WARM UP

FOUR EXHALATIONS
Exhale 4 times, each one deeper than before.
Massai
Warriors

„ociology and Anthropology

CULTURE
 
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 CULTURE

³. . . Is that complex
whole which
includes
knowledge, belief,
arts, morals, law,
custom, and any
other capabilities
and habits acquired
by man as a
member of society.´
(Sir Edward Taylor
1871).

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 CULTURE

Œ ºacquired by man as a member of society͟

ΠNot through biological inheritance but by

growing up in a particular society where they are
exposed to a specific cultural tradition:

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 CULTURE

Œ Enculturation ʹ the process

by which the child learns
his or her culture

Œ „ocial diffusion ʹ cultural

traits can spread through
borrowing or diffusion
from one group to another

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pearned
„hared
„ymbolic

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Ú C ULTURE IS LEARNED

ΠCultural learning depends on the uniquely

developed human capacity to use symbols.

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ΠCulture is transmitted through observation.

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  C ULTURE IS SHARED
ΠCulture is an attribute not of individuals per se but of individuals
as members of groups.

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 Social Groups͙

Structure Society ?he largest group

Our relationships are
to which we usually
based on (or structured
Institutions belong͙
by) both formal and
informal rules. º„ociety͟
therefore, represents a
totality of relationships Small Groups
that imposes rules upon
our behaviour.
Individuals

Groups, such as
Action families, peer
and friendship
groups, etc.

Institutions are stable

patterns of group behaviour
that persist over long ?he main types of institutional groups in our society are:
periods of time Family and Kinship, Government, Work and cultural
institutions such as the media, education, and religion.


C ULTURE IS SHARED

ΠCulture is transmitted/learned by:

observing, listening, talking, interacting

ΠCertain fundamental beliefs, values, worldviews, and child-

rearing practices endure through time.

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 C ULTURE IS SYMBOLIC

ΠSymbolic thought is unique and crucial to

humans and to cultural learning.

ΠLeslie White (1959): culture consists of tools,

implements, utensils, clothing, ornaments,
customs, institutions, beliefs, rituals, games,
works of art, language, etc.

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ulture ʹ the values, beliefs,

behaviour, and material object
that, form a people͛s way of life
(Macionis 2001).

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Œ National culture ± the beliefs, learned behaviour,

patterns, values, and institutions that are shared
by citizens of the same nation.

Œ International culture ± cultural traditions that

extend beyond and across national boundaries.

Œ Subculture ± different symbol-based patterns and

traditions associated with particular groups in the
same complex society. (eg. Jejemon)

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ΠPeople everywhere think that their familiar

explanations, opinions, and customs are true,
right, proper, and moral. Different behaviour are
regarded as strange, immoral or savage.

ºPeople͟ ʹ nationalities, tribal names, etc.

ºbisaya͟

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ΠArgues that there is no superior, international or

universal morality, that the moral and ethical
rules of all cultures deserve equal respect.

Female genital mutilation: litoridectomy

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ΠInalienable (nations cannot abridge or terminate

them) and international (larger than and superior
to individual nations and cultures)

ΠVested in individuals: right to speak freely, hold

religious beliefs without persecution, and not to
be murdered, injured, enslaved, or imprisoned
without charge.

Preservation of cultural rights: ethnomedicine,

folklore, arts, songs, dances, rituals, etc.

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CULTURAL
DIVERSITY

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 According to African
Fertility Dolls
 legend, the bearer of a
fertility doll will give birth
to a beautiful child 24
inches tall. In Ghana and
in most parts of Africa,
fertility dolls represent
youth and fertility.
Akua'maa are carved
wooden figures that are
believed to induce
pregnancy and ensure
safe delivery at birth.
 
 

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Œ Universality ʹ found in every culture

Œ Generality ʹ common to several but not all

human groups

Œ Particularity ʹ unique to certain cultural

traditions

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ΠUniversal traits more or less distinguish Homo

sapiens from other species
Œ Biologically-based universalsʹ a long period of
infant dependency, year-round sexuality (as
opposed to seasonal), complex brains that
enable us to use symbols, languages and tools.
Œ Psychological universals ʹ common ways in which
humans think and process information,
differences between men and women, etc.
Œ „ocial universals ʹ life in groups: family living,
food sharing, exogamy, incest taboo, etc.

