Region I

SCHOOLS DIVISION OFFICE-CITY OF SAN FERNANDO (LU)

La Union National High School
SENIOR HIGH SCHOOL
Catbangen, City of San Fernando, La Union
Telephone Number (072) 682-9626 / E-mail: lunhsshs@gmail.com
UNDERSTANDING CULTURE, SOCIETY, AND POLITICS
3rd QUARTER
Culture – comes from the Latin word “cultura” which means to grow or civilized.
- is that complex whole which includes knowledge, belief, art, morals, law, custom and any other
capabilities acquired by man, as a member of society.
- It also refers to the cumulative deposit of acquired by a group of people in the course of
generations.
- The culture of a society means the total way of life and of the society.

CHARACTERISTICS OF CULTURE
1. Culture is learned, it is not innate – it is learned through socialization, education, training and
experience.
2. Culture is social, not individual heritage of man - It is a social product which is shared by most
members of the group. It is passed from one generation to another through traditions and customs.
3. Culture is Shared and Transmitted - All the culture traits and objects are transmitted among the
members of society continually.
4. Culture is Changing because it is dynamic
Culture is Based on Symbols - The symbols allow people to package and store them as well as transmit
them.
 Language is the most important symbolic aspect of culture.

Diversity
- Not about how we differ.
- is about embracing one another’s uniqueness.
Cultural Variations – refers to the differences in social behaviors that different cultures exhibit around the
world.
Types of Cultural Variations:
1. Religion – is a system of beliefs and practices as well as systems of actions directed toward entities
which are above man.
- it is also an organized system of ideas about the spiritual sphere or the supernatural.
2. Ethnicity – the expression of the art of cultural ideas held by a distinct ethics or indigenous group.
3. Nationality – the legal relationship that bands a person and a country. It allows the state to protect and
have jurisdiction over a person.
4. Social Differences – are the differences among the individuals on the basis of social characteristics and
qualities.

Types of Social Differences:

1. Gender – is the socially-constructed characteristics of being male or female. It serves as guide on how
males and females think and act about themselves.
2. Socio-Economic Status – refers to the category of persons who have more or less the same socio-
economic privileges. These are upper class, middle class and lower class.
3. Exceptionality – refers to the state of being intellectually gifted and/or having physically or mentally
challenged conditions.
Examples: Personality/Behavior Communication (learning disability, speech impairment and hearing
problems)
Intellect (mild intellectual and mental development disabilities)

Variations Within Cultures:

1. Subculture – a segment of society which shares a distinctive pattern of mores, folkways and values
which differ from a pattern of larger society. These are groups that have specific cultural traits that set
them apart from the dominant culture.
2. Counterculture – a group whose values and norms place it at odds with mainstream society or a group
that actively rejects dominant cultural values and norms.
 In most Western countries, the 1960s saw the rise of different countercultural groups and social
movements that sought to dismantle the different inequalities that were then part of the dominant culture
such as racism (Civil Rights Movement), sexism (modern Feminist Movement) and homophobia (Gay
Rights Movement).
3. High Culture – is a term ow used in a number of different ways in academic discourse most common
meaning is the set of cultural products, mainly in the arts, held in the highest esteem by a culture.
4. Popular Culture – is a culture based on the tastes of ordinary people rather than an educated elite.

Political Identity – is almost always associated with a group affiliation and describes the ways in which
being a
member of a particular group might express specific political opinions and attitudes.

Types of Political Identity:

1. Partisan Politics – refers to a specific political party affiliation or partisan identity.
2. Racial Identity - is a multidimensional construct that includes the strength of one's identification
with one's racial group, a sense of attachment to other group members, an evaluation of group
membership (e.g., how much the individual likes or dislikes being white, for example) and may include
group-relevant attitudes and behaviors.
3. Class Identity - is defined as how a person or group of persons think of themselves in relation to
others in society based on their economic and social position. While defining and measuring economic
status is quite similar across cultures, the same cannot be said for social status.
4. Colonialism Identity - Identity is one of the indispensable components of colonialism, if we
consider colonialism as a body; identity constitutes its spirit while the economic exploitation is its corporal
body.

Anthropology - is a combination of the Latin word “Anthropologia” which means “the study of humanity”
and the
Greek word “Anthropos” which means “human being”.
• The Regents of the University of California provided a definition of anthropology as follows, “A
systematic study of humanity, with the goal of understanding our evolutionary origins, our
distinctiveness as a species, and the great diversity in our forms of social existence across the world
and through time.
• The focus of Anthropology is on understanding both our shared humanity and diversity and engaging
with diverse ways of being in the world.”

