UNDERSTANDING SOCIETY & CULTURE

• SOCIETY - is a group of individuals sharing common culture, geographical location, and government
• HUNTING AND GATHERING - basic social and economic units wher the family and local clan which organized hunting and gathering activities and distributed the accumulated food supply
• HORTICULTURAL AND PASTORAL - gradual shift from hunting-and-gathering lifestyle to a more sedentary life, and the introduction of agriculture as a more stable food production method
• AGRICULTURAL -food production became more efficient due to the new methods of farming, and the establishment of permanent settelements
• INDUSTRIAL - technological advancements resulted in the invention of machines that improved production
• POST-INDUSTRIAL - knowledge is a commodity and teschological innovation is key to long-lasting growth and development
• CULTURE - set of beliefs, ideas, values, practices, and shared experiences accumulated over time and shared by the members of society
• CATEGORIES OF CULTURE:

  MATERIAL - physical or tangible objects produces and shared within society

  NON-MATERIAL - intangible properties and elements of society that influence the patterns of action and behavior of its members
• SYMBOLS - things that convey meaning or represent an idea
• LANGUAGE - set of symbols that enables members to communicate
• VALUES - shared ideas, norms that provide members of society the standards that pertains to what is right or wrong
• NORMS - shared rules of conduct that determine a specific behavior among society members
• FOLKWAYS - customs that we follow but are often no written down
• MORES - moral norms. if you break them you are seen not just in poor taste but immoral, often linked to religious rules
• TABOOS - behaviors that are absolutely forbidden in a specific culture
• LAWS - rules and regulations thagt are implemented by the state making the the prime source of social control
• SOCIALIZATION - lifelong process of forging identity through social interaction
• ENCULTURATION - process by which an individual gradually learns the important aspects of his or her culture
• ACCULTURATION - the process of becoming a member of a new culture.
• DECULTURATION - the process of changing the way a culture is perceived by the dominant culture
• SOCIAL ANTHROPOLOGY - social patters and practices and cultural variation across different societies
• CULTURAL ANTHROPOLOGY - cultural variation across different societies and examines the need to understand each culture and its own context
• LINGUISTIC ANTHROPOLOGY - lannguage and discourse and how they reflect and shape different aspects of human society and culture
• BIOLOGICAL/PHYSICAL ANTHROPOLOGY - origin of humans as well as the interplay between social factors and the processes of human evolution, adaption, and variation over time
• ARCHEOLOGY - deals with prehistoric societies by studying their tools and environment
• TWO MAJOR VIEWS

  RELATIVISTIC APPROACH - considers culture as equal

  ETHNOCENTRIC APPROACH - belief that one's native culture is superior to other cultures
• XENOCENTRISM - belief that other cultures are better than one's own culture/nation
• CULTURAL RELATIVISM - accepts cultural differences between societies
• STRUCTURAL FUNCTIONALISM - operates the assumption that society is stable and orderly system
• CONFLICT THEORY - constant power struggle among the various social groups and institutions
• SYMBOLICAL INTERACTIONISM - individual and group behavior and social interactions as defining features of society
• PUBLIC ADMINISTRATION - examines how the government functions and how decisions and policies are made
• POLITICAL ECONOMY - evaluates the interplay between economics, politics, and law and its implications to the various institutions within the society
• DOMESTIC POLITICS - the most common field of study, public opinion, elections, national and regional government
• COMPARATIVE POLITICS - compares domestic politics and governance system across different countries
• INTERNATIONAL STUDIES - internation relationships and interactions between countries
• MULTICULTURALISM - ideologhy that acknowledges and promotes cultural diversity within society
• CULTURAL INSENSITIVITY - advances awareness and acceptance of cultural differences but encourage a critical stand in dealing with issues about diversity