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Cultural Relativism
Cultural Relativism
The criticisms of cultural relativism
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The term multiculturalism coins a variety of customs and traditions that have evolved and the existence that brings them together in modern society, but what if some cultures are more advanced than others? This book emphasizes the value of Jewish, Confucius and Protestant cultures more than any other. However, the author argues that not all cultures are regarded as equivalent, but are respected as if they were. But despite everything, the author has spent a great deal of time getting to know different cultures through trips and research to evaluate his perspective. He believes that the differences in cultures are important and often undermined. The author uses different elements of social sciences (psychology, economics, e.g.) to describe that idolizes differences in our society. Economically speaking, most of our decisions and policies come from accommodating different cultures .United States for example has been known to strive to protect our nation from disputes within the country based on barriers and differences. Our well known border control for
In conclusion, no culture is better or worse than any other. This principle is good incentive for many cultural anthropologists doing ethnographic research in the field. The goal of Multiculturalism is to truly understand other’s differences, however unfortunately ethnocentrism takes a part of that study which deals with those that distort the reality of a multicultural society and choose to judge other based on their own beliefs. By challenging the belief that some cultures might be better adapted to facilitate progress, democracy, social justice, and prevention of poverty, which ultimately defines the goals of Universal Declaration of Human Rights, cultural relativism begins to look more like a disorder than a former
After analyzing cultural relativism over the semester, I have come to the conclusion that cultural relativism under anthropological analysis defines every single culture with some aspect of worth as viewed by an individual within that society. Franz Boas, termed the “Father of American Anthropology”, first introduced the concept of cultural relativism. He wanted people to understand the way certain cultures conditioned people to interact with the world around them, which created a necessity to understand the culture being studied. In my words, cultural relativism is the concept that cultures should be viewed from the people among that culture. When studied by anthropologists, cultural relativism is employed to give all cultures an equal
Diane Ravitch, a historian of American education, has argued with her essay “Multiculturalism Yes, Particularism No” the positive outcomes of pluralism, and the negative effects of particularism. Arguing that seeing the world as a whole, instead of pieces will help nation coexist, and work together. Race does not matter, and neither does a nation. We are all humans of earth and should be thought of as such. On the other side of the spectrum we have Ravi Zacharias, a christian minister who travels the globe defending his faith, and supporting particularism. The idea that everyone should believe in the same ideals, and attach themselves to the same group. The two ideals Ravitch and Zacharias argue, are polar opposites. One is for individuality,
Integration of culture within the United States has become a difficult task for government officials who follows the Multiculturalist approach. Culture is the diversification of one’s being as regards to their immutable traits being learnt from the time of their births. Linda Chaves’s essay “Demystifying Multiculturalism” points out that the accommodation of equal rights between whites and non-whites is not a problem it is education. However, multiculturalist believes that non-whites are becoming a threat to their population and will eventually change the American culture. The demographic tidal wave illusion from the business sectors is merely an exaggeration as they believe that non-white’s will eventually whip out United States white’s population. Chavez gives attention to the fact that ‘judgment should not be based on skin color but by content of one’s character’ (6). Furthermore, she doesn’t only criticize the Multiculturalist techniques but emphasizes through reasoning why the Multiculturalist approach would imposed negative attitude towards the non-whites in the United States. This will not only create negativity but a racial chaos between whites and non-whites living in the United States.
Cultural Relativism is a moral theory which states that due to the vastly differing cultural norms held by people across the globe, morality cannot be judged objectively, and must instead be judged subjectively through the lense of an individuals own cultural norms. Because it is obvious that there are many different beliefs that are held by people around the world, cultural relativism can easily be seen as answer to the question of how to accurately and fairly judge the cultural morality of others, by not doing so at all. However Cultural Relativism is a lazy way to avoid the difficult task of evaluating one’s own values and weighing them against the values of other cultures. Many Cultural Relativist might abstain from making moral judgments about other cultures based on an assumed lack of understanding of other cultures, but I would argue that they do no favors to the cultures of others by assuming them to be so firmly ‘other’ that they would be unable to comprehend their moral decisions. Cultural Relativism as a moral theory fails to allow for critical thoughts on the nature of morality and encourages the stagnation
Cultural relativism is perfect in its barest form. Even though many peoples have many different beliefs and many of these people believe that their own moral code is the only true one, who can say which is better than another? This is the struggle that cultural relativism sets out to permanently resolve. It seems as if cultural relativism could bring about natural equality among groups of differing beliefs. After all, no one belief can be qualified (attributed) as being superior or better than any other belief. ...
Throughout history, there have been various perspectives of multicultural differences. According to Meriam Webster (n.d.), culture is “the beliefs, customs, arts, institutions, and the thoughts or products of a particular society or group.” Unfortunately, African Americans, Native Americans, Italians, Irish, Jews as well as various other cultural groups have been profoundly discriminated against and negatively stereotyped (Good Therapy org.). With the frequent mingling of cultures in educational settings, the workplace, and in the social arena, we are bound to encounter cultural differences.
