• British anthropologist EDWARD TAYLOR (1881) defined culture as…

  “That complex whole which includes knowledge, beliefs, arts, morals, law, customs, and any other capabilities and habits acquired by a human as a member of a society.”

  • He explained that such a concept is controlled by humans alone. This motion of culture served well during his time.

• Culture

  • Pertains to everything an individual learns as a member of a society that encompasses attitudes, behaviors, beliefs, knowledge, laws, norms, and practices, and seeks to characterize the inimitable identities of individuals and groups.

• Society

  • French philosopher August Comte

    “Social organism that influences a harmony of structure and function.”

  • French sociologist Emile Durkheim

    That harmony rather than conflict defines society.

    • affirmed Comte’s definition in his book THE DIVISION OF LABOR IN SOCIETY (1893). Durkheim believed that solidarity was the normal condition of society;

  • American sociologist TALCOTT PARSONS

    “Any social system can be analyzed in terms of functional prerequisites (adaptation, goal attainment, integration, and pattern maintenance); hence, all parts of society can be understood with reference to the functions they perform.”

Aspect of Culture

• Material

  • Culture that is visible and tangible is called material culture.

• Nonmaterial

  • Culture that is nontangible and has no physical representation is called nonmaterial culture.

    2 Categories of Non-material Culture

    1. Cognitive Culture

       • consists of concepts, ideas, and philosophies that are considered the products of the rational functioning of the human mind.

    2. Normative Culture

       • consists of shared expectations, rules, and standards of human behavior.

Elements of Culture

1. Beliefs are ideas, viewpoints, and attitudes of peoples based on common sense, folklore, religion, or science.

2. Language is a shared set of spoken and written symbols for transmission of culture.

3. Norms are rules or standards that guide the behaviors of individuals.

4. Symbols whether verbal or nonverbal, are used to communicate meanings to others.

5. Technology is the application of scientific knowledge for practical purposes.

6. Values are principles or standards of behavior.

Characteristics of Culture

1. Culture is Dynamic, flexible, and adaptive

2. Culture is shared and contested

3. Culture is learned through enculturation or socialization

4. Culture is learned through enculturation or socialization

5. Culture is integrated and at times unstable

6. Culture is transmitted through socialization/enculturation

7. Culture requires language and other forms of communication

Types of Societies

1. Foraging Societies (hunting and gathering societies)

   • As the oldest and simplest form of society, which manly the Paleolithic Age 2.6 million years ago.

   • Members of this type of society were nomadic and survived mainly by hunting, fishing and gathering plants to eat, using various stone tools and weapons.

   • The basic economic, social, and political unit of hunter-gatherer societies was the BAND.

   • No matter what their specific environment were, hunters and gatherers shared common feature – MOBILITY.

   • As the resources became scarce in one place, the band had to move on to another.

2. Pastoral Societies

   • Pastoral ism was a much “ more reliable and productive strategy” than hunting and gathering.

   • He claimed that it assured a steady food supply since the size of the herds could be increased over time, which for that reason supported larger populations.

   • Pastoral societies, played an important role during the agrarian era because they explained significant ecological/evolutionary processes of survival.

   • These societies still exist today, primarily in the desert land of North Africa.

3. Horticultural Societies

   • Horticultural societies depend on the cultivation of plants, like fruits and vegetables, in order to survive.

   • People in this type of society usually relocate when their resources are depleted.

   • Horticulturists apply their knowledge, skills, and technologies to grow plants for both food and nonfood needs.

   • Plant propagation and cultivation are among to improve plant growth, yields, quality, nutritional value, and resistance to insects, diseases, and environmental stresses.

4. Agricultural Societies

   • Agricultural societies use technology in order to cultivate crops.

   • Sociologist call this Agricultural Revolution.

   • This term refers to the technological changes that have occurred 8,500 years ago and have led to the cultivation of crops and raising of farm animals.

   • The Philippines is an agricultural society despite many plans to make it an industrialized economy.

   • Its agriculture sector is made up of four subsectors (farming, fisheries, livestock, and forestry), which occupy a large chunk of the labor force and thus contribute to the country’s gross domestic product (GDP).

5. Industrial Societies

   • Industrial societies utilize advanced sources of energy for productivity.

   • This period is referred to as the INDUSTRIAL REVOLUTION, which commenced in Great Britain in the 18th century.

   • The industrials age resulted in changes in major aspects of society. Among the changes were the following:

     • Factories as the center of work

     • Public education via schools became the norm

     • Life expectancy increased as the population’s health improved

     • Political institutions changed into modern models of governance, and

     • Cultural diversity increased as did social mobility.

6. Post – Industrial Societies

   • Post Industrial Societies base their economies on services and technology.

     American sociologist Daniel Bell stated that in a post-industrial society, “ there will be an enormous growth in the “third sector” – the nonprofit area outside of business and government, which includes schools, hospitals, research institutes, voluntary and civic associations, and be like.”

Cultural Iceberg

• Observable features include words and actions, while hidden features include attitudes and values.

