Understanding Culture, Society and Politics

Governor Pack Road, Baguio City, Philippines 2600

Tel. Nos.: (+6374) 442-3316, 442-8220; 444-2786;
442-2564; 442-8219; 442-8256; Fax No.: 442-6268 Name:
Email: email@uc-bcf.edu.ph; Website: www.uc-bcf.edu.ph

S.Y. 2020-2021 First Trimester Grade Level/Section:

MODULE 1 – UCSP Subject Teacher: KIMBERSON P. ALACYANG

MODULE 1: INTRODUCTION TO
UNDERSTANDING CULTURE, SOCIETY, AND POLITICS
I. LEARNING OBJECTIVES:
Through the module, the students are able to:
A. know the rationale for studying anthropology, political science, and sociology;
B. define the sociological perspectives;
C. explain sociological perspectives on culture, society, and politics;
D. understand the significance of studying Anthropology, Sociology, and Political Science by
completing the activities that will follow;
E. appreciate the nature of culture and society from the sociological perspectives; and
F. apply the ideals of the sociological perspectives

II. DISCUSSION

THE DISCIPLINES IN UNDERSTANDING CULTURE, SOCIETY, and POLITICS

A. OVERVIEW
1. CULTURE refers to the complex system acquired by man as a member of society. This
includes knowledge, beliefs, arts, morals, laws, customs, and any other capabilities and
habits.
✓ ANTHROPOLOGY is the discipline utilized to understand culture.
2. SOCIETY refers to groups of people with common territory, interaction, and culture.
Every society is organized in such a way that there are rules of conduct, customs,
traditions, folkways and mores and expectations that ensure appropriate behaviour
among members (Palispis. 2007)
✓ SOCIOLOGY is the discipline to understand society.
3. POLITICS refers to the exercising of power, rule, authority, and influence over a
constituent or for whatever reason. Further, politics reflects the struggle between and
among actors with conflicting desires and authoritative allocation of values
Standard Definition of Politics: Includes some essential Elements
a. Power - ability to exercise authority over others
b. Rule - regulation or law governing procedures in a public or private body
c. Authority - feature of a leader or an institution that compels others to be obedient,
ability to control or direct the action of others
d. Influence - act, process, or act of producing an effect without apparent exertion
of tangible force/direct exercise of command
✓ POLITICAL SCIENCE is the discipline to understand politics.
❖ IMPORTANT NOTE TO REMEMBER: The three disciplines are INTERCONNECTED; therefore, are
all essential in capturing the essence of understanding culture, society, and politics.
 Understanding Culture, Society and Politics
Governor Pack Road, Baguio City, Philippines 2600
Tel. Nos.: (+6374) 442-3316, 442-8220; 444-2786;
442-2564; 442-8219; 442-8256; Fax No.: 442-6268 Name:
Email: email@uc-bcf.edu.ph; Website: www.uc-bcf.edu.ph

S.Y. 2020-2021 First Trimester Grade Level/Section:

MODULE 1 – UCSP Subject Teacher: KIMBERSON P. ALACYANG

B. LEARNING POINTS
1. ANTHROPOLOGY is the branch of knowledge that deals with the scientific study of man,
his/her works, body, behavior, and value in time and space.
✓ comes from the two Greek words anthropos which means man and logos which
means science or study of.
✓ promotes a holistic study of humans.
✓ Seeks to answer the primary question: What does it mean to be human? This
allows for an extensive and inclusive approach such that anthropology studies
humans as both biological and social creatures.
Biologically, it inquires on the genetic composition of humans, their relationship
with other primates, and their evolution.
Socially, it inquires on human behaviors, attitudes, and belief systems, which
range from birth practices to burial rites.

