Chapter 2 Lesson 1 Interpretive Dynamics of Society

POLITICAL
SCIENCE
POLITICAL SCIENCE
– It makes generalizations and analyses about
political systems and political behavior and uses
these results to predict future behavior.
– It includes the study of political philosophy,

ethics, international relations, foreign policy,
public administration, and the dynamic relations
between different parts of governments.
– It deals extensively with the theory and practice

of politics which is commonly thought of as
determining factor in the distribution of power
and resources.
Political Scientists
– “seethemselves engaged in revealing the

relationships underlying political events
and conditions, and from these revelations
they attempt to construct general
principles about the way the world of
politics works”.
The Story of Political
Science
-Political Science is the discipline that

problematizes the nature of power and studies how
possession and exercise of power can shape
individual actions and collective decisions for that
matter.
– The latter are, in essence, a form of “social
agreement” because they have futuristic and
lasting effects in people’s collective lives.
Social Contract
– In view of this, the discipline was traditionally
believed to have emerged from the works of
“social contract” theorist.
– These social thinkers, in different degrees and
sophistication, argued for the existence of the
state in order to create a community of citizens
free from the brutalities of the state of nature,
where every man is enemy to each other.
– The contract requires the people to surrender,
completely or in part, their rights to whoever, or
whatever, who or which in return exercises the
same for the protection of everybody.
Political Tasks
1. Establishment of a political community that

would protect the collective good, which in this
context was born out of that social contract.
2. Became necessary due to the failure of the
social contract, seen in failed states or in states
in crisis.
3. Became more evident during the period of
modernity.
Aristotle
– Considered the individual as “political animal,”
disappeared as focus.
– It is well-documented that the desire to establish
a political community took its toll on individual
rights.
– The third and final task of political science aimed
at bringing back the individual to the political
domain, focusing on what has been labeled as
“identity politics” that celebrated the saying “the
personal is also political.”
Culture and
Society:
The Perspectives of
Anthropology and
Sociology
Society and Culture
– Are two durable constructs in the vocabulary of

the social sciences.
– Although they can be claimed as “niche
concepts” in sociology and anthropology, these
terms are so malleable that other disciplines have
been quite successful in expanding their
respective frontiers using them as tools.
Society and Culture
–Shall be treated as “fugitive concepts,” implying that

their usage is no longer rooted and hence circumscribed
by the fundamental claims of either of their root
disciplines.
–Can, all at once, advance the perspectives of sociology
and anthropology, with political science entering the
scene where ‘ways of life’ and ‘social organizations’
began to assume rather stable patterns notably in
relation to leadership and governance.
Theoretical
Perspectives
– Are structural functionalism, critical historicalism,
and symbolic interactionism.
– These schools of thought are chosen to provide
piercing analytical edges to the entire effort of
learning as much as possible about culture and
society.
The Analogy of the
Dynamics
– The allegory of “dynamics” was selected to

broach the diverse topics of Chapter 2, namely:
Structure (in the anatomy of culture)
Evolution (the bio cultural and social evolution)
Processes (society as a socially constructed
reality)
The Interpretative
Dynamics of Society
Society as a Concept
– The word ‘society’ was coined by social scientists

to facilitate their exploration of social phenomena.
– 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 Concept
– Represents an ideal type, which more or less

depicts the form, process, and dynamics of the
social reality it embodies.
– Concepts of course, may change through their
changing means and interpretations or disappear
from nonuse altogether.
– But for a master concept like society, the
plausibility of alteration and disappearance is
very unlikely to happen.
Society as a Facticity
– Society is formally 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.
– The definition simply means that society only
exists if there are people interacting and their
interactions constitute the process that defines
society.
–Why do you think that every
single action of ours is
controlled by society?
WHAT MAKES SOCIETY
POSSIBLE: THREE
THEORETICAL
PERSPECTIVES
– The formation of society and it’s continuous
development has been a subject of dramatic
debates among social scientists, sociologists in
particular.
– The three classical theories of the origin of

society are.
1. The structural-functional
2. The conflict theory
3. Symbolic interactionism
Structural functionalism
and social order
– It argues that society is made possible by

