Interpretive Dynamics

of Society
 WHAT IS SOCIETY?

Defined as constituting a fairly large

number of people who are living in the
same territory, are relatively
independent of people outside their
area, and participate in a common
culture.
 Society as a
Concept
• It is a tool to grasp the complexity of
the phenomenon it represents and a
means to explore its many other
dimensions hidden by its normative
use.
 Society as a
Facticity
• Society is seen as an outcome of multiple
interactions of people upon which
succeeding interactions are made
meaningful and possible.
 Omniscience

Omnipotence
Omnipresence

Society
 Omnipotence
• the quality of having unlimited or
very great power.
 Omniscience
• the state of knowing everything.
 Omnipresence
• the state of being widespread
or constantly encountered.
 Sociological
Awareness
• It allows us to see opportunities where there
are none and to create one if need be.
Being socially aware means that you
understand how you react to
different social situations, and
effectively modify your interactions with
other people so that you achieve the best
results.
 C. WMills
The sociological
perspective enjoins
us to see the
coordinates of our
social maps- our
biography and
society’s history and
their intersections –
and from there chart
more feasible routes
Theoretical
Perspective
the society is seen as a
complex system whose
parts function and work in
harmony, bringing stability
in the process (Parts of the
society: family, school,
economy, or state)
 Two kinds of function
Manifest Function Latent Function
• Is the intended, • The
recognized and
obvious unintended
• consequences that and
people observe or
expect. It is
unrecognized
explicitly stated and function
understood by the
participants in the
relevant action.
 Social Dysfunction

• undesirable effects of a social

pattern on the operation of
society, may result but society
has the ability to adjust.
• Focuses on: forces in society that promote
competition and change
• it is based on the assumption that society
is an arena of inequality and division
resulting to conflict.
 Focuses on: how individuals
interact

it focuses on how people

make sense of the world, on
how they experience and
define what they and others
are doing, and on how they
influence and are influenced
by others.
W.I THOMAS
 Rules: Invisible Hand
of Society

-Are essential in the everyday conduct of the member

of the society

-it becomes the arbiter of disagreements and people’s

respect for rules gives them this organizing power over
human actions over time.
 Written Rules

Are easily seen and

hence are easily
observed and obeyed.
Stop at a red light
 Unwritten Rules
These are rules that
aren’t necessarily laws
but we follow them on a
day to day basis.
Don't stop in the middle of a busy
sidewalk.
Avoid ‘K’ at all cost
Culture as a
Concept
Culture is that complex
whole includes
knowledge, belief, art,
morals, law, custom, and
any other capabilities
and habits acquired by
man as a member of
society.
-Edward B. Tylor
Culture is the way of life especially the
general customs and beliefs, of a
particular group of people at a particular
time
-Cambridge English Dictionary
 Mass Culture
•

refers to the mass-

produced and mass –
mediated forms of
consumer culture that
emerged in the 20th
Century.
Culture
Society
 One does not or cannot exist
without the others
• “There can be no culture without a
society and there are no known human
societies that do not exhibit culture.”