Ethnocentrism and Cultural Relativism

 

  T H N O C   N T R I S M  A N D   IS M C U L T U R A L  R   L A T I V

 

ETHNOCENTRISM •

PEOPLE HAVE A TENDENCY TO JUDGE OR EVALUATE OTHER CULTURES IN THE CONTEXT OF THEIR OWN CULTURE. LANGUAGE, BEHAVIOR, CUSTOMS, OR RELIGION, WHICH ARE UNDERSTANDABLY UNDERSTANDABL Y UNIQUE FOR EVERY CULTURE  ARE THE COMMON SUBJECTS SUBJECTS OF THESE JUDGMENTS. SOCIOLOGICALLY SPEAKING, THIS IDEOLOGY OR TENDENCY IS KNOWN

 

ETHNOCENTRISM IS THE IDEA THAT ONE’S OWN

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CULTURE IS ABOVE OR SUPERIOR THAN OTHERS'. IT IS  ALSO THE BELIEF THAT ONE'S ONE'S OWN CULTURE IS THE MAIN STANDARD BY WHICH OTHER CULTURES MAY MEASURED OR UNDERSTOOD. ETHNOCENTRISM IS BE FAILING OR REFUSING TO SEE THE WORLD AND ITS  ASPECTS IN A WIDER OR ENCOMPASSING PERSPECTIVE. IT MAY CAUSE PEOPLE TO PRACTICE BIAS AND INTOLERANCE.

CULTURAL RELATIVISM

 

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NOT ALL PEOPLE ARE ETHNOCENTRIC. THERE ARE THOSE WHO USE WIDER PERSPECTIVES IN ASSOCIATING THEIR CULTURE FROM

 ANOTHER’S. THERE ARE ARE PEOPLE WHO ACCEPT AND RESPECT THE THE EVIDENT DIFFERENCES OF MEMBERS OF THE SOCIETY. WHEN PEOPLE RECOGNIZE THAT EACH CULTURE IS NATURALLY DIFFERENT FROM CULTURAL RELATIVISM

OTHERS, THAT IS . CULTURAL RELATIVISM DOES NOT MEAN THAT WE SHOULD IMMEDIATELY ACCEPT AND TOLERATE CULTURAL DIFFERENCES. DIFFERENCES. INSTEAD, IT REQUIRES UNDERSTANDING THE CULTURE OF OTHER PEOPLE IN THEIR OWN CULTURAL CONTEXT THAT IS FREE FROM ANOTHER’S BIASES.

 

CULTURAL RELATIVISM IS THE IDEA THAT

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 ALL NORMS, BELIEFS, AND VALUES ARE DEPE DEPENDENT NDENT ON THEIR CULTURAL CONTEXT, AND SHOULD BE TREATED AS SUCH. ACCORDING TO FRANZ BOAS (1887), "...CIVILIZATION IS NOT SOMETHING  ABSOLUTE, BUT ... IS RELATIVE, RELATIVE, AND ... OUR IDEAS  AND CONCEPTIONS ARE TRUE ONLY SO FAR AS OUR CIVILIZATION GOES."

HOW CULTURAL RELATIVISM MITIGATES ETHNOCENTRISM?

 

IT IS BELIEVED THAT EACH PERSON, IN ONE WAY OR ANOTHER, POSSESSES  AN ETHNOCENTRIC ATTITUDE OR BEHAVIOR. THERE IS NOT NOTHING HING WRONG WITH

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HAVING SUCH BECAUSE, UNLIKE SOCIAL SCIENTISTS OR ANTHROPOLOGISTS, NOT ALL PEOPLE ARE EQUIPPED WITH SUFFICIENT KNOWLEDGE AND EXPOSURE TO CULTURES ACROSS THE GLOBE, THUS, THE HARDSHIP IN UNDERSTANDING AND TOLERATING OTHERS' ACTS AND VALUES. HOWEVER, WE ALSO HAVE TO RECOGNIZE THAT ETHNOCENTRIC BEHAVIOR, IF NOT CONTROLLED, MAY CAUSE TROUBLE TO ONESELF, ESPECIALLY IN THIS MODERN TIME WHEN EVERYONE CALLS FOR SOCIAL OR CULTURAL INCLUSION.

 

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HISTORICALLY, COLONIALISM WAS JUSTIFIED BY

ETHNOCENTRISM. WHEN EUROPEANS REACHED THE  AREAS POPULATED POPULATED BY THE NA NATIVES TIVES WHOM THEY CONSIDERED AS UNCIVILIZED AND SAVAGE, THEY SAW THE PROMISE TO CIVILIZE AND TAME THEM THROUGH RELIGION (CHRISTIANITY) AND COLONIALISM. DESPITE ITS  ADVANTAGES, WE CAN SAY THAT THE AGE OF EXPLORATION CHANGED THE COURSE OF WORLD HISTORY IN A WAY WHICH DEPRIVED THE CONQUERED.

