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Culture is a force in the world that shapes human behavior as surely as biology and family. We may define culture as beliefs, values and attitudes of a social group that are passed along from one generation of people to the next. Culture can also refer to an actual society with particular practices, such as American or African culture. Is there such a thing as a best culture? The answer to that questions depends on what perspective you want to adopt: ethnocentrism or cultural relativism. Since both ethnocentrism and cultural relativism can be a bit ponderous to explain, we're going to personify them with two siblings: ethnocentrist Ethan and cultural relativist Casey.
The two ideas we're going to discuss are ethnocentrism and cultural relativism. During the early days of contact between different cultures, ethnocentrism was the norm. Ethnocentrism is the idea that one's own culture is the main standard by which other cultures may be measured. An ethnocentric is concerned with how similar others' cultural practices, symbols, and beliefs are to their own.
For instance, Ethan is an ethnocentrist; he considers others' beliefs and practices to be savage or corrupt, or he is often confused by other people's cultures. Very often, people that are ethnocentric don't know they are using their culture to judge another's. The culture of an ethnocentric person is considered the 'normal' way that things are done, just as Ethan believes.
A competing idea, cultural relativism is the belief that the culture of people serves particular needs and must be looked at in terms of the world the people inhabit. This is often the perspective of social scientists who work with people and is the result of the work of anthropologist Franz Boas.
For instance, Casey is a cultural relativist; she prefers to look at other cultures in terms of what their practices bring to them. She believes that if a tribe paints their faces for religious ceremonies, there must be a good reason why they do that. Is there a practical reason for it, or is it symbolic? If symbolic, where do the symbols come from? These questions allow a closer examination of the practices of others than ethnocentrism. This doesn't imply that a relativist, like Casey, doesn't have strong beliefs of her own. Rather, other cultures are simply not judged with reference to one's own culture. Again, this often has to be trained into people.
The difference between the two concepts of ethnocentrism and cultural relativism are the difference between night and day; they are simply different attitudes about the world. Ethnocentric Ethan postulates the observer's own culture as a standard of measurement, while cultural relativist Casey has no standard and views each culture as special, according to its own merits.
Now, there's nothing wrong with Ethan's view. Indeed, most people are considered a little ethnocentric. Unless someone is an anthropologist or other social scientist, it may be difficult for someone to appreciate anyone's behavior without referencing his or her own culture. However, there are problematic actions and attitudes that may be fostered by an ethnocentric attitude, like Ethan's.
Ethan's view was quite popular during the age of exploration and expansion that led to the colonization of the Americas. Colonial powers reasoned that they were taming the savage natives by civilizing them. Even something as innocuous as religion can serve an ethnocentric purpose. Many missionaries honestly believed they were teaching religion to the natives for their own good. Historically, however, such actions often have the net effect of destroying the culture of the natives. Without their own culture, or with it in crisis, the natives have problems organizing resistance to colonial demands for their land and resources. Ethan wouldn't see as much of a problem with this turn of events, as he assumes that his own people would make better use of the land than then natives.
There are issues with Casey's point of view as well. Cultural relativism stems from anthropology and the social sciences. Casey's view is intended as a realistic look at the function of behavior within another culture. This can help professionals, such as anthropologists, look at culture as it interacts with the world. However, there can be a sort of moral relativism implied through cultural relativism. Moral relativism is the idea that there is no right or wrong and that all actions are context-dependent.
It is sometimes difficult for someone like Casey to call some acts wrong. Some cultural institutions, such as female genital mutilation in some Middle Eastern or African countries, have a place in those cultures. That is, these acts serve a purpose in their societies of reassuring people about the place of women in that society. Casey understands that these acts hurt people, but because they have a place in the relevant culture, she has no basis for calling them wrong. This is true even though these acts harm people who often have no say in the matter - in this case, women like Casey. The relativist has no objective standard and, thus, no way to address this type of harm.
As a bit of an afterword, let's just point out that fully-ethnocentric views, like Ethan's, are difficult to find these days. Equally difficult to find is a completely relativistic stance, like Casey's. Our two example characters are only examples, after all. Many of the problems inherent in one of our siblings' world views can be taken care of by either adopting part of the opposing view or making exceptions to their own stance. Ethan could understand that the ways of other people are valid in their own cultures. If so, he could comfortably still conclude that his own way was more correct without belittling others. Casey could take the stance that some acts, though culturally valid, may cause so much harm that they may not have a place in the world.
Let's review what we've learned. Ethnocentrism and cultural relativism are two sides of a broader issue dealing with culture. The perspective of ethnocentrism addresses foreign peoples from the standpoint of the superiority of the observer's culture, including values, religion, and symbols. Cultural relativism addresses other people in light of those people's culture. Major issues can arise from ethnocentrism, as people can be dehumanized if their culture is not respected. Issues may also arise from relativism, because some cultures have inequalities and cause harm as part of their traditions and norms. The relativist has no basis to call this harm immoral.
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Create a poster or some other type of graphic organizer that defines culture and then describes ethnocentrism and cultural relativism. Tip: It can be helpful to have the definition of culture at the top, and then have two sections dividing ethnocentrism and cultural relativism.
Make a list of as many questions that you can come up with that a cultural relativist might ask when studying a society's culture. You can think of a specific culture or you can provide more general questions that get to the heart of cultural relativism.
Example: How does the performance of x ritual serve this society?
Write an essay that describes some of the impacts of ethnocentrism on historical cultures.
Example: You could explain how missionaries spread Christianity to native cultures, and how this has caused certain cultural rituals to disappear.
Write an essay that explains some of the potential negative impacts of utilizing cultural relativism when analyzing a certain culture. Be sure to utilize the concept of moral relativism in your essay.
Example: Since the implication of moral relativism is that there is no right or wrong, a cultural relativist might fail to see certain human or animal rights violations within a culture. For instance, a cultural relativist may not perceive animal sacrifice as animal cruelty, or may be unable to understand the detrimental effects of a culture denying girls the rights to higher education might be.
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Intro to Anthropology: Help and Review25 chapters | 485 lessons
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