Importance of Culture, Society

and Politics
LESSON 1
Culture
The set of shared attitudes, values,
goals, and practices that characterizes
an institution or organization
Society
Is generally defined as an organized
group or groups of interdependent
people who share a common territory,
language, and culture, and who act
together for collective survival and
well being.
Politics
Refersto the “theory, art and practice of
government.
Gender

Isthe socially-
constructed characteristics
of being male or female.
It serves as a guide on how
male and females think and act
about themselves, the way they
interact with others.
Italso operates as a
dimension of
inequality.
Types of gender

 Heterosexual – a person with a gender is inclined to be sexually attracted

to person of the opposite sex.
 Homosexual – a person is sexually attracted to a person of the same sex
gay- sexually attracted to male lesbian- sexually attracted to female
 Bisexual – individuals who are attracted to both sexes.
 Asexual – some who are totally incapable of being attracted to any sex.
 Polysexual- individuals who are attracted to multiple types of gender.
 Pansexual - accommodate all types of gender.
Sex

Refersto biological characteristic

of human such as male or
female.
Socioeconomic class

 It varies between societies as the ideas associated with

being poor or rich differ based on the collective experiences
of individuals.
 In Great Britain, a new survey revealed the fragmentation of
the British traditional three class system which includes the
upper, middle, and working class, to the seven class system:
“elite, established middle class, technical middle class, new
affluent workers, traditional working class, emergent service
workers, and the precariat.
In the Philippines

 Our indicators of social class are different, given the economic and
political context in which our country is in.

 Filipinos often describe their social class in personalized contexts.

 When you ask a Filipino what his or her social class is, the response can be
any of the following: mahirap, medyo mayaman, sakto lng, and
mayaman.
Political identity

 As a social category refers to the set of attitudes and practices that

an individual adheres to in relation to the political systems and
actors within his or her society.
 Political parties in the Philippines such as Ang Ladlad, a party that
negotiates for the welfare of the LGBTQI community and
Kabataan, a party that promotes youth empowerment, are
examples of how sectors in our society use their identities as
political vehicles to negotiate their needs.
 Religion can also offer political identity to its followers. Members of
the religious group Iglesia ni Cristo promote the practice of block
voting, a church-based exercise of one’s right to suffrage.
Religion

 The earliest forms of religion revolved around making

sense of natural occurrences such as extreme weather
conditions, natural and man-made calamities, sickness,
and even death.
 Early human art exuded ancient forms of superstitions
that included beliefs in the afterlife and that of
superhuman capabilities.
 The sorcerer of Les Gabillou is an example of a
Paleolithic artwork.
 It depicts the supernatural ability of a religious
practitioner to become half-man and half-animal.
 Today, religion has evolved to promote far complex forms of
understanding human nature, the after life, and natural events.
 Monotheistic, believing in the existence of one God
 Polytheistic , believing in the existence of multiple Gods.
 Some religions have Gods arranged in a hierarchy, and others are with
Gods that Equally coexist.
 Religion is a mirror of the society that affiliates with it, such that a society
with a strong caste system.
Religion
World Religious Affiliation

christianity islam hinduism

Buddhism chinese Traditional Primal-indigenous
other non-religois 12.0%
Lesson 2

Human Evolution and

Culture
Cultural beginnings

 Cultureis defined as “that complex whole

which encompasses beliefs, practices,
values, attititudes, laws, norms, artifacts,
symbols, knowledge, and everything that
a person learns and shares as a member
of a society” (Tylor, 2010).
 It is a by-product of the attempt of humans to survive
their environment and to compensate for their
biological characteristics and limitations.

 To understand culture, you need to know the following:

1. Biological capacity of humans for culture
2. Place of humans in the animal kingdom
3. How humans came to develop early forms of culture
Biological Capacity for Culture