IDENTITY, CULTURE, AND SOCIETY

WHAT IS IDENTITY?

IDENTITY - is the distinctive characteristics that defines an individual or is shared by those belonging to a
particular group.

• IDENTITY can also change over the course of person's lifetime. It is continuously shaped and
reshaped through rhe passage of time as well as the overall context of one's life cycle, including
his or her activities within the society and interaction with other people.

Why does identities are important?

 identities are important because they shape both individual and group behavior as well as
people's view about other people and society.

 Learning one's self, culture, and society entails knowledge about various identities and how
these shape people's views and behavior.

Culture

 is defined as a society's way of life, provides the basis for forging identities.

 It allows people to understand themselves in relation to others and provides lens through which
they base what is considered the “right way” of doings.

 These are the material and non- material aspects associated with culture.

 clothes, music, and food are examples of material things that comprise one's culture.

 Interpretations of other's behavior, especially the bases of what we regard as “right” or

“wrong”, are examples of non-material dimensions of culture.

 Aside from what is generally regarded as Filipino culture, there are other subcultures that exist
in the Philippines, depending on geographical origin, religion and class among others.

 All societies have some form of subcultures.

WHAT IS SOCIETY?

 the term “SOCIETY” refers to a group of people living in a community.

 According to McIver and Page, “It is a web of social relationship, which is always changing”.

SOCIAL, CULTURAL AND POLITICAL

 The concept of identity is related to social, cultural, and political change.

 People's individual and collective identities have oftentimes transformed social order and paved
the way for lasting change.

 Rapidly-advancing technology also has profound implications for socio-cultural and political
change. Because people know more about what is happening elsewhere in the world, trends in
clothing, hair style, fashion style food choices, among others have also been transformed.
  The phenomenon of international migration has laso changed Filipino identities and beliefs.

ANTHROPOLOGY, SOCIOLOGY, AND POLITICAL SCIENCE

What is Social Science?

 The discipline under which identity, culture, society, and politics are studied are collectively
called the social sciences.

 The social sciences are comprised of a wide array of academic disciplines that study the overall
functios of society as well as the interactions among its individual members and institutions.

 Some of the most prominent academic disciplines in the social sciences are anthropology,
sociology, and political science.

What is anthropology?

 Anthropology is the systematic study of the biological, cultural, and social aspects of man.

 It is derived from two Grek words, anthrops, which means “man” and logos, which means
“study” or “inquiry”.

 It is a significant branch of knowledge because it integrates elements from biological sciences

and humanities to fully comprehend the complex of human species including their past practices
and social patterns, across diverse cultures.

Edward Burnett Tylor

- an English anthropologist, the founder of cultural anthropology. Tylor's ideas typify

19th-century cultural evolutionism. In his works Primitive Culture and Anthropology,
he defined the context of the scientific study of anthropology, based on the
evolutionary theories of Charles. .

Chapter 2: Understanding Culture and Society

SOCIETY AND CULTURE

• SOCIETY - is a group of individuals sharing a common culture, geographical location, and

government.

• Human beings are considered to be naturally inclined to establish societies, since it is interacting
with others that they are able to ensure their survival by establishing mutually beneficial
relationships with one another.

• Societies enable individuals to acquire necessary survival skills, maximize their potential, and
share resources.
A society is characterized by the presence of the following elements:

a. social solidarity, whereby members of the community live together for mutual benefits;

b. shared identity and culture among members that serve as basis for their patterns of action and
behavior;

c. a common language;

d. a large population and the ability to sustain succeeding generations of members;

e. definite geographical area;

f. political, economic, and social organization.

FIVE MAJOR TYPES OF SOCITIES

1. Hunting and Gathering

2. Horticultural and Pastoral Societies

3. Agricultural Socities

4. Industrial Socities

5. Post-Industrial Socities

Culture - is one of the important bases that define and influence a society. Culture refers to the set of
beliefs, ideas, values, practices, knowledge, history and shared experiences, attitudes, as well as
material objects and possessions accumulated over time and shared by the members of society.

According to E.B Tylor culture is “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.

Two Primary Categories of Culture

1. Material Culture - is composed of the physical or tangible objects produced, shared, and utilized
within society such as tools or implements, paintings, and other works of art, architectural styles,
weaponry and toys.

2. Non - Material Culture - consists of the intangible properties and elements of society that influence
the patterns of action and behavior of its members. Examples of nonmaterial culture include language,
beliefs, values, attitudes, ideas, and norms shared among members of society.

Four vital cultural components of Societies

1. Symbols - refer to things that convey meaning or represent an idea. They are essential in
communication, shaping thoughts and ideas, and defining a society's culture.

2. Language - is a set of symbols that enables members of society to communicate verbally (spoken) and
nonverbally (written, gestures).
3. Values - are 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.

4. Norms - are shared rules of conduct that determine specific behavior among society members.

Various categories of norms according to their social importance:

1. Folkways - are norms that may be violated without serious consequences.

2. Mores - are norms with moral connotations.

3. Laws - are norms that are legally enacted and enforced.

• Socialization - refers to the lifelong process of forging identity through social interaction.
Language, as well as social agents that teach aspects of culture to the members of society, also
contributes to the socialization of the individual.

• Enculturation - refers to the process by which an individual learns or acquires the important
aspects of his or her society's culture.

• Context - refers to particular circumtances of a certain culture and is defined by location,

weather, time period and other cultures.

SOCIETY AND CULTURE ACCORDING TO THE THREE DISCIPLINES

• Anthropology considers culture as the central focus of its discipline. It studies the different
cultures of different societies. Anthropology examines and provides explanations for the
existence of different cultural patterns as well as the similarities and differences between
different cultures

• 1. Relativistic Approach - considers cultures as equal. This view holds that there are no
“superior” and “inferior” cultures, and each is unique in its own way.

• 2. Ethnocentric Approach - is the belief that one's native culture is superior to other cultures.
Ethnocentric societies tend to have negative view of other countries and people.

• Enthnocentrism - diminishes or invalidates “other” ways of life and creates a distorted view of
one's own.

• Xenocentrism - is the preference for the products, styles, or ideas of someone else's culture
rather than of one's own.

• Sociology refers culture with overall context of social order. There are different sociological
perspectives that explains this order.

• 1. Structural functionalism - operates on the assumption that society is a stable and orderly
system. Structural functionalists consider culture as a glue that binds society together, leading
to social order.

• 2. Conflict theory - assumes that there is a constant power struggle among the various social
groups and institutions within society. Conflict theorists study the culture of “dominant classes”
 and analyze how this culture is imposed on other classes. The effective domination of this class
facilitated by culture brings about social order.

• 3. Symbolic interactionism - views individual and group behavior and social interactions as
defining features of society. Symbolic interactionists believe that culture provides shared
meanings to the member of society. The more meanings are shared, the more society ensures
social order.

• Political Science also examines cultures as a vital aspect of society. Culture, together with
political socialization, is analyzed in order to explain political behavior such as voting patterns
and the behavior of leaders.

• Culture is seen as an important element in building social capital and could also lead to future
conflicts and division.