THE ANTHROPOLOGICAL, SOCIOLOGICAL AND POLITICAL PERSPECTIVES

OF CULTURE AND SOCIETY

Lesson 2

Introduction

Lesson 2 will discuss the Anthropological, Sociological and Political perspective of

culture and society. It will introduce the basic concepts of ethnocentrism, cultural relativism,
heritage, and approaches in the study of culture, society and politics which will be discussed
extensively in the next lessons.

Objectives

At the end of this lesson, you should be able to:

1. Give the definition and differentiate ethnocentrism and cultural relativism;
2. Enumerate and explain the characteristics of culture;
3. Explain the difference between tangible and intangible heritage;
4. Explain the different approaches used to study culture, society and politics; and
5. Value and express pride of your culture without being ethnocentric.

Topic Outline
1. Characteristics of Culture
2. Ethnocentrism and Cultural Relativism
3. Sociological Approaches in the Study of Culture
4. Notions of Politics
5. Tangible and Intangible Heritage

Try this!

Celebrating a religious celebration/feast/fiesta demands a lot of preparation. For this

activity, you are to choose a religious celebration that you and your family observe with other
relative and friends. Prepare a picture collage (it is not necessary to use your family pictures) that
shows how you conduct your festivities and answer the following questions:

1. When conducting the celebration, what activities do you do before and after?
2. How do you know that these activities must be done or are part of celebration?
3. What is the significance of celebrating this activity? Explain.

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 Think ahead!

What similarities and differences do you think do we share with people of different
culture, beliefs, religion, and ethnicity when celebrating religious festivities? On the table below,
list down as many similarities and differences that you could think of and answer this question:
1) Why are there similarities and differences in the way we do things?

Similarities Differences
Encompasses religion Beliefs and practices
Acquired body of knowledge the context of knowledge
Associated with the Supreme being Their supreme being
Evolution of humans and their traditions Ways and celebration techniques
Written text Different sacred symbols
Relate humanity to spirituality Could be physical being

Based on your given answers on the table you must draw a Venn Diagram to show these
people of different background share these similarities and differences.

Read and Ponder

Culture

According to Tylor (1871), a British anthropologist, Culture is that complex whole that
includes beliefs, knowledge, arts, laws, customs, morals, capabilities and habits acquired by man
as a member of society (Kottak, 2011).

It is also society’s shared and socially transmitted ideas, values and perceptions that are
used to make sense of human experience and generate behavior that are reflected in that behavior
(Haviland, Prins, Walrath, & McBride, 2016).

Characteristics of Culture

Anthropologists, past and present, who have studied human culture stated that the
following characteristics are evident in all of them: 1) It is learned; 2) It is shared; 3) It is
symbolic or based on symbols; 4) It is integrated; 5) It is dynamic; and 6) It is all-encompassing.

1) Culture is Learned – according to anthropologists humans can learn their own culture
in through enculturation. This is the process wherein the culture of one’s society is
handed down from one generation to another as they become active members of their
society. It is through this process that individuals learn what how to appropriately
satisfy one’s human needs (physiological, esteem, belongingness, self-actualization).
One must take note that one’s culture dictates the manner that these needs are met.
Example, Filipinos would have no problem eating dried fish but Americans may not
find it tasteful (Haviland, Prins, Walrath, & McBride, 2016).

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 Culture can be learned in the following ways: firstly, culture is learned through
teaching an example is when parents teach their children how to address people who
are older than them; secondly, it is also learned through observation, humans observe
everything that happens around them and based from these observations they change
the way they act and behave, not because somebody told them but because they have
become aware through observing what their society considers to be right and wrong;
and finally, culture is also absorbed unconsciously (Kottak, 2011), example, most
Filipinos are fond of calling other people not by their names but by saying “psst” and
those who are called also respond to it. Even if we know that the right way is to call
them by their given name we still say “psst”.

To learn more about this characteristic watch this short video clip from YouTube:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mrWPSP35gUk

2) Culture is Shared – culture is also the shared beliefs, values, ideas, and how an
individual must be behave. These shared attributes enable members of a certain
society to understand each other actions and understanding how other members act
the way they do would enable other members to react appropriately. (Haviland, Prins,
Walrath, & McBride, 2016). A good example of this idea of shared culture is the
Filipino value of hospitality or being hospitable to guests. Our nation is composed of
people who come from different ethnic backgrounds but this value is common to all
Filipinos.

