Ethnocentrism and Cultural Relativism

Culture SOCI 1306 Ethnocentrism and Cultural Relativism Cultural variances are significantly more widespread than cultural universals, despite the fact that human communities share many characteristics. For instance, although language is shared by all civilizations, conversational etiquette study shows significant cultural variances. It is customary in many Middle Eastern societies to stand near to someone when conversing. Americans retain a larger "personal space" and preserve a greater distance. Furthermore, even basic cultural practices like eating and drinking differ significantly. While some cultures use their fingers to place food in their mouths, others utilise utensils. What do you think your lecturer is drinking if they enter your early morning class with a mug of liquid? It's probably filled with coffee in the United States, not Yak Butter tea, which is a mainstay in Tibet, or Earl Grey tea, which is popular in England. Some travelers—like the late, renowned culinary writer Anthony Bourdain (1956-2017)—take great satisfaction in their openness to sample new dishes. On the other hand, people frequently voice contempt for the food of other cultures. While they may find it disgusting to consume raw donkey flesh or rodent parts, they do not doubt their own practice of consuming cows or pigs. Such viewpoints are instances of ethnocentrism, which is the tendency to assess and condemn another society according to the standards of one's own culture. Ethnocentrism is the idea that your culture is the only one that matters and that other civilizations are incorrect if they do not live up to it. According to sociologist William Graham Sumner (1906), the phrase refers to the mindset that one's own culture is superior to all others. Nearly everyone exhibits some ethnocentric behaviour. Having a strong sense of pride in one's own culture might be beneficial. People in a society are connected, for instance, by a common feeling of pride in the community. However, ethnocentrism can result in misunderstandings, stereotyping, conflict, and a contempt or dislike for other cultures. Sometimes, well-meaning individuals, governmental and non-governmental organisations, businesses, and religious organisations go to a society to “assist” its citizens because they perceive them as ignorant, archaic, or even inferior. The intentional imposing of one's own cultural ideals upon another culture is known as cultural imperialism. The fifteenth century saw a rapid growth of colonialism by Portugal, Spain, the Netherlands, and England, along with a strong cultural imperialism. The inhabitants of these new territories were frequently seen by European colonists as primitive, uncultured people who needed to embrace Catholicism, Christianity, European attire, and other cultural customs. International assistance organisations that import plant species and agricultural practices from wealthy nations into regions that would be better served by native variety and regionally appropriate agricultural systems might be considered a contemporary example of cultural imperialism. Deforestation in the Amazon Basin, which occurs when native tribes lose their territory to wood companies, is another example. People may feel frustrated and disoriented when they find themselves in a foreign society. This is referred to as culture shock in sociology. The biological clock of a traveller from Chicago may be "off," but they may also find the quiet of rural Montana at night unnerving rather than comfortable. Now consider a cultural "difference" as the "difference." It might irritate a Chinese exchange student studying in the United States if other students are constantly interrupting class to ask questions, as this is frowned upon in China. Maybe the Chinese student was first thrilled to see a classroom in the United States, while the Chicago traveller was initially enthralled by Montana's serene beauty. However, when their exhilaration gives way to unease and uncertainties about how to act correctly in the new circumstance, they may develop ethnocentrism as they encounter unexpected deviations from their own culture. Numerous writers claim that foreign students studying in the United States indicate that certain behaviours and personality traits are expected of them. Chinese children say they are expected to be math prodigies by default, but Black African pupils say they have to understand what it means to "be Black in the U.S." People are recognised in African countries not by colour, but by country or kin. People eventually adjust to a new culture as they get more knowledgeable about it for a number of reasons. People may experience culture shock since they aren't always prepared for cultural differences. This was observed in 1971 by anthropologist Ken Barger during a participatory observation in an Inuit hamlet in the Canadian Arctic. Barger, an Indiana native, was invited to participate in a local snowshoe race, but he declined. He was aware that he could never compete with these professionals. As expected, he came in last, much to his embarrassment. Yet, the tribe members gave him their congratulations, stating, "You really tried!" Barger had grown to appreciate winning in his own culture. Although the Inuit people enjoyed winning, their culture placed a high importance on survival abilities that were vital to their way of life. After all, one's level of effort may mean the difference between life and death. During his visit, Barger took part in caribou hunts, learnt how to shelter during winter storms, and occasionally went days without much food to share with other tribe members. It's true that nonmaterial characteristics like teamwork and hard effort were far more significant than victory. Barger picked up cultural relativism while living with the Inuit community. Assessing a culture by its own standards instead than seeing it through the prism of one's own culture is known as cultural relativism. Cultural relativism calls for an open mind and a readiness to examine, if not fully embrace, new standards, beliefs, and customs. It is not always feasible, nevertheless, to embrace a new culture wholeheartedly. In egalitarian societies, where women have political rights and autonomy over their own bodies, even the most culturally relativist individuals doubt if the common practice of female genital mutilation in nations like Ethiopia and Sudan should be acknowledged as a cultural legacy. Therefore, sociologists who try to practise cultural relativism could find it difficult to make sense of differences between the characteristics of the culture they are researching and the aspects of their own. Sociologists may disagree with the traditions of several nations, where female genital mutilation is used to guarantee virginity at marriage, in the same way that some male sociologists may disagree with body scars as a means of identifying membership. Sociologists take great care to ensure that study analysis is free of personal biases. People may veer too far to the extreme while trying to overcome thoughts of ethnocentrism and adopt cultural relativism. Contrary to ethnocentrism, xenocentrism is the idea that one's own culture is inferior to that of another. (The Greek term xeno-, which is pronounced "ZEE-no," meaning "stranger" or "guest from abroad.") It might be challenging for an exchange student returning home from a semester overseas or a sociologist returning from the field to reconcile with the ideals of their own culture after being exposed to what they perceive to be a more moral or noble way of life. Xenophobia, an unreasonable fear or hate of people from different cultures, is the opposing response. Maintaining perspective is a task that sociologists studying other cultures face most of all. No one can ever fully transcend cultural prejudices. Our best option is to make an effort to be conscious of them. Being proud of one's culture should not translate into forcing it on other people. Furthermore, one's enthusiasm for another culture shouldn't stop them from approaching it critically when they study it. I think this is the hardest practice for social scientists as a whole.