a. Origin and Development

✓ The beginnings of anthropology date back to the period of discoveries and
explorations from 15th to 18th century extending to the days of Western
explorations, missionaries, and colonial conquerors.
✓ The discoveries of antique tools and artifacts in France and other parts of Europe
in the beginning of 19th century proved the existence of man a million years ago.
✓ According to Haviland (2000),”These discoveries took place during the time when
advances in chemistry and physics were made. These aroused an interest in
scientific inquiry.
b. Sub-Disciplines of Anthropology
1. Archaeology – examines the remains of ancient and historical human
populations to promote an understanding of how humans have adapted to
their environment and developed.
2. Cultural Anthropology – promotes the study of a society’s culture through their
belief systems, practices, and possessions.
3. Linguistic Anthropology – examines the language of a group of people and its
relation to their culture.
4. Physical Anthropology – looks into the biological development of humans and
their contemporary variation.
5. Applied Anthropology – attempts to solve contemporary problems through the
application of theories and approaches of the discipline.
c. Proponents
1) Modern Anthropology was pioneered by: Lewis Morgan, Edward Tylor and
Herbert Spencer (Unilineal Evolution - a theory implying that cultures evolve from
simple to complex forms). Most of the early anthropologist were armchair theorist
(adopted a common sense theme of an evolutionary view of humanity and
human behavior).
✓ Lewis Morgan – he wrote a book entitled Ancient Society, or Researches in
the Lines of Human Progress from Savagery through Barbarism to
Civilization (Stages of Cultural Evolution).
 Understanding Culture, Society and Politics
Governor Pack Road, Baguio City, Philippines 2600
Tel. Nos.: (+6374) 442-3316, 442-8220; 444-2786;
442-2564; 442-8219; 442-8256; Fax No.: 442-6268 Name:
Email: email@uc-bcf.edu.ph; Website: www.uc-bcf.edu.ph

S.Y. 2020-2021 First Trimester Grade Level/Section:

MODULE 1 – UCSP Subject Teacher: KIMBERSON P. ALACYANG

✓ Edward Tylor – believed that all of our cultural innovations, not only
firearms, but also science, mathematics, and even religion, evolved.
▪ outlines all his ideas, as well as giving what’s considered to be the
first real definition of culture as: “that complex whole which includes
knowledge, belief, art, law, morals, custom and any other
capabilities and habits acquired by man as a member of society.”
✓ Herbert Spencer – proposed that war promoted evolution, stating that
those societies that conducted more warfare were the most evolved. He
also coined the phrase “survival of the fittest” and advocated for allowing
societies to compete, thereby allowing the most fit in society to survive.
2) Later, a higher level of research began using careful and thorough gathering of
data about individual cultures. This new approach was adopted by Franz Boas
and Alfred Kroeber. They were followed by Bronislaw Malinowski, A.R. Radcliffe-
Brown, Ralph Linton, etc.
▪ Franz Boas (Father of American Anthropology) – “theory of cultural relativism”.
saying that people think of other cultures based on the only culture they know,
which is their own culture. His research demonstrated the many similarities
between people of different races and ethnicities.
3) In 1914, Anthropology was elevated as an academic discipline at the University
of the Philippines by H. Otley Beyer. First, it was offered as one of the courses in
the Department of History and later on merged with Sociology.

2. SOCIOLOGY - is the study of social behaviour or society, including its origins, development,
organization, networks, and institutions.
✓ It is a social science that uses various methods of empirical investigation
and critical analysis to develop a body of knowledge about social order, disorder,
and change
✓ Studying society provides us an idea on its importance an equal, just and humane
society.
a. Origin and Development
✓ Sociological inquiry stated as soon as man developed some means of
communication.
✓ Meanwhile, the conscious adoption of the scientific approach began in the early
part of the 18th century and the first quarter of 19th century when social
philosophers began to be interested in the natural development of the sciences
that would eventually lead to the development of society.
✓ During that time, Henri de Saint-Simon wrote his ideas on the science of society
which he discussed with Auguste Comte, his student and secretary.
✓ Meanwhile, Sociology was introduced in the Philippines by Fr. Valentin Marin in
1896 when he initiated a course on criminology at the University of Santo Thomas.
✓ In 1939, Serafin Macaraig, the first Filipino to receive a doctorate degree in
Sociology published his Introduction to Sociology which became the first text at
the University of the Philippines.
 Understanding Culture, Society and Politics
Governor Pack Road, Baguio City, Philippines 2600
Tel. Nos.: (+6374) 442-3316, 442-8220; 444-2786;
442-2564; 442-8219; 442-8256; Fax No.: 442-6268 Name:
Email: email@uc-bcf.edu.ph; Website: www.uc-bcf.edu.ph

