UNDERSTANDING CULTURE, SOCEITY AND POLITICS

Quarter 1, Week 1

Name of Learner: _________________________ Grade Level: __________

Section: _______________ Date: _________________

LEARNING ACTIVITY SHEET

NATURE, GOALS AND PERSPECTIVES OF ANTHROPOLOGY, SOCIOLOGY AND
POLITICAL SCIENCE
Background Information for Learners
(Brief Discussion of the Lesson, if possible, cite examples)
As a learner classified as generation Z, you are born in an organized society
that has an established culture and political system. You may look around and see
manifestations of these 3 concepts-society, culture and politics. Society is an
intangible concept but the presence of society is manifested primarily by features of
group life which are the observable indications of
groupings/aggregation/collectivity of people in a particular territory sharing similar
goals and ways of living. The formation of group life caused the advent of the
creation of systems/ways of living (culture) and systems of organization and
administration (politics). Examples of a way of living (culture) include but not
limited to how the native Cordillerans cook pinikpikan (delicacy), how they make
etag (salted meat), how people talk and others. Notice that the Iloco
dialect/language of Baguio City is different from the Iloco dialect of the people from
La Union, Pangasinan and the Ilocos region. Culture also include our sense of
fashion. Look into how the “young once” dress up and how you, the “young ones”,
sport your OOTDs (outfit of the day), there is indeed a big difference. As to systems
of organization and administration (politics), examples of this include how the
different presidents administered our country. Presidents rule based on their
ideological leanings either toward a democratic system or an authoritative system?
As to form of government, the 1987 Philippine Constitution specified that our
country is a democratic and republican state. When you register as voter in the
Sangguniang kabataan election and/or national election and exercise your right to
vote, this is a political process that is included in politic (Vicente-Tayaban, 2020
p.11).

Learning Competency with Code

Discuss the nature, goals and perspectives in/of anthropology, sociology and
political science.

Directions
You are expected to model the 5 Es of Inquiry-Based Learning. These are Engage,
Explore, Explain, Extend and Evaluate Journal of the American Association of
School Librarians, 2019; Duran and Duran, 20041). Enjoy the activities.
1
Journal of the American Association of School Librarians (2019). The 5 E’s of Inquiry
Based Learning. Retrieved
March 21, 2022 from https://knowledgequest.aasl.org/the-5-es-of-inquiry-based-
learning/
Exercises/Activities
Case Analysis: Argonauts of the Western Pacific (Bronislaw Malinowski, 1922)
The Kula is the ceremonial exchange between islanders inhabiting the areas of Dobu,
Amphlet, Northern and Southern Massim. The Northern Massim is where the
Trobriander natives are. The exchange is ceremonial in the sense that rituals have to be
performed before and after the Kula is done. It involves elaborate ceremonies that draw
hundreds of people to the ceremony. This according to Malinowski is what makes Kula
exchange a form of ‘stimulus’ that paves for “impelling the natives to sail and to trade.
But where the Kula is practiced, it governs all the other allied activities, and canoe
building and trade are made subsidiary to it. And this is expressed both by the nature
of the institutions and the working of all the arrangements on the one hand, and by the
behavior and explicit statements of the natives on the other.”
Malinowski’s discussions on the essentials of the Kula (ring- a term he coined
after employing insider-outsider point of view to describe the phenomenon he was
studying) through comparing the significance of exchange between the West and the
East. He said that for him to understand the immediacy of the Kula exchange he has to
compare the idea of ownership in terms of historic sentimentalism between the West of
the crown jewel, an heirloom, and the Kula vaygu’a (valuables). He concluded that the
West takes on the idea of ownership within a lifetime to have its value which determines
the rank and wealth in the society, the heirloom, that was passed down to generations
while the Kula valuables are owned for a short period of time yet governs the
enforcement of wealth and rank. For the Trobrianders, it is in the process of exchange
that one can attain wealth and prestige, because, unlike the West’s lifetime ownership
as determinant for wealth and power, it is the name and story of the valuables that
determine the prestige of the person in the Kula exchange. He pointed out that same
with the West’s sociological and psychological- mental attitude make the natives put
value on their vaygu’a. Malinowski was able to decipher such context because according
to him, being an ethnographer, he did immerse himself to the every day life of the
Trobrianders which made him ‘grasp the native’s point of view, his relation to life, to
realize his version of his world.’ Malinowski was able to put in context an activity
perceived by outsiders as incomprehensible because of the ‘valueless’ items being
exchanged.
According to Malinowski, only those who have rank and power can join the
complex network of Kula exchange revealing that a seemingly pointless activity is
crucial in establishing relationships. The valuables are connecting the miles of oceans
group of people. Each symbolizes the passion of those who have taken part in the Kula,
the very reason why each simple trinket of shells are renown by their historical aspects.
Malinowski was able to unravel the very reason of exchange, build relationships
far beyond the Trobrianders behind the idea of reciprocity, hence, making sense the
adage ‘once in a Kula, always in a Kula.’ The valuables keep on rotating, the soulava
(necklace) going clockwise and the mauwali (mwali) going counterclockwise.
The essence of the Kula therefore is based on prestige and power reenforcing the
rank of rich and famous highlighted in the historical narratives of those who held the