The following are the other definition of anthropology:

• The study of human societies and cultures and their development.
• The study of human biological and physiological characteristics and their evolution.
• The discipline concerned with the origins, physical and cultural development, biological
characteristics, and social customs and belief of humankind.

Branches of Anthropology:
1. Physical Anthropology - the branch of anthropology concerned with the study of human biological and
physiological characteristics and their development. The study of the human body. This includes a study
of genetics, anatomy, the skeleton, adaptation to diseases, adaptations to the environment, growth,
nutrition, human origins and evolution etc.
2. ARCHAEOLOGY - the study of human activity through the recovery and analysis of material cultural
remains. the study of the human past using material remains. These remains can be any objects that
people created, modified, or used. Portable remains are usually called artifacts.
3. Cultural Anthropology - the study of how people share a common cultural system organize and shape
the physical and social world around them, and are in turn shaped by those ideas, behaviors, and
physical environments.
4. LINGUISTIC ANTHROPOLOGY - is the interdisciplinary study of how language influences social life. It
studies the nature of human languages in the context of those cultures that developed them.
FATHERS OF ANTHROPOLOGY
Bronislaw Kasper Malinowski (1884-1942) - was a British anthropologist who became known as the
“father of functionalist school of anthropology.” He placed a greater emphasis on the actions of the
individuals: how individual’s needs were served by society’s institutions, customary practices and belief,
and how psychology of those individuals might lead them to generate change.
Franz Boas (1858-1942) - was a German-American scientist who is deemed the greatest and most
“influential anthropologist.” Being the first person to utilize scientific method into the study of human
cultures and societies, he was popularly becoming known as the “father of modern anthropology.”
Political Science - focuses more on governments, how it is being regulated, maintained and develop in
the application of power, augmentation and defense of the state.
The following are the other definitions of Political Science:
• The discipline concerned with how the government and state works.
• The branch of knowledge that focuses on the study of government systems as well as analysis
political activities and behaviors.
• A field of social science which deals with the system of government and the analysis of political
thoughts, political activities, and political behavior.

Fields of Interest of Political Science

1. Political Theory- concerned with the study of different ideas and perspective of the most notable
political thinkers. The study of politics, concepts, and the historical record of political thought.
2. Comparative Politics - focuses on the comparison of various political systems and constitutions among
different countries through time the comparative study of other countries, citizens, different political units
either in whole or in part, and analyzes the similarities and differences between those political units.
3. International Relation - give more importance on the maintenance of good relationship among
countries.
allows nations to cooperate with one another, pool resources, and share information to face global
issues that go beyond any particular country or region. International relations attempt to explain the
interactions of states in the global interstate system, and it also attempts to explain the interactions of
others whose behavior originates within one country and is targeted toward members of other countries.
4. Law - These are rules of conduct, just and obligatory laid down by those with legitimate capacity which
guides people how to behave in their community. Laws protect our general safety and ensure our rights
as citizens against abuses by other people, by organizations, and by the government itself. We have
laws to help provide for our general safety. These exist at the local, state and national levels.
Culture contains groups within them called “subcultures” that differ in the important ways from the main
culture.
 People often choose to make judgements based on the values of their own cultures.
 While apparently very different on the surface, all cultures have common traits or elements that
sociologists referred to as, “cultural universals”.
A cultural universal (also called an anthropological universal or human universal) is an element,
pattern, trait, or institution that is common to all known human cultures worldwide.
• According to Murdock (1945), as cited by Serapio (2016), there are more than 65 cultural universals.
• Among these universals are body adornment, cooking, dancing, family, feasting, forms of greeting,
funeral
ceremonies, gift giving, housing, language, medicine, music, folklore, myths, religions, sports, and
toolmaking.

Culture Variation - refers to the rich diversity in social practices that different cultures exhibit around the
world.
• These can be the unique cultural practices of various subgroups.
• Some of it is a result of social categories- groups that share a social characteristic such as age,
genders, religions.
Ethnocentrism- The tendency to view one’s own culture superior to the other individual’s or group’s culture.
Cultural Relativism- The capacity to understand a culture on its own terms not to make judgments using
the standards of one’s own culture. The goal of this is promote understanding of cultural practices that are
not typically part of one’s own culture.