S.Y. 2020-2021 First Trimester Grade Level/Section:

MODULE 1 – UCSP Subject Teacher: KIMBERSON P. ALACYANG

b. Sub-Disciplines of Sociology
1. Social Organization – studies that involve social structures such as institutions,
social groups, social stratification, social mobility, and ethnic groups.
2. Social Psychology – study of the impact of group life to a person’s nature and
personality
3. Social Change and Disorganization – inquires on the shift in social and cultural
interactions and the interruption of its process through delinquency, deviance,
and conflicts.
4. Human Ecology – pursues studies that relate human behavior to existing social
institutions (subjects belong to are treated in the context of an ecological
/environmental element that defines human behavior)
5. Population or Demography – inquires on the interrelationship between
population characteristics and dynamics with that of a political, economic, and
social system.
6. Applied Sociology – uses sociological research and methods to solve
contemporary problems

3. Social Structure and Agency – This is the foundation of every society from which
emanates the possible roles, statues, institutions, and organizations.
Social Structure – is the determining factor by which every other part of a society gains its
context.
Agency – the realized capacity of people to act upon their world and not only to know
about or give personal or intersubjective significance to it.
4. The Sociological Imagination
- It is a particular way of looking at the world around us through sociological lenses.
- It is a way of looking at our experiences in light of what is going on in the social world
around us.
- This helps us to appreciate the social and non-biological forces that affect, influence
and shape our lives as individuals, groups, and communities (Giddens, 1982).
- Sociological imagination helps us look beyond individual psychology to the many
and varied facets of social and cultural forces, and "the recurring patterns in peoples'
attitudes and actions, and how these patterns vary across time, cultures and social
groups." (Henslin and Nelson, 1995)

c. Proponents
PROPONENTS PERSPECTIVE ON SOCIETY
1. Auguste Comte ▪ Society as a social organism possessing a harmony of
(Father of structure and function
Sociology) ▪ Coined the word Sociology
▪ He advocated the idea of positivism or the use of
empirical investigations to understand phenomena.
2. Emile Durkheim ▪ Society as a reality in its own right. Collective
consciousness is of key importance to society, which
society cannot survive without.
 Understanding Culture, Society and Politics
Governor Pack Road, Baguio City, Philippines 2600
Tel. Nos.: (+6374) 442-3316, 442-8220; 444-2786;
442-2564; 442-8219; 442-8256; Fax No.: 442-6268 Name:
Email: email@uc-bcf.edu.ph; Website: www.uc-bcf.edu.ph

S.Y. 2020-2021 First Trimester Grade Level/Section:

MODULE 1 – UCSP Subject Teacher: KIMBERSON P. ALACYANG

▪ studied the social factors that underline suicide and

found that the level of social integration, the degree to
which people are tied to their social group, was a key
social factor in suicide.
3. Karl Marx 5. believed that class conflict—the struggle between the
proletariat and the bourgeoisie—was the key to human
history.
6. founder of the conflict perspective
4. Herbert Spencer 7. viewed societies as evolutionary, coined the term the
survival of the fittest, and became known for social
Darwinism.
5. Max Weber 8. defined religion as a central force in social change; for
example, Protestantism encourages greater economic
development and was the central factor in the rise of
capitalism in some countries.
6. Talcott Parsons 9. Society is a total complex of human relationships in so
far as they grow out of the action in terms of means-
end relationship
7. George Herbert 10. Society is an exchange of gestures that involves the
Mead use of symbols.

