members are born to it, they are taught
the basic norms and expectations.
Those who come from other societies,
before being accepted as functioning
members, are socialized and taught the
basic norms and expectations of the
society.
4. It endures, produces and sustains its
members for generations. For society to
survive, it must have the ability to
produce, endure and sustain its new
members for at least several
generations. For instance, if a society
cannot assist its members during their
extreme conditions of hunger and
poverty, that society will not survive
long.
5. It holds its members through a common
culture. The individuals in a society are
held together because that society has
symbols, norms, values, patterns of
interaction, vision and mission that are
commonly shared by the members of
such society.
6. It has clearly-defined geographical
territory. The members in a society must
live in a certain specific habitat or place
and have a common belongingness and
sense of purpose.
1. It provides a system of socialization.
Knowledge and skills, dominant patterns
of behavior, moral and social values,
and aspects of personality are
transmitted to each member, especially
to the young. the family, the peer group,
the school, the church and other
government and nongovernment
organizations play a role in the
individual’s development.
2. It provides the basic needs of its
members. Food, clothing, shelter,
medicine, education, transportations
and communication facilities, among
others must be provided by society to
satisfy the basic needs of its members.
3. It regulates and controls people’s
behavior. Conformity to the prevailing
norms of conduct ensures social control.
The police, armed forces, law
 enforcement agencies and even the
church and other government and non-
government organizations exist as
means of social control. Peace and
order are created through a system of
norms and formal organizations.
4. It provides the means of social
participation. Through social
participation, the individuals in a society
learn to interact with each other, present
and discuss their concerns and solve
their own problems or renew their
commitment and values. the people are
given the opportunities to contribute to
their knowledge and skills for the
betterment of their family, neighborhood
and community. religious organizations,
civic organizations, people’s
organizations (PO) and non-government
organizations (NGOs) do their part in
community development.

Type of Societies

Dissolution of a Society
There are several ways by which a society is
dissolved:
1) when the people kill each other through
civil revolution;
2) when an outside force exterminates the
members of the society;
3) when the members become apathetic
among themselves or have no more
sense of belongingness;
4) when a small society is absorbed by a
stronger and larger society by means of
conquest or territorial absorption;
5) when an existing society is submerged
in water killing all the people and other
 living things in it; or (60 when the people
living in such a society voluntarily attach
Concept of CULTURE
Meaning and Nature of Culture
• It was Edward Burnett Taylor who
conceptualized the definition of culture
in 1860s. According to him, culture is a
complex whole which consist of
knowledge, beliefs, ideas, habits,
attitudes, skills, abilities, values, norms,
art, law, morals, customs, traditions,
feelings and other capabilities of man
which are acquired, learned and socially
transmitted by man from one generation
to another through language and living
together as members of the society.
Elements of Culture
Characteristics of Culture (from the
perspective of Sociologists)
1) Dynamic, flexible and adaptive - Culture
necessarily changes, and is changed
by, a variety of interactions, with
individuals, media, and
technology, just to name a few.
2) Shared and maybe challenged
3) Learned through socialization or
enculturation
4) Patterned social interactions
5) Requires language and other forms of
communication
Characteristics of Culture (from the
perspective of Anthropologists)
1) Learned
2) Symbolic
3) Systemic and integrated
4) Shared
5) Encompassing
Importance/ Functions of Culture
Functions of culture:
1) it serves as the “trademark” of the
people in the society;
2) it gives meaning and direction to one’s
existence;
3) it promotes meaning to individual’s
existence;
4) it predicts social behavior;
5) it unifies diverse behavior;
6) it provides social solidarity;
7) it establishes social personality;
8) it provides systematic behavioral
pattern;
9) it provides social structure category;
10) it maintains the biologic functioning of
the group;
11) it offers ready-made solutions to man’s
material and immaterial problems;
12) it develops man’s attitude and values
and gives him a conscience.
1) Symbols refers to anything that is used
to stand for something else. It is
anything that gives meaning to the
culture. People who share a culture
often attach a specific meaning to an
object, gesture, sound, or image
2) Language is known as the storehouse of
culture. It system of words and symbols
used to communicate with other people.
We have a lot of dialects in the
Philippines that provide a means of
understanding. Through these, culture is
hereby transmitted to future generation
through learning.
3) Technology refers to the application of
knowledge and equipment to ease the
task of living and maintaining the
environment; it includes artifacts,
methods and devices created and used
by people.
4) Values are culturally defined standards
for what is good or desirable. Values
determine how individuals will probably
respond in any given circumstances.
Members of the culture use the shared
system of values to decide what is good
and what is bad.
5) Beliefs refers to the faith of an
individual. They are conceptions or
 ideas of people have about what is true
in the environment around them like
what is life, how to value it and how
one’s belied on the value of life relate
with his or her interaction with others
and the world. These maybe based on
common sense, folk wisdom, religion,
science or a combination of all of these.
Types:
a. Proscriptive norm defines and tells us
things not to do
Prescriptive norm defines and tells us
things to do
b. Mores are strict norms that control
moral and ethical behavior; they are
based on definitions of right and wrong.
