THE STUDY OF CULTURE, SOCIETY AND POLITICS

Society

a group of people living together in a community or nation, sharing common traditions, institutions, and collective interests.

Culture

______- is the way of life of a society. It includes the arts, beliefs, traditions, language, religion, clothing, and practices that are shared and passed down from one generation to the next. It shapes how people live, think, and identify themselves within their society.

Politics

______ refers to a set of activities and actions associated with making decisions in groups and holding power in government. It also involves power relations among individuals.

Plato

____ believed that the conflicting interests of different parts of society can be harmonized. He proposed that the best, rational, and righteous political order leads to a harmonious unity within society, allowing each part to flourish without harming others.

• anthropology

• sociology

• political science

Understanding Culture, Society, and Politics involves the connection of three social science disciplines:

Anthropology

Understanding Culture, Society, and Politics involves the connection of three social science disciplines:

_______ is the study of human beings and their ancestors across time and space, focusing on their physical traits, environment, social relationships, and culture.

Sociology

Understanding Culture, Society, and Politics involves the connection of three social science disciplines:

The study of human social life, groups, and society.

• They help us understand how people interact and how society works.

Political science

Understanding Culture, Society, and Politics involves the connection of three social science disciplines:

______ ____ is the systematic study of politics, government, and political behavior.

anthropologist

An ___________ is a person who studies people, their cultures, and how they live and interact with each other in different places and times.

Ethnography

__________ is a research method that uses long-term participant observation. It is a qualitative method where data are collected through observations and interviews to understand how societies and individuals live and function.

Historical Particularism

The idea that each society has its own unique historical development. This approach, promoted by Boas, means that societies must be studied based on their own history, culture, and environment, not using a general theory to explain all cultures. It rejects the idea that all societies develop in the same way.

Franz Boas

A German-American anthropologist known as the “Father of American Anthropology” and the “Father of Modern Anthropology.” _____ ____ pioneered the modern study of anthropology in the United States. He believed that to understand a society, anthropologists must study its unique history and cultural context instead of comparing it to others. His work emphasized the importance of fieldwork, data collection, and cultural understanding.

Cultural Relativism

The idea that a culture should be understood based on its own values and beliefs. Boas argued that we should not judge another culture by the standards of our own culture. Instead, we must try to understand why people in a culture think and act the way they do based on their own beliefs and circumstances.

Henry Otley Beyer

______ ____ authored the “Wave of Migration Theory.” He theorized that early Filipinos descended from waves of migrants-cavemen and Aeta's who traveled through land bridges and later, Indonesians and Malays who reached the country by boat.

Philippine Anthropology

Henry Otley Beyer is the Father of:

• Dawn Man

• Negritos/Aetas

• Indonesians

• Malays

Beyer’s popular theory suggests that the ancestors of modern Filipinos traveled to the archipelago in different “waves of migration”.

These included the following waves:

• Cultural

• Archaeology

• Linguistic

• Biological/Physical

Fields of Anthropology:

Cultural anthropology

Fields of Anthropology:

The branch of anthropology that studies cultural differences and similarities across societies. _______ _________ examines how people live, what they believe, their traditions, and practices in different societies. It also emphasizes the need to understand each culture based on its own context, values, and environment.

Linguistic anthropology

Fields of Anthropology:

The branch of anthropology that studies language and communication in societies. _________ _________ examines how language and the way people speak reflect and shape their culture, beliefs, and social life. It helps us understand how language connects to identity and society.

Biological/physical anthropology

Fields of Anthropology:

The branch of anthropology that studies the origins, physical development, and evolution of humans. ________ ________ examines how humans evolved, adapted, and varied over time, and how social factors affect these changes. It also studies human fossils, genetics, and physical traits to understand human history.

Archaeology

Fields of Anthropology:

The branch of anthropology that studies past societies by examining their remains. ___________ deals with prehistoric societies by studying their tools, artifacts, and environments to understand how people lived in the past.

Sociologists

__________ examine and give new insights about different aspects of society, such as culture, gender, race and ethnicity, social movements, social class, and other forms of social organization and institutions.

Auguste Comte

_______ _______ is known as one of the founders of sociology.

• Social Organization

• Social Psychology

• Applied Sociology

Fields of Sociology:

Social organization

Fields of Sociology:

____ _________ is the pattern of relationships between and among groups and individuals in society.

Social psychology

Fields of Sociology:

The study of how people's thoughts, feelings, beliefs, intentions, and behaviors are influenced by their social environment.

Applied sociology

Fields of Sociology:

A branch of sociology that uses sociological theories and methods to solve real-life social problems. _______ ________ applies what we learn from sociology to real-world issues like making social policies, helping communities, and improving organizations.

• Public Administration

• Political Economy

• Comparative Politics

Fields of Political Science:

Public Administration

Fields of Political Science:

The study of how the government works and how decisions and policies are made and carried out.

Political economy

Fields of Political Science:

The study of how economics, politics, and law interact with each other. _____ _______ examines how these interactions affect governments, institutions, and society as a whole. It looks at how political decisions impact the economy and how economic conditions influence politics and laws.

Comparative politics

Fields of Political Science:

The study that compares domestic politics and systems of government across different countries. _________ ______ helps us understand how different countries govern, make laws, and handle issues, by looking at their similarities and differences.