Understanding Culture, Society and Politics

1. Organizing Society
Exploring Groups within Society
Key concepts
Society is made up of social groups. A social group consists of two or more people who
identify with and interact with one another. People who make up a group share
experiences, loyalties, and interests. Examples of social groups are couples, families,
circles of friends and barkada, churches, clubs, businesses, neighborhoods, and large
organizations (Macionis 2012: 146).
According to Macionis (2012), there are two types of social groups. The primary group
is a small social group whose members share personal and lasting relationships. These
personal and tightly integrated groups are among the first groups an individual
experiences in life. The most important primary group in any society is the family. Friends
who shape an individual’s attitudes, behavior, and social identity also form one’s primary
group.
The secondary group is a large and impersonal social group whose members pursue a
specific goal or activity. Unlike the primary group which is defined according to who they
are in terms of family ties or personal qualities, membership in secondary groups is based
on what people can do for each other.
Over time, a group may transform from secondary to primary, as with classmates or
neighbors who develop closer relationships. Moreover, while it is possible to identify some
groups as either primary or secondary, most social groups actually contain elements of
both. For example, a student organization may be larger and more anonymous, but its
members may identify strongly with one another and provide mutual support.
Through socialization, individuals develop the need to conform. To assess one’s own
attitudes and behaviors, individuals use a reference group, a social group that serves as
a point of reference in making evaluations and decisions (Macionis, 2012). Reference
groups can be primary or secondary, as well as groups that we do not belong to, as in
the case of a person following fashion styles described in a fashion magazine.
Besides reference groups, there is also the opposition of in-groups and out-groups. An
in-group is a social group toward which a member feels respect and loyalty, while an
out-group is a social group toward which a person feels a sense of competition or
opposition (Macionis, 2012).
As groups grow beyond three people, they become more stable and capable of
withstanding the loss of one or more members. At the same time, increases in group size
reduce the intense personal interaction possible only in the smallest groups. Larger
groups are based less on personal attachment and more on formal rules and regulations
(Macionis, 2012).

2. A network is group containing people who come into occasional contact but who lack a
sense of boundaries and belonging (Macionis, 2012). Some scholars claim that networks
are nonhierarchical, value-free, and structure-less organizations, and that they are
composed of people working on similar tasks without necessarily knowing each other.
This is illustrated by social networking sites such as Facebook.
Examining Cultural, Social and Political Institutions
Living in a society implies that we are governed by a set of rules. Some rules may be
imposed while others are negotiated. Regardless of how these were arranged, their
importance in understanding what is culturally, socially and politically acceptable cannot
be denied. A social institution “consists of all the structural components of a society
through which the main concerns and activities are organized, and social needs …
are met” (Marshall 1998: 317–318). In addition to this, there is also a tradition of the
study of institutions as constraining. Douglass North defines institutions as “humanly
devised constraints that structure, political, economic and social interactions” (North
1991: 97). These constraints come in the form of informal control such as taboos, culture
and tradition. Constraints are also manifested through the establishment of formal rules
such as law and constitution.
Generally, institutions evolve over time as a result of the changing relationship among
groups in society. There are institutions, however, that persist despite changes in the
economic, social, and political landscape. In Philippine society, some important
institutions are family, religion, and civil society. Other institutions such as market and
economy, education, and health are also notable.
Key concepts
Family is a social institution found in all societies that unites people in cooperative groups
to care for one another, including any children (Macionis 2012: 418). The nuclear family
is a family composed of one or two parents and their children. It is also known as a
conjugal family.
As an extended family is a family composed of parents and children as well as other kin.
It is also known as a consanguine family (Ibid). Shimizu (1991: 106) observed that while
the nuclear family is the basic form of household in the Philippines, the nuclear family is
“not a closed, isolated unit consisting of only the married couple and their unmarried
children It has frequent and intimate interactions with the families living nearby. It is not
unusual to find elderly parents or elderly unmarried siblings of the household’s head still
living together in the same household.”
A reconstituted family is a family whose composition and form of emotional care differ
from those of the nuclear or extended family. One example is the female- headed
transnational family, a household with “core members living in at least two nation-states
and in which the mother works in another country while some or all of her dependents

