Defining culture and society

Learning outcomes
• To explain culture and society using anthropological
and sociological perspective
• To describe society and culture as a complex whole
• To identify aspects of culture and society
• To raise questions toward a holistic appreciation of
cultures and societies
• To become aware of why and how culture relativism
mitigates ethnocentrism
• To identify forms of tangible and intangible heritage
and the threats to these
 The big question
• What are the factors that shape and affect
cultural and social identities throughout
different nations across the world?
 Defining culture
• The term culture was first used by the English
anthropologist Edward B. Taylor in his book,
Primitive culture.
• According to taylor (1920), culture is “ that
complex whole which knowledge, belief, art,
law, morals, custom, and any other
capabilities and habits acquired by man as a
member of society”.
 Defining culture
• From sociological standpoint, culture denotes
acquired behaviors and habits that are shared
by and transmitted among groups of peoples a
result of their interaction with one another.
• Culture define as the collective behavior of
men arising from shared belief and value
system based on ideologies, way of life norms,
and even identities.
 Defining society
• On the other hand, society is viewed as a complex
web of relationship existing out of man’s
interactions with one another.
• August Comte, the father of sociology, saw society
as a social organism possessing a harmony of
structure and function
• Talcott Parsons, an American socioligist, conceives
the society as a system comprised of the
interaction of many individuals within a situation
through commonly understood cultural norms of
generalized symbols and associated meaning
 Quick bubble queries
• Can you separate society and culture? Why do
you think they overlap?
 Relationship between culture and
society
• Culture and society are two different but very
interrelated concepts.
• Culture refers to values, beliefs, behaviors,
practices, norms and symbolic meanings
within a society.
• Both culture and society require the
interaction of people with one another
• Both also revolve around relationship arising
from such interactions.
 Manifestation of culture
• Language
• Arts
• Music
• Festivals
• Literature, etc.
 Examples of society
• Villages
• Cities
• Districts
• Municipalities
• Religious group
• Professional organization
• Culture refers to how people behave and
interact with one another within social
institution.
 United states
• People shakes hand to greet one another
 France
• Common type of greeting people is cheek
kissing
 Korea
• The traditional greeting is to bow
 The maasai tribe from Tanzania and
kenya
• Touch each other’s head as way of greeting to
each other.
 Philippines
• Younger people greet elderly through
“pagmamano” or “mano”
• Generally, human societies have acquired a
specific set of cultural practices while culture
itself can only exist in the context of a society.
Therefore without a group of people interacting
with one another creating relationship, culture
would not be outwardly manifested. As such,
sociologist view society as a way for individuals to
share common cultural beliefs, practices, and
traditions of a society
• However with the advent of globalization and
increasing virtual interaction, society and
culture is becoming even more interrelated
than ever. For instance, social media creates a
society itself where a specific culture arises
which in turns shapes that particularly society.
This includes “likes” on Facebook, “hashtags”
on intagram and “retweets” on twitter.
Seatwork: answer the following
questions using pictures or drawing only.
No words. You can use your mobile
phone to search ideas online
• How do you describe your present
generation? What cultural traits and practices
do you have?
• What is the difference between culture and
society?
• What is the relationship between culture and
society?
• What makes up society?