  • In his book BEYOND CULTURE (1976) American anthropologist EDWARD HALL explained the iceberg analogy of culture.

    • He explained that if the culture of society was the iceberg, then there were some aspects visible and a larger portion hidden beneath the surface.

    • Individuals often assume that the culture consists only of observable features called BEHAVIORS. WORDS AND ACTION VISIBLE to the casual observer.

    • There are more complex ideas about culture commonly known as attitudes, and values which are not observable.

  • These are called interpretations or how we feel the core values should be reflected in daily life.

    • Deep below the surface are a person’s core values or “learned ideas of what is good or bad, right or wrong, desirable or undesirable, and acceptable or unacceptable” (Language and Culture Worldwide, 2009).

    • Our daily interpretations of our own core values are what become evident to people around, and as such, define who we are as humans.

Cultural Heritage

• As the “legacy of physical artifacts and intangible attributes of a group or society that are inherited from past generations, maintained in the present, bestowed for the benefit of future generations.”

THEORETICAL PERSPECTIVES IN THE STUDY OF CULTURE AND SOCIETY

• Theory

  • A coherent set of general propositions that are used and applied as principles to explain a certain phenomenon.

1. Comparative Theory

   • Is to study the similarities and differences between or among societies.

   • Proponents of comparative theory anthropologist Edward Taylor, Alfred Radcliffe-Brown, and Fredrick Barth.

2. Critical Theory

   • The goal is to critique society, social structures, and systems of power to foster egalitarian social change.

   • German philosopher and sociologist Max Horkheimer asserted that a CRITICAL THEORY constitutes the whole of society within historical context. “A robust and holistic critique by incorporating insights from all social sciences.”

3. Cultural Evolutionism Theory

   • Declares that societies progress from simpler to more complex organizational forms.

   • ENGLISH naturalist and geologist CHARLES DARWIN.

   • BRITISH PHILOSOPHER AND SOCIOLOGIST HERBERT SPENCER

4. Diffusionism Theory

   • Cultural borrowing from one another results in societal change.

   • German-American anthropologist FRANZ BOAS.

5. Feminist Theory

   • Women are given a voice to highlight various ways on how they have greatly contributed to society.

   • American contemporary sociologist PATRICA HILL COLLINS, sociology professor at University of Maryland, U.S.A

6. Functionalism Theory

   • Society is like a biological organism with all its parts interconnected. These parts function relatedly to satisfy the human needs.

   • Polish anthropologist BRONISLAW MALINOWSKI developed the theoretical school called FUNCTIONALISM.

     “Culture is an instrumental mechanism by which a person is put in a better position to cope with specific problems in order to satisfy basic human needs”

   • RAYMUND FIRTH (Malinowski student) and

   • EDMUND LEACH (firth’s student)

7. Historical Materialism Theory

   • Culture is a product of material conditions in which a given community finds itself.

   • Is considered the sociological method of MARXISM - KARL MARX

8. Interpretive Theory

   • It is important to understand the subjective experience of human beings.

   • Rooted from the concept of verstehen, a German term that means “ to understand”

   • German sociologist MAX WEBER

9. Neo-evolutionism Theory

   • Culture is shaped by environmental and technological conditions.

   • Neo-evolutionism theory developed in the 1940s through the work of the American anthropologist Leslie White and Julian Steward among others.

   • Leslie White (1943) posited that cultures became more cutting-edge as they became more efficient at utilizing energy. Cultures also progressed because technology and social organization were both influential in prompting such efficiencies.

   • Julian Steward (1955) explained the evolutionary change in terms of what he called “levels of sociocultural integration” and “multilinear evolution.” such terms were used to distinguish neo-evolutionism from the cultural evolutionism of Darwin and Spencer.

10. Psychological Anthropology Theory

    • Learning a culture impacts on one’s personality.

    • Ruth Benedict

11. Structural Functionalism Theory

    • Social institutions primarily function to maintain the harmony of social whole.

    • Alfred Radcliffe – Brown

12. Symbolic Interaction Theory

    • Society is analyzed by addressing the subjective meanings that individuals impose on behaviors, events, and objects.

    • American philosopher, psychologist, and sociologist George Herbert Mead

Orientation in Viewing Other Cultures

• ETHNOCENTRISM

  • Refers to judgments that are made on other cultures and based on one’s own cultural standards.

  • American social scientist WILLIAM G. SUMNER in 1906

  • it underscores the superiority of a culture, ethnicity or race and claims that “ anything you can do, we can do better.”

• CULTURAL RELATIVISM

  • Is the belief that no culture is superior over any other culture.

  • GERMAN ANTHROPOLOGIST FRANZ BOAS in the first decades of the 20th century

Comparing Ethnocentrism and Cultural Relativism in Viewing Cultures

• ETHNOCENTRISM

  • Exclusive

  • Closed-minded

  • Superior

  • Culturally insensitive

• CULTURAL RELATIVISM

  • Inclusive

  • Open-minded

  • Equal

  • Culturally sensitive

• BOTH

  • Examine and evaluate cultures

  • Viewpoints that present extremist views

  • Perceptions of cultural practices