3. reside in the Philippines” (Parreñas 2001: 361). From Parreñas’s definition of a female-
headed transnational family, we can define the transnational family as one with core
members living in at least two nation-states.
Kinship. Family ties are also called kinship, a “social bond based on common ancestry,
marriage, or adoption” (Macionis 2012: 418). A more traditional understanding of kinship
follows the idea that persons who extend duties and privileges to one another on the basis
of consanguinity or blood relations are considered members of the same kin group.
Kinship relations around the world, however, are organized differently and in ways that
do not simply follow blood or biological relations. There are several types of kinship
relations within groups. For instance, some societies organize themselves through a
matrilineal descent, where people are regarded as members of the mother’s group by
birth and throughout their lifetime. Societies organized along a patrilineal descent
automatically consider people as members of the father’s group by birth and throughout
their lifetimes. Societies with bilateral descent, such as many of the societies in the
Philippines, trace automatic membership to both sides of descent. Many societies share
the idea that members of a kin group help each other take care of a person’s welfare,
protection, marriage, offspring, career, and identity (Service 1962; Ember, Ember, and
Perigrine 2011).
Ritual kinship refers to ritual parent-child relations such as the godparent-godchild
relationship established through the baptism ceremony of Roman Catholics. In the
Philippines, this is called the compadre system (Shimizu 1991: 118).
Bands. In many areas of the world, small groups of people connected mainly by kinship
ties organize themselves into a community. This form of organization is called a band. A
band is usually led by a headman who members of the the community considered as
either their best hunter or wisest member. A band, which is by itself a politically
autonomous organization and a type of society, typically comprises about 100 persons
and occupies a large local territory that serves as their hunting or foraging ground.
Members of the band either live within one community or scatter themselves across their
territory. Nearly all societies established before the development of farming some 10,000
years ago organized themselves into bands. More recent nomadic and foraging societies
also establish themselves into groups that may resemble the anthropological description
of band (Service 1962; Ember, Ember, and Perigrine 2011).
Tribes. Some kindred groups from multiple localities integrate themselves into a larger
unit of relations. That integrated formation of multi-local kin groups can be referred as a
tribal society or a tribe. As a tribe, communities of kin form an informal structure especially
in cases of outside threats but breaks up and return to a state of self-reliance once that
threat subsides. A tribe is rather fragile as a political system but militarily and
organizationally efficient in dealing with threats whether from an external enemy or natural
calamities. In the Philippines, some wrongly consider a linguistic group as a tribal
formation. Members of the same linguistic groups do link together for various reasons but
do not necessarily integrate themselves into larger political units intimes of external threat

4. and then dissolve that integration when a threat has passed (Service 1962; Ember,
Ember, and Perigrine 2011).
Chiefdoms. Some societies organize some form of formal structures that integrate
several communities into a political unit under the leadership of a council with or without
a chief. These societies are referred as chiefdoms. A chiefdom, however, is usually
headed by a chief, a person of higher rank as well as authority compared to other
members of a council. The council that makes up a chiefdom normally comprises the
chiefs of a community or multiple communities (district). Many chiefdoms have an
established system of social stratification with some members, particularly the chief and
the district chiefs, being bestowed with a higher rank and accorded a status of prestige.
The primary role of the chief is to resolve conflicts, distribute goods, plan the use of
resources and public labor, supervise religious ceremonies, and command military affairs
in accordance with the interest of the chiefdom(Service 1962; Ember, Ember, and
Perigrine 2011).
Weberian Types of Authority (Weber 1961: 173–179)
Max Weber’s work on social action showed one of the clearest links between individuals
and institutions. As defined by Weber, social action is one that individuals attach
subjective meanings to. In other words, social action is action that is meaningful.
Weber identified four types of social action.
 Traditional action is determined by the actor’s habitual and customary ways of
behaving.
 Affectual action is determined by the emotional state of the actor.
 Value rationality is determined by a conscious belief in the value of some ethical,
aesthetic, religious or other forms of behavior.
 Means-ends rationality is determined by goal orientation.
These four types of social action form the bases of the structures of authority, or the
legitimate forms of domination. There are three types of authority according to Weber.
 Traditional authority is associated with hereditary authority (example:
monarchy).
 Charismatic Authority is associated with charismatic leaders whose authority
comes from followers’ belief in the leaders’ special personal qualities (example:
cult leaders, benevolent dictators).
 Rational-legal authority is associated with leadership that is goal-oriented for the
benefit of society (example: duly elected government officials; bureaucrats). The
ultimate form of goal-oriented action is the bureaucracy.
A bureaucracy is a large, rational organization, designed to perform tasks efficiently
(Macionis 2012: 153).
Weber identified the following as features of a bureaucracy:

