HUMAN CULTURAL VARIATIONS, SOCIAL

DIFFERENCES, SOCIAL CHANGE AND POLITICAL 3. Technology- when tools have become available
IDENTITIES to one culture, it likely affects not only the norms
Culture and values but also its economic and social
-serves as a “tool kit” that provides us with the interactions and relationships. This makes possible
equipment necessary to deal with the common why Filipino dating and courtship practices has
problems of everyday life significant differences with the Filipino customs a
-Common and not-so-common problems are readily decade ago.
resolved as culture offers immediate solutions as
long as every members of society conforms. 4. Dominant Cultural Themes- new ideas and
-It refers to “that complex whole which inventions introduced to a society are usually
encompasses DIFFERENT beliefs, practices, values, accepted only when they fit into the existing culture
attitudes, laws, norms, artifacts, symbols, knowledge, or represent changes that can be absorbed without
and everything that a person learns and shares as a too greatly distorting the prevailing patterns. Thus,
member of society.” every culture basically carries dominant themes
which makes distinction and direction to the culture
cultural diversity while for some it create a closed system.
-is about appreciating that society is made up of
many different groups with different interests, skills, Social Differences
talents and needs, political ideologies, religious -refer to the dissimilarities among the individuals
beliefs. that is based on their social characteristics and
-Unfortunately, this concept creates not only qualities.
language dispute but social and racial -For large society, these social differences are more
discrimination. complex compared to small ones as this includes
race, class, age, ability, sex, profession, gender, etc.
Cultural Relativism -More often than not, social differences result to
-The Cross-Cultural Relationship is the idea that discrimination among individuals as differences on
people from different cultures can have their qualities and characteristics are readily
relationships that acknowledge, respect and begin identifiable
to understand each others diverse lives. People with Similarly, people with high status are afforded with
different backgrounds can help each other see respect and importance compared to the poor or
possibilities that they never thought were there homeless individuals.
because of limitations, or cultural proscriptions, -Social differences, thus, can create societal
posed by their own traditions problems because of discrimination resulted by
-is the ability to understand a culture on its own inequality, inferiority complex and other related
terms and not to make judgments using the problems
standards of one’s own culture. The goal of this is
promote understanding of cultural practices that Social Change
are not typically part of one’s own culture. -the alteration of society over time (Andersen and
-Using the perspective of cultural relativism leads to Taylor, 2007) Social change may not only be
the view that no one culture is superior than regarded as a process but also as a means, an end
another culture when compared to systems of or even as a social movement, a condition involving
morality, law, politics, etc. a program, an ideology and a problem. As long as
there are evident differences from the social and
SIGNIFICANT REASONS FOR CULTURAL cultural components previously upheld by the
VARIATIONS people in the society, change exists.
1. Environment-is one of the evident reason as
inhabitants must adapt in order to survive. Political Identity
From this adaptation, people’s way of life can be -is almost always associated with a group affiliation
determined such as the kind of economies which and describes the ways in which being a member of
they practice. a particular group might express specific political
opinion and attitudes. Generally, identity is often
2. Isolation- as one society cut its interaction from thought of as a person’s belief system and social
other society, this follows a creation of a set of affiliations. There are various factors which create
norms and values distinct from the previous culture. an identity like nationality, race, gender, sexuality
The condition of isolation prevent contact with the and even the place where a person live.
other people, thus the kind of culture will continue to
develop free from influence and contamination from Significance of Studying Culture, Society, and
other society. Politics
Social Science is a very complex study. It is divided is nomadic. -The members survive primarily by
into different areas according to focus or subject. hunting, trapping, fishing, and gathering edible
In this subject, a special focus on the interplay of plants.
Anthropology (culture), Sociology (society), and
Political Science (political identities and PASTORAL SOCIETIES
government) will be given focus with the use of -Rely on products through the domestication and
transdisciplinary perspective to understand and breeding of animals for transportation and food.
explain social issues in the human society. These are common in areas where crops cannot be
supported and only have to move when the land in
Anthropology which animals gaze is no longer usable.
Is the holistic “science of man”, a science of the
totality of human existence HORTICULTURAL SOCIETIES
-These societies rely on the cultivation of fruits,
vegetables, and plants in order to survive. They are
Two broad fields of Anthropology often forced to relocate when the resources of the
Physical Anthropology land are depleted or when the water supplies
-sometimes called biological anthropology mainly decrease.
concerns about how humans emerged and evolved
through time. This is under the study of human
paleontology. The second concern of physical AGRICULTURAL SOCIETIES
anthropology is how human beings differ -They rely on the use of technology in order to
biologically. This is under the study of human cultivate crops in large areas, including wheat, rice,
variation. and corn. Productivity increases, and as long as
there are plenty of food, people do not have to move.
Cultural Anthropology
-is basically concerned with the difference of INDUSTRIAL SOCIETIES
cultures from time to time They use advanced sources of energy to run large
machinery which led to industrialization, Innovations
Three Main Branches Of Cultural Anthropology in transportation led people to travel, work in
Archeology factories, and live in cities.
Which studies past cultures through tangible or
material remains. POST-INDUSTRIAL SOCIETIES
-help reconstruct the life and culture of the humans Their economy is based on services and technology,
in the prehistoric time. not production. The economy is dependent on
tangible goods, people must pursue greater
Anthropological linguistics education, and the new communications technology
-Which is the anthropological study of languages allows work to be performed from a variety of
where experts explain the difference of languages locations.
by culture and how it is constructed.
ELEMENTS OF CULTURE
Ethnology All cultures consist of key elements that are crucial
Which is the study of recent or present cultures. to human existence:
These disciplines try to explain the difference of  Beliefs
culture before and the recent through vigorous  Values
research  Symbols
 Language
A “society” describes a group of people who share a  Technology
common territory and a culture.  Norms

