Understanding Culture Society and Politics

L1 : The Nature and Goals of Anthropology, Sociology and Political Science

Anthropology
● Relates to sociology, it always describes human, human behavior and human societies
around the world
● It is a comparative sciences that examines all societies. The term anthropology means
scientific study of man of human beings.
● The goal of studying anthropology is to understand the origin of human evolution and the
diverse forms of its existence throughout time.
Sociology
● Is the study of human social relationships and institutions.
● The purpose of sociology is to understand how human action and consciousness both
shape and are shaped by surrounding cultural and social structures
Political Science
● Is a social science that deals with humans and their interactions.
● The goal of political science is to constantly deepen knowledge, discover progress and
protect the quality of life within a group, community, country, and the world.
● Thus, it is the study of power relationships and competing interests among states around
the world.

L2: Concept of Society

Meaning and Nature of Society

● 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 follows 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.
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 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.

The following are reasons people live together as society:

1. For survival
2. Feeling of gregariousness
3. Specialization

L3: Characteristics of Society

The Characteristics of Society are:

● It is a social system
● It is a relatively large
● It socialized its members
● It endures, produces and sustains its members for generations.
● It holds its members through a common culture.
● It has clearly-defined geographical territory

L4: Major Function of Society

These are the major function of society:

● It provides a system of socialization.

● It provides the basic needs of its members
● It regulate and controls people’s behavior
● It provides the means of social participation
 ● It provides mutual support to the members

L5: Dissolution of Society

There are several ways by which society dissolved

● When the people kill each other through civil revolution.

● When an outside force exterminates the members of the society.
● When the members become apathetic among themselves or have no more sense of
belongingness
● When a small society is absorbed by a stronger and larger society by means conquest
or territorial absorption.
● When an existing society is submerged in water killing all the people and other living
things in it.
● When the people living in such a society voluntarily attach themselves to another
existing.

L6: Characteristics of Culture

These are the characteristic of culture:

1. Culture is learned and acquired through socialization and enculturation.

● Human beings were not born possessing cultural traits.
● Man’s ability to think and to adapt to his environment enabled him to learn new
things from his parents, friends, neighbors and social institutions based on the
meaning of symbols humans attach with objects and actions.
2. Culture is dynamic, adaptive and flexible.
● Culture is dynamic as it responds to the changing needs of time, alongside the
motion and actions within and around it. When one aspect changes within a
system, culture easily responds to it.
3. Culture shared and transmitted.
● Humans can communicate acquired knowledge through language whether it be
oral, written or symbolic.
 ● The cultural ways are learned by other people. Many are handed down by one’s
elders, by parents, teachers, and others (of a somewhat older generation)
4. Culture is integrated and patterned social interactions
● Culture is meaningfully interwoven to make a complex whole. It is organized from
the simplest behavioral trait to the most complex cultural trait.
5. Culture is cumulative.
● From generation to generation, they are transmitted, acquired or added to a
culture. For example, the American car brand jeep was typical mode of
transportation of the American in the prior to World War II
● This basically means that the culture we have adapted from others can be
enhanced more or it could grow a lot more better.