They are norms also but with moral
undertones For example, since our
country Philippines is a Christian nation,
we are expected to practice
monogamous marriage. So if a person
who has two or more partners is looked
upon as immoral. Polygamy is
considered taboo in Philippine society.
c. Laws are controlled ethics and they are
morally agreed, written down and
enforced by an official law enforcement
agency. They are institutionalized norms
and mores that were enacted by the
state to ensure stricter punishment in
order for the people to adhere to the
standards set by society.
Importance of Cultural Relativism in
Attaining Cultural Understanding
• Cultural Relativism is the practice by
assessing a culture by its own standards
rather that viewing it through the lens of
one’s own culture. It is the practice that
one must understood in the context of
their locality. Practicing cultural
relativism requires an open mind and a
willingness to consider, and even adapt
to, new values and norms. Using the
lens of cultural relativism, member of the
society can be more tolerant towards
different attitudes and practices of
others’ culture.
• Cultural relativism is also a research
method.
Advantages of Cultural Relativism:
a. It promotes cooperation. Embracing the
differences of the different society can
create cooperation because it allows a
stronger bond with one another in the
society.
b. Respect and Equality is encouraged.
People from different culture with
different ideas that share their own
perspectives and experiences in the
society can promote respect and
equality.
c. It preserves human cultures. Respect
with the diverse set of traditions, ideas
and practices would help preserve the
culture.
d. . Cultural relativism creates a society
without judgement. Worrying and
practicing your own culture prevent
disagreement & judgement in the
society. Culture is evolving. New things
are added to material cultures every day
can cause cultural change. Cultural
Change is observed when new opens
up new ways of living and when new
ideas enter a culture as a result of
globalization.
Cultural Variation refers to the rich diversity
in social patterns that different human group
exhibit around the world. Music, dance,
languages, cuisine, and art are different from
one culture to another. The variation in human
conditions promotes diversity in cultural
traditions. What may be considered good
practice in one culture may be considered bad
practice in one another.
Note: We must remember that cultural variation
or diversity do not only occur between people’s
culture coming from different countries, but
also between people with different practices
within the same country.
Cultural Universals are patterns or traits
that are globally common to all societies.
One example of cultural universal is the family
unit. Every human group recognizes family as
the building blocks of the society that regulates
sexual reproduction and care of their children.
Variation between Cultures
1. Subculture is a culture that is shared
with a distinctive pattern of mores,
folkways, and values which differ from a
larger society. The group of society who
exhibit subculture have a specific and
unique set of beliefs and values that set
them apart from the dominant culture.
2. Counter Culture is a culture practice by
groups whose values and norms place it
at odds with mainstream society or a
group that actively rejects the dominant
cultural values and norms.
3. High Culture is a culture practiced and
patronized by the upper classes of the
society.
4. Popular Culture is a culture practiced or
patronized by the middle and working
classes of the society
Ethnocentrism the word “ethno” comes from
the Greeks and it refers to a people, nation or
cultural grouping. Centric, comes from the
Latin refers “center”.
Ethnocentrism refers to the tendency of
each society to place its own culture patterns
at the center of things.
Practice of comparing other cultural practices
with those of one’s own and automatically
finding those other cultural practices to be
inferior.
Ethnocentrism is the regard that one’s own
culture and society is the center of everything
and seen as the most efficient and superior
among the cultures in the world. A person who
exhibits ethnocentrism feels that his or her
culture is correct and appropriate as compared
to other cultures thus an ethnocentric attitude
can be a problem in understanding each other
culture and foster tensions, misunderstanding
and conflicts between societies.
Ethnocentrism can be so strong but when
confronted with all of the differences of a new
culture, one may experience culture shock.
Culture Shock is the feeling of disoriented,
uncertain, out of place or even fearful when
immersed in an unfamiliar culture. As people
experience unanticipated differences from their
own culture, their excitement gives way to
discomfort and doubts how to behave
appropriately in the new situation. However,
while people learn more about the culture,
eventually they will recover from culture shock.
Xenocentrism and Xenophobia
Xenocentrism refers to the preferences for
the foreign. In this sense it is the exact
opposite of enthnocentrism. It is characterized
by a strong belief that one owns product, style
or ideas are inferior to those which originate
elsewhere.
Xenophobia is the fear of what is perceived
as foreign or strange. Can be seen in the
relations and perceptions of an in-group toward
an out-group. It may include fear of losing
identity, suspicious of the other group’s
activities , aggression and the desire to
eliminate the presence of the other group to
secure a presumed purity.
Culture As Heritage
Culture have tangibles(Visible) and intangible(
Events)component. Preservation of cultural
heritage is tantamount of protecting them from
external threats such as destruction, mutilation
and desecration through frivolous used
representation.
Culture is evolving. New things are added to
material cultures every day can cause cultural
change.
Cultural Change is observed when new opens
up new ways of living and when new ideas
enter a culture as a result of globalization.