Understanding Culture, Society, and Politics

Lesson 2: Culture and Society: The Perspective of Anthropology and Sociology

Culture – it is a complex whole which includes knowledge, beliefs, arts, morals, laws, customs and any other
capabilities and habits acquired by man as a member of society.
- It is a foundation of man’s endless transaction and continuing interaction with his environment.
Cultural Variations – refers to the differences or distinct form of social behavior that varies attitude, culture
exhibit around the world.
Significant Reasons of Cultural Variation
 Environment
 Isolation
 Technology
Society is formally defined as constituting a fairly large number of people who are living in the same territory,
are relatively independent of people outside their area, and participate in a common culture. Society is seen as
an outcome of multiple interactions of people upon which succeeding interactions are made meaningful and
possible.
Social Difference is the dissimilarities among individuals based on their social characteristics and qualities.
 People differ in sex
- Gender- refers to the socially constructed roles, behavior, activities and attributes
 Social Standing and Status
Social Change – the alteration of society overtime; or changes in human interaction.

Sociological Approaches to the Study of Society

STRUCTURAL-FUNCTIONAL APPROACH
- To promote solidarity and stability, society as a complex system whose all parts should work together.
This approach finds to relate a structure’s social pattern for the mobility of society as a whole.
a. Manifest functions- recognized and intended consequence of any social pattern.
b. Latent function- unrecognized and unintended consequences of any social pattern.
c. Social dysfunction- any social pattern that may disrupt the operations of society.
SOCIAL-CONFLICT APPROACH
- The society is an arena of inequality that generates conflict and change. Individuals and groups within
the society tends to settle their differences through conflict rather than coming up on a consensus to
promote change.
SYMBOLIC-INTERACTION APPROACH
- Sees the society as the product of the everyday interaction of individuals using symbols such as
language and actions.

Rules: Invisible Hand of Society

Rules are guides in the performance of roles and in everyday actions and interactions. They provide order in a
system characterized by the presence of many actors with different businesses and agenda to pursue.
Rules are essential in the everyday conduct of the members of society. In cases where there are conflicts,
rules become the arbiter of disagreements and people’s respect for rules gives them this organizing power over
human actions over time.
However, not all rules are visible, that is written and understood by all. The written ones are easily seen and
hence
are easily observed and obeyed. A lot of difficult situations are made simpler by written and visible rules. The
situation is different, however, in cases where rules are invisible and unwritten. At first, you may surmise that
invisible rules create more disorder than order, which they are meant to establish in the first place. This
assumption proves to be incorrect as our lives are made more meaningful by unwritten rules.