3) Culture is Symbolic – White (1959) defined culture as dependent on symbols. These

symbols can either be verbal or non-verbal (Kottak, 2011). It can be a mark, a seal,
sign, national flag, emblem, or anything that represents something significant or
meaningful (Haviland, Prins, Walrath, & McBride, 2016).

4) Culture is Integrated – all of the components that make up culture (e.g. economic,
political, religious, family, values, beliefs, customs, etc.) are interrelated and could
not function without the other. It is a patterned system wherein a change in one part
would eventually lead to a change in another. Example, in the 1930s, 40s and 50s the
common practice in the Philippines for most families to have men as the sole
breadwinner of the family. Today, most families have both husband and wife working
to make ends meet.

5) Culture is Dynamic – culture is a dynamic system it will respond to internal or

external changes which is necessary for it to endure. It is necessary for cultures to be
dynamic, if it will be static chances are it will not last long and if it will be too fluid it
could lose its identity (Haviland, Prins, Walrath, & McBride, 2016).

6) Culture is All-Encompassing – Tylor (1871) stated that culture is a “complex whole

which encompasses beliefs, practices, traits, values, attitudes, laws, norms, artifacts,
symbols, knowledge, and everything that a person learns and shares as a member of
society” (Candelaria, Canuday, & Saloma, Understanding Culture, Society and
Politics - Teacher's Guide, 2016).

Ethnocentrism is the belief that one’s culture is superior and view all outsiders as
inferior (Kottak, 2011). People who are ethnocentric will always use their own culture as the
yardstick to judge other people’s ways, traditions, practices, etc. (Kendall, 2016). Although, it
has been observed that people in almost all cultures are ethnocentric who believe that their
culture, compared to others, is the best (Haviland, Prins, Walrath, & McBride, 2016). Watch this
video about ethnocentrism: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O4lU3iOBeEE.

Cultural Relativism states that any/all culture/s must be seen and analysed by using the
standards of said culture.

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 Harris (1974) said that an ethnocentric individual might conclude that the cause of hunger
in India is because cows are not slaughtered for food since it’s considered to be sacred. But if a
person analyses, based on the idea that culture is relative, the reasons why cows are not
slaughtered in India, he/she would find out that the cow is more useful alive than dead. In the
study conducted by Harris (1974) he found out that this animals are used to power farmers’
plows, their manure is used for fertilizers, it eats the unwanted grasses and is a good source of
milk (Kendall, 2016).

Sociological Approaches to Study Society

1. Structural-Functional Approach

This approach states that a society is a stable and orderly system. It is characterized by
societal consensus wherein the members of society share common practices, beliefs,
customs, traditions, and norms. According to this model, which utilizes a macro-level
analysis, a society is made up of different parts that are interrelated, have their specific
function/s to perform and contribute to stability of the society. The different parts refer to
the various institutions in our society which our necessary for its survival, examples of
these are the family, government, religion/church, economy. Thus, societies stop to
function properly if one institution will not function properly (Kendall, 2016).

Talcott Parsons stated that all societies must meet social needs in order to survive. Robert
Merton improved functionalism and introduced the concept of manifest and latent
function. According to Merton, manifest functions are the intended and/or recognized by
members of society. On the other hand, latent functions are the unintended functions that
are not visible and unacknowledged by society’s members. (Kendall, 2016). Example, the
manifest function of a school is to educate the future members of our country. The
school’s latent function is to provide a venue where students could socialize, create
networks, bonds and relationships with other students.

Merton added that there are times that some parts of these institutions will not be working
as expected, this is called social dysfunction, which are social patterns that may affect the
operation of any society (Macionis, 2017). Example, many Filipinos go and work abroad.
This could be seen as functional and dysfunctional, it can be considered to be functional
since it would mean that there would be lesser number of unemployed and that their
families’ needs could be provided. It could also be a dysfunction since it could also result
to a shortage of workers in the Philippines.

