WEEK 2-Understanding Culture, Society and Politics-Some Key Observations

Download as pptx, pdf, or txt
Download as pptx, pdf, or txt
You are on page 1of 17

Understanding Culture,

Society and Politics:


Some Key Observations

THE ESSENCE OF ANTHROPOLOGY,


POLITICAL SCIENCE, AND
ANTHROPOLOGY
The Historical Background of
the Growth of Social Sciences

 In the development and progress of human


knowledge, the social sciences were the last
to develop after the natural science.
 It was originally based from the studies of
political philosophies and theological
reasoning.
 It was slowed because of religious authority
and tradition.
The Unprecedented Growth of
Science
 Itcan be traced back from Nicolaus
Copernicus that unfolded the truth
about the universe to Sir Isaac
Newton’s proposal about universal
laws of motion and a mechanical
model of the universe along with
Rene Descartes and Francis
Bacon’s establishment of supremacy
of reason.
The Birth of Social Sciences
as a Response to the Social
Turmoil of the Modern Era

 Sociology- is a branch of the social


sciences that deals with the scientific
study of human interactions, social
groups and institutions, whole
societies.
 It deals with the relationship between
the individual and the society as they
develop and change in history.
Auguste Comte (1798-1857)

 Founding father of Sociology


 First coined the term “Social Physics”
 According to him, there are three stages of
societies namely,
Theological Stage
Metaphysical Stage
Positive Stage
Harriet Martineau (1802-1876)

 The Founding mother of Sociology


 She
wrote her accounts in How to Observe
Morals and Manners (1838)
 She
expressed how ethnographic narrative
works
 She also wrote on political economy
Karl Marx (1818- 1883)
 He introduced the materialist analysis of
history which eliminates religious and
metaphysical (spiritual) explanation for
historical development
 He proposed the “Conflict Theory” which
had an element of revolutionary activities and
discounts the class system in society and
economy.
Emile Durkheim (1858-1917)

 Made possible the professionalization of


sociology by teaching in the University of
Bordeaux.
 He famously argued that society preexisted
the individuals and will continue to exist
long after the individuals is dead.
“Suicide is not
Psychological Aspect
but a Sociological
Aspect.”
Max Weber (1864-1920)

 He stressed the role of rationalization


in the development of society.
 For him, rationalization refers
essentially to the disenchantment of
the world. As science begun to
replace the religion, people also
adopted a scientific or rational
attitude to the world.
Political Science

 Itis a part of the social sciences that


deals with the study of politics,
power, and government.
 Itstudies how even the most private
and personal decisions of individuals
are influenced by collective decisions
of a community.
Various Areas of Interest
 Public Administration
Which examines how the government
functions and how decisions are policies
are made.
 Political Economy
Which evaluates the interplay between
economics, politics and law and its
implication
 Comparative Politics
Compare different government systems
ANTHROPOLOGY

 Itis a systematic study of the


biological, cultural, and social aspect
of man. It is derived from the two
Greek words, athropos which means
“man” and logos which means
“study” or “inquiry”.
 Ithas also had diverse field of study
and areas of interest.
Four fields of Disciplines:

1. Physical Anthropology (Biological)- deals with the humans


as Biological organisms (tracing evolutionary development
and looking at biological variation.
2. Cultural Anthropology- investigate the contrasting ways
groups of people think, feel, and behave.
3. Archeology- interested in recovering the prehistory and early
history of societies and their cultures by investigating the
material samples, skeletal remains, and settlements. They
systematically uncover the evidence by excavating, dating,
and analyzing the material remains left by people in the past.
4. Linguistic Anthropology- study of nature and nuances of
languages – communication systems by which cultures are
maintained and passed succeeding generations.
Great Anthropologist
1.Franz Boas
 Historical Particularism- The idea
of historical particularism suggests all
cultures have their
own historical trajectory and that each
culture developed according to
this history.
 considered a founder of the discipline of
anthropology.
Great Anthropologist
2. Bronislaw Kasper Malinowski
 Participant Observation

3. Alfred Reginald Radcliffe- Brown


- Structural-functionalist paradigm
The Colonial Origin of the
Social Sciences
 The Clamor for Decolonization of Social
Sciences
It traces back the origination of studying
societies through having some biases and
racism.
 Indigenization of Social Sciences in the
Philippines
It is trying to eliminate the impression of
western world in viewing Philippines as an
inferior society.

You might also like