UCF REVIEWER Beliefs: beliefs or acknowledged facts that people or

organization hold, frequently as a result of cultural or

IDENTITY- Is the distinctive characteristic that defines an
religious influences.
individual or is shared by those belonging to particular
group. Why is it Important to Study Culture, Society, and
Politics?
1. What is Culture?
1. Understanding Human Behavior - By studying these
- Culture is learned through socialization within
areas, we gain insight into why people act the way they
families, communities, and institutions.
do in different cultural, social, and political contexts.
2. What is Society?
2. Analyzing Social Change - Social movements, political
- A group of people living as a community or an revolutions, and shifts in cultural norms are all crucial to
organized group sharing common purpose at a same understanding the dynamics of society. Studying culture,
territory. society, and politics helps us understand why these
changes occur.
- From Latin word “Socius” means comrade or friend.
3. Globalization - In today’s interconnected world, the
- Social institutions like family or religion exchange of cultural practices and political ideas has
3. What is Political science? become more prominent. Understanding these
connections helps people navigate global challenges.
- Politics is about governance and decision-making. o
Political systems vary widely around the world, from CULTURE
democracies to authoritarian regimes. Culture - behaviour peculiar to Homo sapiens, together
Culture and Society - Culture influences society in the with material objects used as an integral part of this
way people interact with each other and form social behaviour
institutions. Anthropology - is the study of people, past and present,
Society and Politics- Political structures and institutions with a focus on understanding the human condition
are shaped by the needs and norms of society. both culturally and biologically.

Culture and Politics - Politics often reflects the values Culture in an Anthropological Perspective - Culture in
and beliefs of a society's culture terms of anthropology is the shared way of thinking and
behaving of a group of people.
Key Concepts and Definitions:
Sociology - is the study of social life, social change, and
Power: The ability to influence or control the behavior the social causes and consequences of human behavior.
of others.
Culture in Sociological Perspectives - According to
Authority: The legitimate or accepted right to exercise (M.O.S.T Common, N.D) Culture is defined as shared
power. beliefs, values, and practices, that participants in a
Governance: The structures and processes used to make society must learn. Sociologically, we examine in what
and implement situation and context certain behavior is expected, and
in which situations perhaps it is not. Rules are created
decisions in a society. and enforced by people who interact and share culture.
Norms: social norms that specify what conduct is Categories of Culture
acceptable and undesirable in a community or
organization. • Material culture includes all the society's physical
objects, such as its tools and technology, clothing,
Values: Strong beliefs about what is desirable, moral, or eating utensils, and means of transportation.
beneficial in life.
• Nonmaterial culture plays a major role in shaping how
members of a society behave, interact with each other,
and make sense of the world around them. For example, constantly changing as individuals navigate and
the gesture of handholding carries great symbolic negotiate the beliefs, values, ideas, ideals, norms, and
differences across cultures. meaning systems that make up the cultural environment
in which they live.
Elements of Culture
Culture as Flexible - Culture is considered flexible when
• Beliefs -Cultural beliefs are beliefs that are learned and
it can adapt to challenges and change over time to
shared across groups of people.
remain relevant. This can be seen in how culture can be
Ex. Superstitions (Paniniwala/Pamahiin) used to survive and expand society, and how it can be
balanced to account for inevitable changes.
• Values- Cultural values are the core principles and
ideals that a society or community is built around. They Culture as Adaptive - individuals and groups are open to
are a fundamental part of a society's identity and are new ideas, willing to embrace change, and proactive in
often reflected in its traditions, rituals, and beliefs. finding solutions to challenges
Cultural values are socially constructed beliefs and
Socialization - is the process of learning and internalizing
norms that guide the behavior of individuals within a
the values, norms, and behaviors of a society or group.
group
It's a lifelong process that helps people function well in
• Norms- Cultural norms are the shared expectations society and is a central influence on their beliefs,
and rules that govern behavior in a society. They are the actions, and behavior.
attitudes and behaviors that are considered typical or
Enculturation - is the process by which people learn and
average
adopt the ways and manners of their culture.
for a social group. Norms are learned through Enculturation is the process through which an individual
socialization and passed down through generations, and learns about their own culture through exposure and
they can vary across cultures, time periods, and influence from various external sources and forces.
situations.
Acculturation - is the process of cultural, psychological,
I. Folkways - are the norms that apply to everyday and social change that occurs when people from
activities in one's life, including shaking hands when different cultures come into contact with each other.
greeting someone, taking off one's hat indoors, not acculturation, the processes of change in artifacts,
putting one's elbows on the table, and opening a door customs, and beliefs that result from the contact of two
for someone. or more cultures.

II. Mores - A cultural more is a norm, or rule, that is Ethnocentrism- is the belief that one's own culture,
guided by standards of morality within that culture and ethnicity, or nationality is superior to others.
has consequences if not followed. Ethnocentrism is measuring or judging one's own
culture against another culture and can lead to judging
III. Laws - are written and enforced rules that guide someone else's culture negatively. Ethnocentrism is also
behavior. They're more like a system of rules that are the belief that one's own cultural rules are the best and
enforced by some institution, like the police or the often better than another culture's rules.
government. Laws are different from mores in that they
are guided by an authority as opposed to a society's Xenocentrism - occurs when one has a preference for a
moral beliefs. foreign culture's goods, ideas, styles, and traditions over
their own culture. The term xenocentrism refers to the
• Artifacts - A cultural artifact is any item that contains desire to engage in the elements of another's culture
important information about the people and the culture rather than one's own. Styles, ideas and products can all
of a society. be items of preference by someone with xenocentrist
• Symbol- A symbol is an object, word, or action that viewpoints.
represents a concept. Cultural Relativism - refers to not judging culture to our
Culture as Dynamic - all the time, every day, in subtle own standards of what is right or wrong, strange or
and tangible ways. All cultures are dynamic and
normal. Instead, we should try to understand cultural - they existed in East and Southern Africa between
practices of other groups in its own cultural context. approximately 2.5