2. Social-Conflict Approach

Based on the assumption of this approach, behaviour of people in society can be

understood in terms of the conflict/tension between groups to control power and/or the
allocation of resources (food, clothing, shelter, money, etc.). This group struggle may or
may not be violent. Sociologists who follow this approach believe that the world is in
continuous struggle (Schaefer, 2013).

Using a macro-level analysis, sociologists who utilize this approach study the never
ending conflicts between the privileged and underprivileged, the rich and the poor, the
whites and non-whites, man and women (Macionis, 2017). Example, education in the
Philippines is free from primary to tertiary level but not everybody could afford to send
their children to school because only the tuition fee is free and this is only applicable to
government operated schools and not private learning institutions. Other expenses such as
transportation, food, uniform, requirements/projects, and other student’s needs are not
covered by this concept of free education. Thus, only those who have the financial means

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 could graduate and maintain and improve their status while those who are poor could not
improve their way of life.

3. Symbolic-Interaction Approach

According to this approach, society is the result of the interactions of people and/or
groups of people and its analysis of society is on a micro-level whose focus is on small
groups. (Kendall, 2016). It is also a model that views human beings living in a world of
meaningful objects (actions, material and immaterial things, relationships, other humans,
and symbols) they see these objects/symbols as a vital part in how humans communicate
and attach meaning to it (Macionis, 2017). Sociologists who utilize this approach
generalize about day to day interaction to explain society as a whole (Schaefer, 2013).

Notions of Politics

The following are the notions of politics as proposed by Heywood (Candelaria, Canuday,
& Saloma, Understanding Culture, Society and Politics - Teacher's Guide, 2016):

1. The art of government;

2. The conduct and management of public affairs;
3. Management of conflict utilizing consensus and compromise; and
4. Power as the basis to comprehend the production, distribution and utilization of
resources.

Tangible and Intangible Heritage

Tangible Heritage or tangible cultural heritage refers to all physical artifacts that were
built, maintained and passed from one generation to the next. Examples of these are buildings,
monuments, sculptures, works of art, or any tangible human creation with cultural significance
(Riches Resources, 2014).

Intangible Heritage of intangible cultural heritage refers to the practices,

representations, expressions, knowledge and skills including the instruments, objects, artifacts
and cultural spaces that are related to it – that communities, groups, and individual recognize as
part of their cultural heritage and is transmitted from one generation to another. Examples of this
are the following: 1) oral traditions and expressions, including language; 2) performing arts; 3)
social practices and rituals; 4) knowledge and practices concerning nature and the universe; and
5) traditional craftsmanship (UNESCO Intangible Cultural Heritage , 2003).

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 See if you can do this

Activity 1. Quiz
A. True or False. Instructions: Read each statement carefully. Write True if the statement is
correct and False if it is incorrect. All answers must be written on the line before each
number.

True 1. Ethnocentrism is the belief that one’s own culture is the best.
True 2. Culture is a patterned system wherein a change in one element affects the entire
system.
Fase 3. Enculturation is the only way that culture is passed on to the future generation.
True 4. The art of Yakan weaving is an example of tangible heritage.
True 5. Political power is utilized to determined how resources are produce, distributed
and used by society.

B. Give two institutions in our society and provide one manifest and latent function. Give a
short explanation for each.

C. Provide one example for tangible and intangible heritage in your own community. State the
importance of these to you and what are the possible threats that these two examples face or
might encounter in the future. Explain your answer.

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Activity 2 Reflection Paper

Read the literary piece entitled “The White Man’s Burden” by Rudyard Kipling and write a
reflection paper about it. Use the following questions as your guide but you could expand your
work beyond the provided questions: 1) How did you feel when you read it?; 2) Why did you
feel that way? 3) Do you agree with the statements of Mr. Kipling?; and 4) What is the proper
way to view people of other culture who are different from our own?

A copy of this poem can be found in this link: http://historymatters.gmu.edu/d/5478/

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Activity 3 Presentation

Instructions: Prepare a presentation using MS Powerpoint about any of the following topics: a)
ethnocentrism and culture relativism; b) characteristics of culture; and c) sociological approaches
in the study of culture. Your presentation must not be more than 10 slides and must not be less
than seven (7) slides, excluding the title and reference slide.

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