While “culture” refers to “that complex whole which Beliefs are conceptions or ideas people have about
encompasses beliefs, practices, values, attitudes, what is true in the environment around them like
laws, norms, artifacts, symbols, knowledge, and what is life, how to value it, and how one’s beliefs on
everything that a person learns and shares as a the value of life relate with his or her interaction with
member of society”. others and the world.
-These may be based on common sense, folk
TYPES OF SOCIETY wisdom, religion, science, or a combination of all of
HUNTING AND GATHERING SOCIETIES these.
-These are the earliest forms of society. These are
small and generally with less than 50 members and Values describes what is appropriate or
inappropriate (good or bad; desirable or undesirable; normative system has the capacity to define and
worthy or unworthy) in a given society or what control human behaviors. Norms are cultural
ought to be. These are broad, abstract, and shared expectations in terms of how one will think, feel, or
to influence and guide the behavior of people behave as set by one’s culture.
-People live in a culture wherein symbols are used to
understand each other. Symbols can be verbal Integrated. This is known as holism, or the various
(words) or nonverbal (acts, gestures, signs, and parts of a culture being interconnected or
objects) that communicate meaning that people interlinked. All aspects of a culture are related to one
recognize and shared. another and to truly understand a culture, one must
learn about all of its part, not only a few
Language is a shared set of spoken and written
symbols. It is basic to communication and Transmitted through socialization/enculturation. As
transmission of culture. It is known as the we share our culture with other, we were able to
storehouse of culture. pass it on to the new members of society or the
younger generation in different ways.
Technology refers to the application of knowledge
and equipment to ease the task of living and Requires language and other forms of
maintaining the environment. It includes all artifacts, communication. In the process of learning and
methods and devices created and used by people. transmitting culture, we need symbols and language
to communicate with others in society
Norms are specific rules/standards to guide
appropriate behavior.

Characteristics of Culture
Dynamic, Flexible, and Adaptive. This is basically
means that culture interact and change. Most
societies interact with other societies, and lead to
exchanges of material (e.g., tools and furniture) and
nonmaterial (e.g., ideas and symbols) components
of culture.

Shared and may be Challenged (given the reality of

Learned through socialization and enculturation. It

Patterned social interactions. Culture as a