Duran, E. & Duran, L.(2004) The 5E Instructional Model: A Learning Cycle Approach for
Inquiry-Based Science
Teaching. Retrieved April 4, 2022 from https://files.eric.ed.gov/fulltext/EJ1058007.pdf
 items that may have been in circulation for hundreds of years. Here Malinowski brought
out the passion of the islanders to see noncompliance to reciprocity in equal value in
any case a form of generosity, that is, when one partner was not able to give an item of
equal value in the process of exchange. Malinowski was able to decipher and
understand this complexity in the Kula exchange because he ‘rendered the familiar
unfamiliar and unfamiliar familiar’ (Gay and Wardle, 2007) which made his writing a
form of an intimate one despite the difference of his informants to him. Malinowski in
this sense, was able to ‘get inside’ the ‘native’s head’ to explicate the descriptions of
familiarity and intimacy as the backbone of ethnographic writing which are attained
through the ethnographers experiences and recollections weaved together ‘into
analytical descriptions of particular social worlds’ (Gay and Wardle, 2007).
Henceforth, Malinowski’s documentation and analysis of the Kula Ring exchange
points to the metacognitive aspect of native’s coupled with by their strong adherence to
political and customary laws are co-temporal to what an outsider particularly the West
call ‘civilized man’. They are informed of their lack in their economy that plays a vital
role to the participation in the Kula because the off-shoot of the Kula is the minor
trades between the natives with items that are not readily available in their locality.
Malinowski calls them the ‘first international traders’ which can be overlooked if not
subjected to anthropological gaze or the consciousness in anthropology coupled with
sociological and political lenses. The Kula being a ceremonial gift exchange between
those who are of renown power and prestige espouses a deeper meaning, that is, to
affirm the ranked society’s power and longevity, and the ‘heroness’ 2of those who took
part. Therefore, the ‘seemingly’ contradictory exchange if viewed in a western lens,
carries the most significant role in the continuity of social cohesion, reciprocity,
economic network, redistribution of wealth, economic specialization and above all,
prestige and power. Towards the end of the book of Malinowski, he was narrating that
with the decline of the Kula because of colonialism, so did the power of the headsmen.

Guide Questions (if necessary)

1. What are the significance of the Kula Exchange to the Trobrianders? Enumerate.
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2. Explain the Trobrianders concept of ‘once in a Kula, always in a Kula’? How does
it relate to your culture, society and politics?
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3. Evaluate the interconnectedness of anthropology, sociology and political science
in the context of the Kula Exchange of the Trobrianders. How do culture, society
and politics interplay with the conduct of the Kula?
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2
Tales from the Jungle part 4 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=df9BlSbYiKY
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4. In this lifetime, what are you willing to exchange in the name of prestige, rank
and power? Justify.
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Rubric for Scoring (if necessary)

Content 5 4 3 2 1
Responsivenes Identified There is a Identified Identified Identified
s of answers and fully responsive and and only with
explained explanation explained explained no
but did not but but explanation
make an discussion discussion
identification missed a missed 2-
significant 3
aspect significant
aspects

Reflection
How important are the nature, goals and perspectives in understanding culture,
society and politics? Cite an example based on what you have understood from the
module.
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Parents’/Guardians’ Signature and Date

References for Learners

Vicente-TayabanG. (2020). Nature, goals, and perspectives of Anthropology,
Sociology and Political Science Module 1, Week 1. Retrieved from
https://onestopshopbaguiolr.blogspot.com/. Accessed on July 29, 2023.

Malinowski, B. (1922). Argonauts of the Western Pacific. Routledge.

Answer Key
**Answers may vary

Prepared by

FRITZIE L. FINMOROG
Name of Writer