A Bed of Red Flowers: In Search of my Afghanistan by Nelofer Pasira

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According to Taylor culture is defined as a complex whole which includes knowledge, beliefs ,arts ,morals ,laws and customs and any other capabilities acquired by man as members of the society. Anthropologists like Hertzkorits define it as a man-made part of the environment. Kluckhon and Kelly define culture as all that is historically created design for living explicitly and implicitly, rational and irrational which exists at any given time as potential behavior of man. The first meaning presents culture as an idea and a realm of observable phenomena of things and events out there in the world. The second meaning on the other hand sees culture as an organized system of knowledge and beliefs whereby people’s structure their experiences and formulate facts and choose the alternative.

Several print sources and non print sources have been used to promote the concept of culture relativism and ethnocentrism. This paper therefore explores specific books and videos and how these sources of information have been used to promote these concepts of culture. It outlines specific quotations and uses the art of paraphrasing to outline how this has been advanced.

Firstly, ethnocentrism is derived from the word ethnic. Therefore ethnocentrism is the tendency to view one’s own culture as being superior and to apply your one’s own cultural values in judging the behavior and beliefs of people who have grown up in other cultures. Ethnocentrism is usually regarded as being universal. This is because it tends to reinforce social solidarity, sense of value and community among people who share common culture. People everywhere that there are familiar explanations, opinions and customs are true right, proper and moral. In this regard people regard dif...

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...ken care of since the subject of anthropology is well versed with everything that human beings do. Anthropology like any social science studies distinctive forms of human relationships and great achievements of human culture but we deal with altogether in all places all the time.

In conclusion there is need to preserve cultural rights .Cultural rights are rights in groups rather than individual. These included groups’ ability to preserve their culture that is considered positive, to raise children, to continue using languages and not be deprived of their economic base. There has also been a rising notion of indigenous rights. The notion has risen in all attempts to conserve each society cultural base, its core values, beliefs and principles.

References

Nelofer, Pasira. A Bed of Red Flowers: In Search of my Afghanistan. New York: Free Press,

2005

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