Canada is a cultural mosaic. Cultural mosaic is the mixture of different ethnic groups, languages and cultures that living in a society. Canada is one of the countries to declare multiculturism in the world as official state policy. This step showed the path to a resounding and evolving cultural mosaic premised on mutual respect for all the Canadian citizens of the different types of ethnic back ground. The roots of multiculturalism in Canada can be seen in the country's beginnings, as three establishing cultures aboriginal, British and French, who were soon joined by many more cultures from around the continents. Today this can be seen as a benchmark of Canadian national identity and a point of pride for Canadians. Even though of all this multiculturism right after the attacks of 9/11 in America a lot of Muslims who were gathered for praying in mosques and churches were attacked in Canada. Even Sikhs were attacked because they were perceived to be Muslims. Several Muslim schools were closed in major cities of Canada. Women were also attacked for their dressing (Faisal Kutty). History of African labor, Chinese labor, Aboriginal genocide and Japanese entombment are all forgotten over by propagandized multicultural progress, this has created a racialized logic which made it impossible for many Canadian citizens to recognize the racism taking place in the surrounding environment. So, racism is embedded in Canadians and can be seen in form of prejudice and discrimination at workplace.
The multiculturalism idea is about how to respond towards challenges that are associated with religious and cultural diversity. The term is used as a descriptive term that characterizes the diversity facts in the society. The proponent of multiculturalism rejects the melting point idea though the term has encompasses a variety of claims. The melting point idea is that members of the minority group maintain a distinct collection of practices and identities.in general multiculturalism means the practices and policies that respond and recognizes ethnic diversity (Roach et al, 2005 pg. 37). The first black president elected in us Barack Obama describes the different points of view regarding multicultural societies. Though each Atlantic side are
The 1971 Multicultural Policy, the by-product of recommendations seen in Book IV of the Royal Commission on Bilingualism and Biculturalism report, gave Canadian society a new image. The policy sets out to assist cultural groups to retain and foster their own identity, overcome barriers to participate in society, promote creative exchanges among Canadian cultural groups, and assist immigrants in acquiring at least one of the official languages. The Environics Institute for Survey Research conducted a survey that found 56% of Canadians saw multiculturalism as one of the core symbols of Canadian identity, up nearly 15% from 10 years prior however, there is still high skepticism for the Multicultural Policy. As a result of Canada’s Multicultural
Culture Relativism; what is it? Culture Relativism states that we cannot absolute say what is right and what is wrong because it all depends in the society we live in. James Rachels however, does not believe that we cannot absolute know that there is no right and wrong for the mere reason that cultures are different. Rachels as well believes that “certain basic values are common to all cultures.” I agree with Rachels in that culture relativism cannot assure us that there is no knowledge of what is right or wrong. I believe that different cultures must know what is right and what is wrong to do. Cultures are said to be different but if we look at them closely we can actually find that they are not so much different from one’s own culture. Religion for example is a right given to us and that many cultures around the world practices. Of course there are different types of religion but they all are worshipped and practice among the different culture.
Ethnocentrism and cultural relativism are two contrasting terms that are displayed by different people all over the world. Simply put, ethnocentrism is defined as “judging other groups from the perspective of one’s own cultural point of view.” Cultural relativism, on the other hand, is defined as “the view that all beliefs are equally valid and that truth itself is relative, depending on the situation, environment, and individual.” Each of these ideas has found its way into the minds of people worldwide. The difficult part is attempting to understand why an individual portrays one or the other. It is a question that anthropologists have been asking themselves for years.
Around the globe all individuals participate in their own cultural practices and traditions. Multiculturalism is an extremely controversial issue that arises from different views and opinions, and is currently under attack by various leaders in our world today. Since the late 1960s and 1970s multiculturalism has been supported, denied, and continuously discussed because of its strong emphasis on cultural diversity and equal opportunities. Multiculturalism is the co-existence of all diverse cultures that include religious, racial, or cultural groups and is expressed in customary traditions, values, behaviors, and ways of thinking. Multiculturalism is also relevant in society through different government policies that enable individuals to have
Everyone has struggled through difficult situations, but eventually we learn from our mistakes and try to overcome them. The theory explains how Lawrence Grossberg discusses the theory of the cultural studies and how it affects the present and future, the struggles people have to go through for example, economics, culture, media and politics. Therefore, in today’s society we all have encountered cultural differences in our everyday life experiences and have changed the way we look at life for the better or worse. Cultural diversity is in our workplace and schools; we may encounter stereotypes while communicating with others, even though we have different opinions about their cultures, values and beliefs.
There are many different cultures that impact a group yet, each culture creates a beneficial environment for their members. One should not become ethnocentric and state their culture is better than others. This will limit their mindset on the positives each culture brings to group productivity. As Gandhi proclaimed, “no culture can live if it attempts to be exclusive” to which I add “no group can thrive if attempts to limit cultural diversity.”
Our world is constantly changing and it requires a society that is well versed in understanding the problems deriving from culture differences and tolerance of one another’s beliefs and perceptions. We are dealing with systemic problems in education, economic, government, religion and culture differences.