3. POLITICAL SCIENCE
✓ A social science dealing with a systematic study of the state and government (its essential
nature, form, manifestation, organization and development).
▪ The word political is based from the Greek word “polis”, meaning a city-state, or what
today would be the equivalent of a sovereign state.
▪ The word “science” comes from the Latin word scire, “to know”
1. The science of politics, therefore, has its formal object, a basic knowledge and
understanding of the state and of the principles and ideals which underlie its organization
and activities.
2. It is primarily concerned with association of human beings into a “body politic”, or a
political community (one organized under government of law).
3. As such, it deals with those relations among men and groups which are subject to control
by the state, with the relations of men and groups to the state itself, and with the relations
of the state to other states.
✓ Politics is determining who gets what, where, when, and how.
- Struggle between and among actors with conflicting desires and authoritative allocation
of values
- it is the owning and exercising of power, rule, authority, and influence for whatever
reason
“Man is by nature a political animal” – Aristotle
- “The essence of social existence is politics and that two or more men interacting with
one another are invariably involved in a political relationship”
 Understanding Culture, Society and Politics
Governor Pack Road, Baguio City, Philippines 2600
Tel. Nos.: (+6374) 442-3316, 442-8220; 444-2786;
442-2564; 442-8219; 442-8256; Fax No.: 442-6268 Name:
Email: email@uc-bcf.edu.ph; Website: www.uc-bcf.edu.ph

S.Y. 2020-2021 First Trimester Grade Level/Section:

MODULE 1 – UCSP Subject Teacher: KIMBERSON P. ALACYANG

- Accdg. to Niccolo Machiavelli: “It is safer to be feared than loved, but it is best to be
feared as to be loved”

a. Origin and Development

✓ Political science originated with the ancient Greeks in the 1st century BCE. During
this time, the philosopher Plato wrote numerous dialogues about politics, asking
about the nature of justice, what constitutes good government, and what is truly
best for humanity.
✓ His student Aristotle worked in a more scientific way, observing and describing
types of governments systematically.
✓ At the start of the 17th century, people began to apply the methods of the scientific
revolution to politics. Thomas Hobbes, for example, employed the methods of
geometry to break government down into its most basic parts in order to
understand it.
✓ In the nineteenth century, thinkers such as Karl Marx and Max Weber used
sociological methods to analyze politics.

b. Sub-Disciplines of Political Science

1. Political Theory – examines the contemporary application of political concepts
such as human rights, equality, peace and justice
2. Comparative Politics – aims to provide context to the differences in government
and political systems.
3. International Relations – the study of state-to-state relations and the wider margin
of the impacts of globalization and climate change such as terrorism, piracy, and
democratization of non-Western territories.
4. Political Behavior – covers the attitudes, knowledge, and actions of an individual
in response to political variables such as policies created by the government,
behavior of politicians, and general political environment.
5. Public Policy – inquires on the types of governmental policies and the underlying
motivations for their enactment and implementation.
6. Public Administration – examines the various administrative schemes
implemented by the government officials.
c. Proponents:
1) Plato – used the term “polis” (427–347 BC)
2) Aristotle – Father of Political Science (384–322 BC)
3) Niccolo Machiavelli – Father of Modern Political Science (16th century)
4) Jean Bodin (1530 – 1596) a French political philosopher coined the term “Political
Science”
 Understanding Culture, Society and Politics
Governor Pack Road, Baguio City, Philippines 2600
Tel. Nos.: (+6374) 442-3316, 442-8220; 444-2786;
442-2564; 442-8219; 442-8256; Fax No.: 442-6268 Name:
Email: email@uc-bcf.edu.ph; Website: www.uc-bcf.edu.ph

S.Y. 2020-2021 First Trimester Grade Level/Section:

MODULE 1 – UCSP Subject Teacher: KIMBERSON P. ALACYANG

THREE SOCIOLOGICAL PERSPECTIVES

1. STRUCTURAL FUCTIONALIST PERSPECTIVE sees society as a complex system whose parts work
together to promote solidarity and stability
2. SOCIAL CONFLICT THEORY follows the precept that society is in a state of perpetual conflict
due to competition BY CLASSES for limited resources
3. SYMBOLIC INTERACTIONIST PERSPECTIVE refers to symbols that help us give meaning to the
experiences in our life
▪ LEARNING CONCEPTS
STRUCTURAL SOCIALCONFLICT SYMBOLIC
FUNCTIONALISM INTERACTIONISM
Focus -Interdependent parts of -Conflicting interests -Interaction between
the society between groups or individuals as seen by
Institutions, Roles, Norms, class their ways of
Values, Customs, Traditions -How are these communicating their
conflicting interests own definition of what a
shown? symbol is.
e.g. Stratification
System” which presents
inequality in wealth,
power and prestige
What is Society? -Society is composed of -Society is composed -Society was formed
interdependent parts which of different groups or when each person
function properly. class with conflicting communicates his own
interests who always definition of what a
struggle against each symbol is to another
other. person
Assumption ✓ The interdependent ✓ There is scarcity of ✓ We live in a world full
parts must function resources of symbols
properly for the society ✓ Because there is ✓ We have our own
to be in order conflict, there definition, idea or
✓ The interdependent would always be perception of what a
parts are unified struggle thus particular symbol
✓ If each interdependent forming a winner means to us
part function properly, from the loser; the ✓ The society is a stage
there is “Equilibrium” or advantaged from where we humans are
balance in the society the disadvantaged the actors. We share
✓ The “3 Human our definition of what a
➢ Manifest Function - Needs” (Wealth, symbol means by
actions that are Power, Prestige) are interacting through
intended to help some always in limited “Gestures”
part of the system supply, so that if ✓ “Meanings” emerge
➢ Latent Function - one group gains, from social interaction
unintended
 Understanding Culture, Society and Politics
Governor Pack Road, Baguio City, Philippines 2600
Tel. Nos.: (+6374) 442-3316, 442-8220; 444-2786;
442-2564; 442-8219; 442-8256; Fax No.: 442-6268 Name:
Email: email@uc-bcf.edu.ph; Website: www.uc-bcf.edu.ph

S.Y. 2020-2021 First Trimester Grade Level/Section:

MODULE 1 – UCSP Subject Teacher: KIMBERSON P. ALACYANG

consequences that the other group ✓ Because we are

help social systems lossess continually interacting,
adjust shared meanings are
➢ Latent Dysfunction - actually changing
unintended
consequences that
undermine a system’s
equilibrium
Analysis Level -Macrosociology -Macrosociology -Microsociology
(Society/Individual) (Society/Individual) (Individual/Society)
▪ Structure ▪ Structure ▪ Agency/process
Advantages ▪ An understanding of the ▪ Uncovers the • An understanding of
interdependent parts and importance of human being as active
each must be unified conflict in leading to actors in social life
social change
Disadvantages ▪ It does not see the ▪ It always sees conflict • Too much emphasis on
possibility of conflict and not the possibility the human being
of any unity or
consensus
PROPONENTS August Comte, Emile Karl Marx, Friedrich Charles Horton Cooley
Durkheim and Herbert Engels (1864-1929) Charles
Spencer and later Horton Cooley (1864-
American sociologists like 1929) and George
Talcott Parsons and Robert Herbert Mead (1863-1931)
K Merton.

III. ASSESSMENT
*Note: To be placed in the Assignment portion of your module and it will be published based on your
you class schedule.

IV. ADDITIONAL READING:

• De Cea, M. The Role of Public Sociology in the Development of Cultural Policies in Chile: a
Transformation of Cultural Expertise. Int J Polit Cult Soc 31, 145-159 (2018)
V. REFERENCES:
• Aguilar, M., et al. (2016) Society, Culture and Politics. Quezon City: The Phoenix Publishing
House Inc.
• Alejandria-Gonzalez, M. (2019) Understanding Culture, Society and Politics Module. Second
Edition. Makati City: DIWA LEARNING SYSTEMS INC.
• Lanuza, Gerry M. (2016) Understanding culture, society, and politics. First edition. Manila : Rex
Book Store
• Madrid, R., Santarita, J. (2016) Understanding Culture, Society, and Politics. Quezon City: Vibal
Group, Inc.
 Understanding Culture, Society and Politics
Governor Pack Road, Baguio City, Philippines 2600
Tel. Nos.: (+6374) 442-3316, 442-8220; 444-2786;
442-2564; 442-8219; 442-8256; Fax No.: 442-6268 Name:
Email: email@uc-bcf.edu.ph; Website: www.uc-bcf.edu.ph

S.Y. 2020-2021 First Trimester Grade Level/Section:

MODULE 1 – UCSP Subject Teacher: KIMBERSON P. ALACYANG

• Schaefer, R. (2001). Sociology (7th Edition). New York: McGraw Hill.