cooperation and interdependence.
– This view sees society as a system with parts, and
these parts have their respective functions to
perform.
– The health and condition of the entire system is
dependent on these two processes of functions
and interdependence.
Conflict Theory and
Conflict
– The Marxist-inspired perspective on the question
of society looks at the other side of the issue.
– Instead of putting importance to social order, the
conflict perspective sees society as an arena.
– Social actors are gladiators fighting for their lives.
– The winner takes the rewards and is assured of
freedom.
Conflict Theory and
Conflict
– Conflict brings about a new set of relations and

interactions which produces new dynamism in
society.
– So to answer the question “What makes society
possible?,” the conflict theory invokes the social
processes rather than functions and
interdependence.
Symbolic Interactionism
and Meaning- Making
– Does not deal with either order or conflict.

– Instead, it explores the issues of meaning-
making and why this is crucial in understanding
order or conflict as processes that brought
about society.
– Humans as social beings have the capacity to
generate meaning from their surroundings, be it
social or otherwise.
– is an American theory that develops from practical
considerations and alludes to people's particular
utilization of dialect to make images, normal
implications, for deduction and correspondence with
others.
– In other words, it is a frame of reference to better

understand how individuals interact with one another to
create symbolic worlds, and in return, how these worlds
shapes individual behaviors
– Humans as social beings have the capacity to
generate meaning of their surroundings, be it
social or otherwise.
– Meaning is important because it is basis of
actions towards or against specific elements of
the environment
Rules: INVISIBLE HAND
OF SOCIETY
– Rules are guides in the performance of roles and in

everyday actions and interactions.
– They provide order in system characterized by the
presence of many actors with different businesses and
agenda to purse.
– Rules are essential in everyday conduct of the members
of society.
– In cases where there are conflicts, rules become the
arbiter of organizing power over human actions overtime.
– Not all rules are visible, this is, written and
understood by all.
– Invisible rules create more disorder than order,
which they are meant to establish in the first place.
– Our mundane and daily actions are guided by
these unseen rules- when riding public
transportation like jeepney, when queiung at a
McDonald’s or Jollibee order counter, when using
the toilet, when crossing the street, etc.
– 90% of our day-to-day actions are governed and
shaped by these invisible rules.
– Example:
By simple observing how people act, behave,
and interact, you may gain sufficient
information as to what unseen rules are in
particular situations and context.
Culture as a concept
– That complex whole which encompasses beliefs,
practices values, attitudes, laws, norms, artifacts, symbols,
knowledge and everything that a person learns and shares
as a member of society.
– It represents the beliefs, practices and artifacts of a group.
– It is the way of life, especially the general customs and
beliefs, of a particular group of people at a particular time.
– it is a central concept in anthropology, encompassing the
range of phenomena that are transmitted through social
learning in human socities.
– Complex whole which includes knowledge,
beliefs, art, morals, law, custom, and any other
capabilities and habits acquired by man as a
member of a society.
– In common parlance, it is often used to refer to
the symbolic markers used by ethnic groups to
distinguish themselves visibly from others such
as body modification, clothing, or jewelry.
– A set of customs, traditions, and values of a
society or community such as an ethnic group or
nation.
Culture and
society
–A society is an organized group of individuals.
–A culture is an organized group of learned responses.
–A society cannot exist apart from culture
–A society is also made of persons and their groupings
–People carry and transmit culture, but they are not
culture
–No culture can exist except as it is embodied in a
human society
–No society can operate without cultural directives

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POLITICAL

– It includes the study of political philosophy,

– It deals extensively with the theory and practice

– “seethemselves engaged in revealing the

-Political Science is the discipline that

1. Establishment of a political community that

– Are two durable constructs in the vocabulary of

–Shall be treated as “fugitive concepts,” implying that

– The allegory of “dynamics” was selected to

– The word ‘society’ was coined by social scientists

– It is a tool to grasp the complexity of the

– Represents an ideal type, which more or less

– The three classical theories of the origin of

– It argues that society is made possible by

– Conflict brings about a new set of relations and

– Does not deal with either order or conflict.

– In other words, it is a frame of reference to better

– Rules are guides in the performance of roles and in

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