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Œ „ocieties can share the same beliefs and customs

because of borrowing and through (cultural)
inheritance, e.g. „peaking English

ΠDomination: colonial rule

ΠIndependent invention of the same cultural trait

or pattern in two or more different cultures, e.g
farming (Middle East, Mexico), nuclear family
(among Filipinos т among the Nayars who live on
the Malabar oast of India)

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Πonfined to a single place, culture or society

ΠDiffusion: modern transportation and

communication system

ΠIndividual cultural trait is becoming rare: formats

of American Idol, Philippines Got ?alent, M?V

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Pahiyas in pucban, Quezon

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C OMPONENTS OF
CULTURE
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Πrnowledge

ΠBelief

ΠArts

Œ Morals OMPONEN?„ OF
Up?URE
Πpaw

Πustoms

ΠHabits, etc.

 
 

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Œ Artifacts ʹ a wide range of tangible human

creations

Œ ?echnology ʹ knowledge that people apply to the

task of living in their surrounding

ΠInformation ?echnology can generate culture on

an unprecedented scale.

 
 

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ΠAnything that carries a particular meaning

recognised by people who share culture.

e.g. word, graffiti, traffic signs, middle finger, etc.

Œ ulture shock ʹ the inability to ºread͟ meaning in

new surroundings (experience, inflict).

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ΠA system of symbols that allows people to

communicate with one another

Πalphabets (Roman, Greek, yrillic, etc.), Braille,

characters, hieroglyphics, numbers, Morse code,
sign language, etc.

Œ allows the continuity of culture ʹ cultural

transmission (the process by which one
generation passes culture to the next).

yrillic
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ΠInstinctive: some animals have at least some

ability to use symbols to communicate (chimps,
dolphins, etc.) ?he case of rinsi (a pygmy chimp)

ΠAnimal language skills are limited, even specially

trained animals cannot on their own, pass
language skills to others of their kind.

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ΠDo Filipinos, who think using one language,

experience the world differently from the
hinese who think in Mandarin or antonese?

Œ YE„ - each language has its own distinctive

symbols that serve as the building blocks of
reality

Œ „APIR-WHORF ?hesis ʹ people perceive the

world through the cultural lens of language

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Πrainbow

Πarc-en-ciel

Πbahag-hari

Πarco iris

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Œ Values ʹ culturally defined standards by which

people asses desirability, goodness, and beauty,
and which serve as broad guidelines for social
living

Œ Beliefs ʹ specific statements that people hold to

be true

Πboth affect how we perceive our surrounding,

and form the core of our personalities

ΠWhat are some Filipino values and beliefs?

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ΠRules and expectations by which a society guides

the behaviour of its members
Proscriptive ʹ not to do
examples?
Prescriptive ʹ should do
Mores ʹ norms that are widely observed and have
great moral significance
?aboos ʹ society͛s prohibition
Folkways ʹ norms for routine, casual interaction

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Œ Diffusion ʹ borrowing of traits between cultures

(cultures have never been truly isolated)
Œ Acculturation ʹ the exchange of cultural features
that results when groups have continuous first-
hand contact, e.g. fusion/blending of food,
clothing, etc.
Œ Independent invention ʹ the process by which
humans innovate, creatively finding solutions to
problems, e.g. Invention of tools, agriculture,
computers, etc.

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Πthe various means by which members of the

society encourage conformity to norms.

Πshame

Πguilt

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Mark ?wain
 
 

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Π?o illustrate: most men and women agree on the

fidelity in marriage, even so, in a recent study (in
the U„), about 25% of married men and 10% of
married women reported being sexually
unfaithful to their spouses at some point in their
marriage.

Œ Filipino double standard: machismo, º


 
 


 
 

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A tribal girl from Northern ?hailand

T HE BEGINNINGS OF
HUMAN CULTURE
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Ë?he endË

 
 

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