Understanding Culture, Society, and Politics Lesson 1: Society & I PDF

Understanding Culture, Society, and Politics Lesson 1: Society & I Key Concepts  Agency - the power of an individual to change society or form a new one.  Beliefs - specific ideas that society holds to be true  Identity - the...

Understanding Culture, Society, and Politics Lesson 1: Society & I Key Concepts  Agency - the power of an individual to change society or form a new one.  Beliefs - specific ideas that society holds to be true  Identity - the set of perceived qualities that make an individual unique from the rest  Norms - rules and expectations by which a society guides the behavior of its members  Power - the ability to influence others  Symbols - anything that carries a particular meaning recognized by people who share a culture  Values - culturally defined standards that people use to decide what is desirable, good, and beautiful.  Our identities are said to be socially constructed.  According to the social-constructionist view, one’s identity is formed through our interaction with others and in relation to social, cultural, and political contexts. In other words, our identities are influenced by our society (Rice, 2021).  Biodata, resume, and curriculum vitae tell much about our personal information.  given name - sense of identity  surname - lineage  gender/sex - roles we conform to  the names of our parents and their jobs - social interaction and socioecnomic status  educational attainment - social status and mobility  religion - religious practices  ethnicity - language and culture  political beliefs - exercise of power and inclinations How does society influence individuals (identities)?  the social groups that an individual belongs to also affect one’s creation and maintenance of identity as social groups and their members practice specific norms (family, ethnolinguistic group, churches, schools, fraternal relationships, organizations).  events that happened in history have been   inuously shaping the society and subsequently, the individuals in it. Culture - the ways of thinking, the ways of acting, and the material objects that together form a people’s way of life. Culture includes what we think, how we act, and what we own (Macionis, 2016) Elements of Culture  Symbols - anything that carries a particular meaning recognized by people who share a culture, e.g. the national flag represents our sovereign nationhood, the red cross is a recognized symbol of medical services, the Star and Crescent represents Islam.  Language - system of symbols that allows people to communicate with one another, e.g.. Arabic, Bisaya, Filipino Sign Language (FSL).  Values - culturally defined standards that people use to decide what is desirable, good, and beautiful and that serve as broad guidelines for social living  Norms - rules and expectations by which a society guides the behavior of its members Mores – norms that are widely observed and have great moral significance, e.g. gender roles or the concept of pagkalalake and pagkababae, reverence for the dead. Folkways – norms for routine or casual interaction, e.g. paggalang, pagmamano Mores distinguish the difference between right and wrong, while folkways draw a line between right and rude How can individuals influence society? Exercise of power - the individual’s ability to exercise power (the ability to make others do what you would have them do) manifests in their identity and vice versa. As much as the society influences the creation of individual identities and individuals are members of societies who continue and sustain its existence, the individual is recognized as an agent of change who has the power (agency) to shape the society or even form a new one. Example: Albert Einstein, Mark Zuckerberg, Greta Thunberg Prepared by: Mr. Mark Gerald P. Lagran, LPT