Multiculturalism - is defined as allowing many individual and 1.4 million years ago.
cultures to exist within one country. It is the idea that
Homo Species- have a brain larger compared to the
many different types of cultures can exist within one
Australopithecus species which appeared about
nation
2.3million years ago.
A. Looking back at Human Biocultural and Social
2 species of Homo Species
Evolution
1. Homo habilis- has a larger brain and reduced the size
1. Biological and cultural evolution: from Homo habilis
of molars and premolars compared to the
(or earlier) to Homo sapiens sapiens in the fossil record
Australopithecus. - a.k.a Handy man because this
Biological Evolution-refers to the changes, species was thought to represent the first maker stone
modifications, and variations in the genetics and tools.
inherited traits of biological populations from one
2. Homo rudolfensis- somehow the same as the features
generation to another.
of Homohabilis. - many paleoanthropologists make no
- based on the theory of evolution that was introduced distinctions between the two species. Some say that the
by the famous English naturalist and geologist Charles difference lies on their cheek teeth and face.
Darwin (1809-1882). Because of the result of his studies,
Homo erectus-the first hominid species that was
he introduced the concept of evolution to explain the
distributed in the “Old world”.
origins of modern humans.
- it was seen in parts of Africa and Asia, and was
Human evolution-is the revolutionary process leading to
discovered by Eugene
the appearance of modern-day humans.
Dubois which he called Pithecanthropus erectus at first
HOMO- is used to determine the species of human
which means erect ape man.
beings.
Homo sapiens sapiens- appeared 50,000 years ago and
HOMINIDS- is the direct ancestors of homo species.
was characterized as the modern human beings.
Australopithecus-the first definite hominids, lived 4.4
- have a domed skull, chin, small eyebrows, and a rather
million to 1.4 millionyears ago.
puny skeleton.
- they were fully bipedal which means that they could
2. Cultural and sociopolitical evolution: from hunting
walk using their two
and gathering to the agricultural, industrial, and post-
legs. industrial revolutions

2 groups of Australopithecus Cultural Evolution – Theory of social change.

Information capable of affecting individual’s behavior
1. Gracile Australopithecines- have smaller dentition
that they acquire from other members of the society
and facial muscle.
through teaching, imitation, and other forms of social
- late as 1.2 million years ago. transmission.

- the earliest evidence of fundamentally bipedal Sociopolitical Evolution – The process by which
hominids can be observed structural reorganization is affected through time,
eventually producing a form or structure which is
at the site of Laetoli in Tanzania. qualitatively different from the ancestral form.
2. Robust Australopithecines- or Paranthropus, are Different Types of Society
characterized by several features of the skull that give
them a "robust" appearance when compared to gracile 1. Hunting and Gathering
hominids.
- Produces simple form of tools used to hunt for animals 2) Indus Valley – started along the indus river valley in
and gather plants and vegetation for food. india. Indus Valley was a cultural and political entity
which flourished in the northern region of the Indian
- The rely on nature for their food, they frequently move
subcontinent between c. 7000 - c. 600 BCE.
and do not have permanent settlements.
3) Shang (Shang Dynasty) – developed near the huang
2. Horticultural and Pastoral Societies
ho river. The Shang is the earliest dynasty in Chinese
- They produce and use simple forms of hand tools to
history that can be verified through written and
plant crops.
archaeological evidence. Established around 1600 BCE,
3. Pastoral Societies it was centered in north China along the Yellow River
valley, the so-called cradle of Chinese civilization.
- The principal means of subsistence of pastoralists is
animal domestication. 4) Egyptian – started along the nile river. Ancient Egypt
was the preeminent civilization in the Mediterranean
- They developed in dry regions of the world. world for almost 30 centuries—from its unification
4. Agricultural Societies and the neolithic revolution around 3100 B.C. to its conquest by Alexander the Great
in 332 B.C. From the great pyramids of the Old Kingdom
- Agricultural societies began 5,000 years ago during the through the military conquests of the New Kingdom,
neolithic period. During this time, the neolithic Egypt’s majesty has long entranced archaeologists and
revolution occurred. historians and created a vibrant field of study all its own:
5. Industrial Societies Egyptology.

- Began when the industrial revolution swept through A. Neolithic Revolution

Europe during the late eighteenth century and the first - The wide-scale transition of many human cultures
half of the nineteenth century. during the neolithic period from a lifestyle of hunting
- During the industrial revolution, new sources of energy and gathering to one of agriculture and settlement,
where harnessed, advanced forms of technology were making an increasingly larger population possible.
applied, and machineries were invented. B. Early Civilization and the rise of the state
6. Post Industrial Societies - A civilization (US) or civilisation (UK) is any complex
- Many societies transformed into post-industrial society characterized by urban development, social
societies due to the development of information stratification, symbolic communication forms(typically,
technology and computers. writing systems), and a perceived separation from and
domination over the natural environment by a cultural
7. Political evolution and the development of early elite.
civilization
C. Democratization
- The development of the early civilization showed the
political evolution of society. Democratization is the building of political institutions,
common interests, and new forms of legitimization. the
- A civilization develops because of a society’s highly people elect representatives to deliberate and decide on
advanced level of culture, social organization, political legislation, such as in parliamentary or presidential
developments, judical system, arts and other forms of democracy
culture.

Four Major Civilizations

1) Sumer (Mesopotamia) – was an ancient civilization

founded in the Mesopotamia region of the Fertile
Crescent situated between the Tigris and Euphrates
rivers.