Cultural Heritage
 Tangible cultural heritage pertains to the physical artefacts produced, maintained, and transmitted in
a society.
 may include artistic creations and built heritage such as buildings, monuments, or other physical
products of human creativity which from the word itself “tangible” or those that can be perceived by
senses specially touch.
 Intangible heritage refers to the practices, representations, expressions, knowledge, skills as well as
instruments, objects, artefacts, and cultural spaces associated therewith that communities, groups,
or sometimes individuals recognize as part of their heritage.
How are we going to address cultural change?
• Archaeological preservation - the physical excavation and preservation of important historical
artifacts.
• Museums;
 Digital Imaging - provide supplementary and more detailed information for historic documentation.
 Provisions of Legal and political protection by the law.

SYMBOLS
• pertain to an object, word, or action that stands for something else, without natural relationship that
is culturally defined.
• Symbols such as gestures, signs, objects, signals, and words help people understand the world.
Symbolism - is when something represents abstract ideas or concepts;
• it assigns names, denominations, and define relations between various elements articulated within
narrative such as, actors, actions, goals, means, objects, values, etc.

What are the functions of Symbol and Symbolism?

• Social symbols are often utilized to transfer culture, Ideologies, or belief from a group to another
group of people.
• They also serve as means to preserve traditions and belief of a group of people.
• Other than being used as instrument to promote movements, spread of ideas, and advocacies, you
must remember that it always contains the “face” and “hidden” values.
• The hidden value, in a functional perspective, holds greater meaning and importance that the face
value.

TYPES OF SYMBOLS
1. Cultural Symbol - a manifestation that signifies the ideology of a particular culture that has a
meaning within that culture.
2. Social Symbols - it relates to human society and its modes. It is as well visible, external denotation
of one’s social or economic status. Social Classes, Social Problem, Social Issues.
3. Political Symbol - This refers to the political standpoint seen in various media, and forms, such as
banners, flag, motto, etc. This may include artifacts or objectifications of different political meanings,
especially related to power.
4. Economic Symbols - this is utilized in the production, distribution, and consumption of goods and
services like currency, market, labor, demands, and other community activities.

SOCIALIZATION - It is a cultural process of learning to participate in group life.

• It is the process through which people are taught to be proficient members of a society. Mcgivern (2020)
• According to Serapio(2016),the cultural process of learning to participate in group life. She also added
that such takes place through the so called “cultural transmission”.

Personality - is the sum total of behaviors, attitude, belief, and values that are characteristics of an
individual.

FACTORS AFFECTING DEVELOPMENT:

1. HEREDITY - Everyone has characteristics that are present at birth, such as body build, hair type,
eye color, and skin pigmentation.
2. Environment – includes the place and the people around us where we were born and live.
 Socialization occurs when a person has learned to develop his potentials and has adapted to his society
and culture in order to exist.
 It also shapes his self-image in relation with society. Social process refers to the repetitive forms of
behavior which are commonly found in social life (Horton, 1968), whereas social interaction, a part of
social process.
THE THEORIES OF SOCIALIZATION
1. THE TABULA RASA - According to John Locke, a Philosopher in the 1600s, each of us is born
without personality. We acquire our personalities as a result of our social experiences. Locke believe
that human beings can be molded into any type of character.
2. THE LOOKING-GLASS SELF - Charles Horton Cooley, a social psychologist who is known as one
of the founders of the interactionist perspective in sociology states that, the development is a three-step
process that constantly takes place:
a. First: we imagine how we appear to others.
b. Second: based on their reactions to us, we attempt to determine whether others view us as
we view ourselves.
c.Finally: we use our own perceptions of how others judge as to develop feelings of ourselves.

THE THEORIES ON SELF-SOCIALIZATION

1. GEORGE HERBERT MEAD (1863-1931) - According to George Herbert Mead, the self is essentially a
social structure and it arises in social experience. Mead called this generalized others as the
general norms and values people as reference in evaluating others.
2. CHARLES COOLEY (1864-1929) - Looking glass self of Charles Cooley is a term for a self-concept
that is based upon how we think when we appear to other.
Cooley used sociological perspective to look at smaller units (Family, Friend, and Peer Groups) and
observed that these help in shaping individual’s belief, ideas, values, and social nature.
3. ERVING GOOFMAN (1922-1982) - In his book, The Presentation of the Self Everyday Life (1959),
Erving Goofman attempted to show that certain social processes (impression management and
acting) modify the presentation of the self.
The Organization of Society
Society - is a group of people that regularly contact with one another or a large social group that
inhabits the same physical or social territory and is typically subordinate to the same political leadership
and prevailing cultural expectations. It is the label we give to the organization of such group.
SOCIAL STRUCTURE - The social role and political and religious institutions that make up a society's
framework and set standards for behavior and performance. The manner by which individuals perform
and respond to others. Groundwork for all associations and relations in society.

