Ucsp - Lesson 2 - Understanding The Concepts Of Culture, Society, Politics.pptx

Lesson 2

UNDERSTANDING THE CONCEPTS OF CULTURE, SOCIETY, AND POLITICS

CULTURE

THE COMPLEXITY OF CULTURE 

What is culture?  “‘that

complex whole which encompasses beliefs, practices, values, attitudes, laws, norms, artifacts, symbols, knowledge, and everything that a person learns and shares as a member of society.” (E.B. Tylor 1920 [1871]).  Culture is people’s way of life.

CATEGORIES OF CULTURE 

Material Culture  Physical

or tangible objects produced, shared, and utilized within society.  Ex. House, churches, tools, artworks, toys 

Non-material Culture  Abstract

ideas and ways of thinking  Ex. Language, behaviors, beliefs, values

ELEMENTS OF CULTURE 1. Values – Shared ideas, norms, and principles that provide members of society the standards that pertain to what is right or wrong, good or bad, desirable or undesirable. 2. Beliefs - The perception of accepted reality.

ELEMENTS OF CULTURE 3. Norms - shared rules of conduct that determine specific behavior among society members.  Folkways - The patterns of repetitive behavior which becomes habitual and conventional part of living.  Mark

the distinction between rude and polite behavior.

ELEMENTS OF CULTURE Mores - The set of ethical standards and moral obligations as dictates of reason that distinguishes human acts as right or wrong or good from bad.  Laws – norms that are legally enacted and enforced 

ELEMENTS OF CULTURE 4. Symbols – things that convey meaning or represents an idea 5. Language – set of symbols that enables members of society to communicate verbally and nonverbally.

CHARACTERISTICS OF CULTURE Anthropology regards culture as:  Learned;  Symbolic;  Integrated  Shared; and  All encompassing . (E.B. Tylor 1871).

SOCIALIZATION 

The lifelong process whereby people learn the attitudes, values, and actions appropriate for individual as members of a particular society.

ENCULTURATION A child’s incorporation into his or her society through learning of the culture.  The process whereby an individual learns and acquires the culture of the society he or she belongs to. 

ETHNOCENTRISM 

Ethnocentrism is the regard that one’s own culture and society is the center of everything and therefore far more superior than others (Kottak 2012: 39; Eriksen 2001:7).

XENOCENTRISM 

It is characterized by a strong belief that one’s own culture is inferior to others.

XENOPHOBIA 

the fear of what is perceived as foreign or strange.

CULTURAL RELATIVISM The ethical insistence that other cultures can only be evaluated and understood in terms of their own standards and values.  Societies are qualitatively different from one another, such that each one has its own “unique inner logic” (Eriksen 2001: 14). 

MULTICULTURALISM 

Acknowledges and promotes cultural diversity within society.

CULTURAL SENSITIVITY 

Advances awareness and acceptance of cultural differences but encourages a critical stance in dealing with issues regarding diversity.

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QUIZ Identify the following norms. Write F if the behavior is a folkway, M if it is mores, and L if it falls under the law. ___1. Murdering an enemy ___2. Saying “thank you” ___3. Talking while someone else is talking ___4. Robbing a bank ___5. Taking of illegal drugs ___6. Offering a seat to an elderly ___7. Wearing of highly revealing clothes in church ___8. Following of dress codes ___9. Living-in with a partner without marriage ___10. Eating of prohibited food

SOCIETY

What is society? 

SOCIOLOGICAL APPROACHES TO THE STUDY OF SOCIETY 1. 2. 3.

4.

Structural - Functional Approach Social – Conflict Approach Symbolic – Interaction Approach Macro and Micro Level of Analysis

SOCIOLOGICAL APPROACHES TO THE STUDY OF SOCIETY

Structural - Functional Approach

SOCIOLOGICAL APPROACHES TO THE STUDY OF SOCIETY

Social – Conflict Approach

SOCIOLOGICAL APPROACHES TO THE STUDY OF SOCIETY

Symbolic – Interaction Approach

SOCIOLOGICAL APPROACHES TO THE STUDY OF SOCIETY

Macro and Micro Level of Analysis

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QUESTIONS: 1. Is it right to pass judgment on cultures not our own as inferior, threatening, or disturbing? 2. Should we expect societies around the world to practice the same set of cultural values and traits? 3. How is it possible to recognize the uniqueness of each society’s cultural traits and not from the standpoint of one’s own society?

POLITICS

What is politics?

DIFFERENT VIEWS OF POLITICS Politics as the art of government  Politics as public affairs  Politics as compromise and consensus  Politics as power and the distribution of resources 

DIFFERENT VIEWS OF POLITICS Politics as the art of government

DIFFERENT VIEWS OF POLITICS Politics as public affairs

DIFFERENT VIEWS OF POLITICS Politics as compromise and consensus

DIFFERENT VIEWS OF POLITICS Politics as power and the distribution of resources

APPROACHES TO THE STUDY OF POLITICS 1. 2. 3.

The Philosophical Tradition The Empirical Tradition The Scientific Tradition

APPROACHES TO THE STUDY OF POLITICS The Philosophical Tradition

APPROACHES TO THE STUDY OF POLITICS The Empirical Tradition

APPROACHES TO THE STUDY OF POLITICS The Scientific Tradition

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QUIZ:

ACTIVITY: BELIEVE IN ME! (A DEBATE)