1. The relative social position of someone in a group or in society is referred to as a ___________ . a) role b) status c) neither of the above 2. The part our society expects us to play in a given status is referred to as a __________ . a) role b) caste c) varna 3. Which of the following statements is true? a) Social group membership usually gives us a set of statuses and role tags that make it more difficult for people to know what to expect from each other. b) It is common for people to have multiple overlapping statuses and roles. c) neither of the above 4. Which of the following is an achieved status? a) being a king who inherited his title b) being a general in the U.S. Army c) being a well recognized and accomplished movie actor d) B and C e) all of the above 5. Ascribed statuses ___________________ . a) are acquired by birth b) are acquired by both birth and achievement c) do not exist in the real world--they are only theoretical 6. Which of the following statements is true? a) Laws making it a crime to hire relatives would most likely be enacted in societies that emphasize ascribed statuses over achieved ones. b) Some societies emphasize either ascribed or achieved statuses and demphasize the other. c) Membership in an Indian caste is an achieved status. 7. In the Indian caste system, which of the following is the highest ranking one? a) Scheduled castes b) Vaishya c) Brahman 8. Which of the following statements is true concerning the caste system in India today? a) Underlying and constantly reinforcing this system of rigid social classes is the Hindu religion and its concept of ritual pollution. b) Indian restaurants usually have chefs who are from the lowest castes because cooking is a polluting occupation. c) The Indian national government has made no attempt to encourage achieved status by outlawing any part of the the caste system. 9. Which of the following statements is true of castes? a) They exist only in India. b) They exist in India and Europe but not in North America. c) They exist in many countries of the world.
Chapter 1: Starting Point for the Understanding of Culture, Society, and Politics
Manifestations of Human Variations Through Cultural Diversity, Social Differences, and
Political Identities. The creation of the global society plus humans into one plot where almost
everything is interlinked and where change in one aspect will affect the other. However, despite
the emergence of the idea of “one global society,” there remains visible manifestations of human
variations in society.
Cultural Diversity. Culture plays a major role in our day-to-day living. It refers to “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.”
Social Differences. The society has various manifestations of social differences based on
unique social characteristics or qualities like social class, gender, age, educational attainment,
occupation, and the like. In sociology, social differences is usually equated with social
stratification, this describes the relative social position of persons in a given social group,
category, geographical region, or other social unit.
The Major Types of Social Stratification are:
1.Caste. Hereditary endogamous social group on which a person’s rank and his/her rights
and obligations are ascribed or on the basis of his/her birth into a particular group.
2.Class. A person’s position is based upon achievement.
3.Estate. Gives emphasis to birth as well as wealth and possessions.
4.Slavery. Had economic basis wherein the master shows power over slave.
Political Identities. The world is visibly divided into different countries. Each country has its
own political system to run its government. A governmentis the system by which a state or
community is controlled so as to put order.
Significance of Studying Culture, Society, and Politics. Social Science is a very complex
study. It is divided into different areas according to focus or subject. In this subject, a special
focus on the interplay of Anthropology(culture), Sociology(society), and Political Science
(political identities and government) will be given focus with the use of transdisciplinary
perspective to understand and explain social issues in the human society.
Anthropology. Is the holistic “science of man”, a science of the totality of human existence.
Two broad fields of Anthropology
1.Physical Anthropology. Physical anthropology or sometimes called biological
anthropology mainly concerns about how humans emerged and evolved through time.
This is under the study of human paleontology. The second concern of physical
anthropology is how human beings differ biologically. This is under the study of human
variation.
2.Cultural Anthropology. Cultural anthropology is basically concerned with the
differenced of cultures from time to time.
There are three main branches of cultural anthropology
1.Archeology. Which studies past cultures through tangible or material remains.
Archeologists help reconstruct the life and culture of the humans in the prehistoric
time.
2.Anthropological linguistics. Which is the anthropological study of languages where
experts explain the difference of languages by culture and how it is constructed.
3.Ethnology. Which is the study of recent or present cultures. These disciplines try to
explain the difference of culture before and the recent through vigorous research,
example: concept of beauty, marriage practices, etc.
Sociology. Is the study of relationships among people. It is the study of the society and the
behavior of people in the society.