Elements of Social Structure

1. STATUS - A socially defined position in a group or society complemented by specific merits, rights, and
obligations.
2. ROLES - Obligations that apply to our behavior when we occupy a particular situation.
3. GROUPS - Any number of people with similar norms, values and expectations who interact with one
another on a regular basis.
CLASSIFICATION OF GROUP:
1. SOCIAL CATEGORIES - Collection of people who share social characteristics but may not necessarily
know one another. Ex. Political Science Students, Senior Citizens
2. SOCIAL AGGREGATES - People who happen to be at the same place at the same time. Ex.
passengers on cruise ship, people on the queue at the bank
Social Institution - a group of social positions, connected by social relations, performing a social role.
CHARACTERISTICS OF SOCIAL INSTIUTION
1. Institutions are purposive. They are relatively permanent in their content.
2. Unified structure. They function as a unit and are considered dependent on one another.
3. Are necessarily value - laden which means, their repeated uniformities, pattern and trends become
codes of conduct.

BASIC SOCIAL INSTITUTION

1. Family - "The basic unit of the society". Necessitates to care and protect children, to offer and
impart a kinship system for social organization.
2. Religion - Mankind has always sought to worship something superior or mysterious, leading to the
creation of rituals such as Christianity. Christianity focuses on a personal relationship with a supreme
being, and is more than just a religion.
 Jesus summarized the true meaning of religion specifically in Matthew 22:37-40 when he said "love
the Lord your God with all your heart, soul, and mind".
3. Education - the process of obtaining and distributing organized education and knowledge for the
improvement of judgment and logic.
4. Government - the social structure that is responsible for maintaining law and order and making
decisions that advance the benefit of society.
5. Economy - It represents the way the resources are used to meet human needs and wants. It is deemed
necessary as it allows people to make living and how to acquire and distribute goods and services.
THE POWER AND AUTHORITY
• The authorized exercise of power is authority. Three different sorts of power can serve as the
foundation of a political system: charismatic, traditional, and rational or legal. Elected officials hold
sway in democracies. The absolute authorities of a totalitarian political regime are in complete control
of all aspects of public and private life.
THE ECONOMIC INSTITUTION - The system that society develop to satisfy their needs and wants. Every
society develops system of roles and norms that govern the production, distribution, and consumption of
goods and services.
The Factors of Production:

 The factors of production are the resources needed to produce goods and services that include
land, labor,
 capital, and entrepreneurship. Land refers to natural resources such as soil, water and minerals.
 Labor which refers to anyone involve in the production of goods and services.
 Capital refers - to all manufacture goods utilized in the process of production such as
tools. ,machinery, and factories.

The political institution - Responsible for the shaping of the nature of state's power. It is a system of
roles and norms that governs the distribution and exercise power in society.
 Coercion - involves compelling a party to act in an involuntary manner by the use of threats,
including threats to use force against that party It involves a set of forceful actions which violate the
free will of an individual in order to induce a desired response. These actions may include extortion,
blackmail, or even torture and sexual assault.
 According to Max Weber, coercion can be comparable to a blackmailer which might extort money
from politicians.
 Authority - is power accepted as legitimate by those who are subjected to it.
FORMS OF AUTHORITY:
1. Charismatic authority - it arises from a leader's personal characteristics. Charismatics leaders led
through the power or strength of their personalities or the feelings of trust they have in many people.
2. Traditional authority - In the past, most leaders relied on traditional authority. In which legitimacy of a
leader rooted in customs. Early king often claimed to rules by the will of God or white they refer to as the
divine right. Tradition provided more stability than that of authorities acquired through Charisma as the latter
has more possibility to be altered.
3. Rational-legal authority - Most modern governments are based on rational-legal authority. The
Philippine system of government, the power resides in the offices instead of the officials. Power is
assumed only when individual occupies the office.

Types of Government
1. Democracy - as system of government by which the power is vested in the hands of its people. Serrapio
(2016) stated that, in such system, " power is exercised though the people. The feature of democracy is
the right of people in the decision-making process of the government.
2. Totalitarianism - lies at the opposite end of political spectrum from democracy. In this type of system, a
rule with absolute power attempts to control all aspects of society.
Characteristics of Totalitarianism
a. a single political party, typically controlled by one person.
b. a well-coordinated campaign of terror
c.total control of all means of communication.
d. a monopoly of monetary resources.
e. a planned economy directed by a state

3. Authoritarianism - is a middle category between democracy and totalitarianism, although it is

closer to totalitarianism than to democracy. it refers to a political system controlled by elected or
nonelected rulers who usually permit some degree of individual freedom but do not allow participation in
the government.