Notes in Understanding culture, society and politics

Anthropology Is the study of what makes us human

Four subfields
Archeology study human culture by analyzing the objects people have made.
Biological anthropology seeks to understand how humans adapt to different environments
Cultural anthropology explores how people in different places live and understand the world.
Linguistic anthropology study the many ways people communicate across the globe.

Sociology is the study of social life, social change and social causes and consequences of human
behavior.

Political science focuses on theory and practices of government and politics at the local and national.

Major subfields of political science

Political theory concerned mainly with the foundation of political community and institution.
Comparative politics to provide understanding of how and why different societies develop different kinds of
political institution
International relation is concerned with developing an understanding of why states and non-states interact
as they do.
Political methodology covers philosophical issues regarding the possibility of a science and politics.

Cultural identity is a sense of belonging. this includes a shared sense of companionship, beliefs and
interest.
Social Identity refers to how we identify ourselves in relations to others according to what we have in
common.
Political identity associated with a group affiliation and describes the way in which being a member of a
particular group might express political opinion.

Culture consists of beliefs, behavior, objects and other characteristics common to the members of a
particular group.
Society as the people who interact in such a way as to share a common culture.

Aspect of culture
Culture is learned it is not biological, we do not inherit it.
Culture is shared to be able to act in socially appropriate way as well as to predict how others act.
Culture is based on symbol something that stands for something else.
Culture is integrated known as holism, or various parts of culture being interconnected.
Culture is dynamic means that culture interact and change.

Ethnocentrism means that one may see his/her own culture as the correct way of living
Cultural relativism ability to understand a culture on its own term and not to make judgments using the
standard of one’s own culture.
Absolute means that everything that happens within a culture must and should not be questioned
Critical creates question about cultural practices in terms of who is accepting them.
Cultural evolution
Lower Paleolithic
Earliest stone tools introduced by homo habilis
Middle Paleolithic
More advanced tools made from greater variety of materials
Upper Paleolithic
Tools displaying much more sophisticate design and great ingenuity
Mesolithic
Increased use of smaller finer tools and blades
Neolithic
Characterized by development of agriculture.

Democratization is the transition to a more democratic political regime. Refers to substantive political
changes moving in democratic direction.

Socialization is a fundamental sociological concept, comprising a number of elements.

Primary Socialization takes place early in life as a child and adolescent

Secondary socialization refers to socialization that takes place throughout one’s life
Broad socialization intended to promote independence, individualism and self-expression
Narrow socialization intended to promote obedience and conformity

Conformity is the extent to which an individual complies with the group norms or expectation
Deviance is a violation of established contextual, cultural or social norms.
Conflict crimes are acts like prostitution which may be illegal but about which there is considerable public
disagreement.
Social diversion violates norms in a provocative way but generally regarded as distasteful but harmless.

Social control the regulation and enforcement of norms.

Positive sanction rewards given for conforming the norms

Negative sanction punishment for violating the norms
Informal sanction emerges in face-to-face social interaction
Formal sanction ways to officially recognize and enforce norms violations.