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Cultural Relativism & Ethnocentrism
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Questions:
▪ How do we remain objective when studying other cultures?
▪ Are there elements (universals) that exist in all cultures?
▪ What makes cultures completely different?
▪ Are some cultures better than others?
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Ethnocentrism
▪ Judging other cultures by the standards of one’s own culture rather than by the standards of that particular culture
▪ We are ethnocentric when we use our cultural norms to make generalizations about other peoples’ cultures and customs.
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Examples:
▪ We often talk about British drivers driving on the “wrong side” of the road. Why not just say “opposite side” or even “left hand side”?
▪ We talk about written Hebrew or Arabic as reading “backward”. Why not just say from “right to left” or “in the opposite direction from English”.
▪ We consider certain types of art “naïve” or “primitive”.
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▪ While ethnocentric views are not necessarily intended, they have led to major human disaster through history causing bullying, discrimination, intolerance, war, genocide…
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What are the causes of cultural misunderstanding?
▪ Conflicting Value / Belief Systems– Political regimes that are at odds with one another
– Conflicting religious doctrine
▪ Views of Superiority– Cultural Evolutionism
– First World vs. Third World
– Developed vs. Undeveloped
– Civilized vs. Uncivilized
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▪ Lack of exposure to other ways of being / living– Ignorance
▪ Tendency to fear what you don’t understand– Knee jerk reaction
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Cultural Relativism (Boas)
▪ The idea that each culture must be understood in terms of the values and beliefs of that culture and should not be judged by the standards of another culture
▪ It explains human diversity as a logical outcome of the diverse environments in which humans live
▪ There is no fixed truth; everything it relative
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Female Beauty: Is it universal? Why or why not?
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▪ Ideas of “Good” and “Bad” are assigned and are psycho-emotively attached to beliefs and actions by the culture in which you live
▪ Good: socially approved of in a culture by the majority over time and is therefore a social convention… acceptable
▪ Bad: socially disapproved of… taboo
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Food?
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Why don’t we eat insects?
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▪ Can you think of examples of universal values that supersede the particularities of cultures?
▪ What are the challenges associated with determining international standards for morality within cultural relativism?
▪ What are the benefits of cultural relativism?
▪ What would you say are the deficiencies or dangers of cultural relativism?
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Examples:
▪ Abortion
▪ Arranged Marriages
▪ Female Circumcision
▪ Female Infanticide
▪ Capital Punishment
▪ Women’s Rights
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Where should the line be drawn between being tolerant of other peoples’ ways of life and access to basic human rights?
Who decides?
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Universalism vs. Cultural Relativism
▪ The UDHR enshrines, by definition, rights that apply to all humans equally, whichever geographical location, state, race, or culture they belong to
▪ Proponents of cultural relativism suggest that human rights are not all universal, and indeed conflict with some and threaten their survival
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▪ Female genital cutting
– Occurs in different cultures in Africa, Asia, and South America
– It is not mandated by any religion but has become tradition in many cultures
– It is considered a violation of women’s rights by much of the international community
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▪ http://www.carnegiecouncil.org/publications/archive/dialogue/2_12/section_1/5140.html
▪ Read the article “The Forest is Ours”
▪ The Kenyan government views the Mukogodo forest as a strategic national resource worthy of protection whereas the indigenous Yiaaku view the Mukogodo as a cultural heritage and as inseparable from Yiaaku life. In your opinion, who should have access to the forest? Why/
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Cultural Constructionism
▪ A position that says that human behaviour and ideas are best explained as products of culturally shaped learning.
▪ Ideas of what behaviours are culturally accepted or taboo are both assigned and psycho-emotively determined
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How do people(s) construct categories as “the natural” and “the commonsensical”?
How do social phenomena develop in particular cultural contexts/
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What types of assumptions do you make in everyday life that affect the ways in which you view life in other societies?
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Do you agree or disagree with the following statements…
▪ No group has the right to stand in the way of “the greater good for the greater number”.
▪ Immigrants to Canada should give up their foreign ways and adapt to their new country as quickly as possible.
▪ Many of the world’s populations do not take enough initiative to develop themselves; therefore, they remain undeveloped or underdeveloped.
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▪ To what extent are your views regarding the questions given influenced by the culture in which you live? Or, by your life experience?
▪ In what ways do you manifest your views in your behaviour?
▪ How do you regard people who hold views that differ sharply from your own?
▪ How do your views “fit” with the anthropological concepts of ethnocentrism and cultural relativity?