5.  Specialization: There exists a specialized division of labor.
 Hierarchy of position: Jobs are structured from greater to lesser amounts of
authority.
 Rules and regulations: Formal rules and regulations guide a bureaucracy’s
operations.
 Technical competence: Bureaucratic workers are technically trained.
 Impersonality: Rules and regulations, not personal whim, govern the treatment of
both clients and workers so that they are treated in the same way.
 Formal, written communications: There is a reliance on records and files.
Economy is the “social institution that organizes a society’s production, distribution, and
consumption of goods and services” (Macionis 2012: 370). The economy has three
sectors (Ibid: 372). The primary sector relies on raw materials from the natural
environment. It is the most important sector in low-income nations. Examples are
agriculture, fishing, and mining.
The secondary sector is the manufacturing sector which transforms raw materials into
manufactured goods. This sector has a significant share of the economy in low-, middle,
and high-income nations. Examples are automobile and clothing manufacturing. The
tertiary sector produces services rather than goods. It is the dominant sector in low-,
middle-, and high-income countries. Examples are call center services, sales, and
teaching.
Nonstate actors are organizations, groups, or networks that participate in international
relations and global governance.They are deemed to have sufficient power and influence
to advocate for and cause changes in international norms and development
practices.They include civil society, nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) and
international NGOs (INGOs), economic and social groups, including trade union
organizations and transnational corporations, and the private sector. In practice, nonstate
actors include, among others, community-based organizations, human rights association,
universities and research institutes, and chambers of commerce.
Civil society is “the population of groups formed for collective purpose primarily outside
of the State and marketplace” (van Rooy 1998: 30).
Education is the acquisition of knowledge, skills, values and beliefs. There are many
competing ideas about education as an institution. For some, it is viewed as a socializing
process while others view education as a status competition. Finally, education can also
be seen as a system of legitimation, where it restructures entire populations, creating
elites and redefining the rights and duties of its members (Meyer 1977). Mass education,
or public education, is an example of how education can restructure entire populations
and redefine the rights and obligations of citizens.

6. Religion. Giddens and Duneier (2013) cite Durkheim’s definition of religion as involving
a set of symbols that invoke feelings of reverence or awe, which are linked to rituals
practiced by a community of believers.
Guide Questions:
1. What are the different kinds of institutions?
2. How do these institutions affect how we think and behave?
Participant observation is a research method used widely in the social sciences inwhich
“investigators systematically observe people while joining them in their routine activities”
(Macionis 2012: 41).Eriksen (2001: 4) refers to participant observation as consisting of
lengthy fieldwork in a particular social setting. A participant observer “tries to immerse
oneself in the life of the locals and tries not to be noticed, so that they can carry on with
their own lives as usual” (Eriksen 2001: 26).
However, in conducting fieldwork, one must be aware of the research participants ‘right
to informed consent and right to privacy. In the former, it would be unethical not to inform
the individuals, groups, or organizations about your project, as they must have the right
to refuse to be observed. Moreover, researchers must ensure data confidentiality. When
the findings are reported, the research participants must be rendered anonymous to
protect their privacy. This is usually done by assigning pseudonyms.