 

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IT IS WIDELY BELIEVED IN THE FIELD OF SOCIOLOGY THAT ETHNOCENTRIC BEHAVIOR MAY BE MITIGATED THROUGH THE RECOGNITION AND APPLICATION OF CULTURAL RELATIVISM. A PERSON CAN PRACTICE CULTURAL RELATIVISM BY RECOGNIZING THAT CULTURE SHAPES WHAT IS CONSIDERED TO BE BEAUTIFUL, UGLY,

 APPEALING, DISGUSTING, VIRTUOUS, FUNNY, FUNNY, AND ABHORRENT ABHORRENT,, AND THAT THESE SHOULD NOT BE THE BASIS FOR EVALUATING OTHER CULTURES. CULTURAL CULTURAL RELATIVISM SHAPES OUR UNDERSTANDING OF DIFFERENT ISSUES IN THE SOCIETY−AS TO WHY CERTAIN RELIGIONS BELIEVE IN THIS AND OTHERS DO NOT, OR HOW COME THIS GROUP G ROUP EATS THIS TYPE OF DISH, WEARS THIS WEIRD CLOTHING, SINGS AND DANCES ALONG TO MUSIC WHILE OTHERS PREFER NOT TO.

 

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WHAT WE NEED IS AN OPEN HEART AND AN

UNBIASED AND CRITICAL MIND, EXPOSURE, EDUCATION, AND INVOLVEMENT IN ACTIVITIES,  AND PROGRAMS SUPPORTING SUPPORTING AND RECOGNIZING THE UNIQUENESS AND BEAUTY OF EVERY CULTURE FOR US TO TRULY GRASP WHAT CULTURAL RELATIVISM MEANS.

 

B L   A N D   I G N A T   F O   S M FO R IN T A N G IB L   H   R IT A G  

 

CULTURAL HERITAGE IS A REPRESENTATION OF THE WAYS OF LIVING ESTABLISHED BY A SOCIETY OR A GROUP THAT CULTURAL HERITAGE

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IS PASSED FROM GENERATION TO GENERATION. LEGACY IS ON WHAT REMAINS AFTER ONE’S TIME. HANDED DOWN FROM ONE GENERATION TO ANOTHER, LEGACY MAGNIFIES ONE’S LIFE AND LIVING. IT IS SAID THAT LEGACY IS WHAT CULTURAL HERITAGE IS.  ACCORDING TO JOHN FEATHER, FEATHER, CULTURAL HERITAGE IS A HUMAN CREATION INTENDED TO INFORM.

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CULTURAL HERITAGE EXAM LES:

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 ARCHITECTURES SUCH AS AS BUILDINGS, HOUS HOUSES, ES, AND

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STRUCTURES  ARTIFACTS LIKE BOOKS, DOCUMENT DOCUMENTS, S, OBJECTS, IIMAGES, MAGES, • CLOTHING, ACCESSORIES, AND JARS •THINGS THAT MAKE PEOPLE WHO THEY ARE, LIKE ORAL STORIES, VALUES, LAWS, NORMS, RITUALS, AND TRADITIONS

 

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CULTURAL HERITAGE HELPS HISTORIANS AND  ARCHAEOLOGISTS UNDERSTAND AND DECIPHER THE WAY OF LIVING PEOPLE OF YESTERDAY HAD. THROUGH THESE OBJECTS, WE ARE PRESENTED WITH FACTS AND FIGURES WHICH HELP US DRAW THE LANDSCAPE OF THE T HE WORLD AS IT ONCE WAS.

 

TANGIBLE AND INTANGIBLE HERITAGE CULTURAL HERITAGE CAN BE CATEGORIZED AS

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EITHER TANGIBLE OR INTANGIBLE.

 

TANGIBLE TANGIBLE MEANS PERCEPTIBLE, TOUCHABLE,

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CONCRETE, OR PHYSICAL. A TANGIBLE HERITAGE IS A PHYSICAL

ARTIFACT OR OBJECT

SIGNIFICANT TO THE ARCHAEOLOGY,  ARCHITECTURE, SCIENCE, OR TECHNOLOGY OF  A SPECIFIC CULTURE.

 

OBJECTS THAT CAN BE STORED ARE INCLUDED IN THIS CATEGORY, SUCH AS: •

TRADITIONAL CLOTHING,

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UTENSILS (E.G. BEADWORK, WATER VESSELS),

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VEHICLES (E.G. THE OX WAGON), •DOCUMENTS (E.G. CODES, LAWS, LAND TITLES, LITERATURE),  AND

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PUBLIC WORKS AND ARCHITECTURE BUILT AND CONSTRUCTED BY A CULTURAL GROUP (E.G. BUILDINGS, HISTORICAL PLACES, MONUMENTS, TEMPLES, GRAVES, ROADS, BRIDGES).

 

INTANGIBLE HERITAGE INTANGIBLE IS THE OPPOSITE OF TANGIBLE. UNLIKE TANGIBLE HERITAGE, AN INTANGIBLE HERITAGE IS NOT A PHYSICAL OR CONCRETE ITEM. INTANGIBLE HERITAGE IS THAT WHICH

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EXISTS INTELLECTUALLY IN THE CULTURE.

 

INTANGIBLE HERITAGE INCLUDES: •

SONGS, •MYTHS, •

BELIEFS,

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SUPERSTITIONS,

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ORAL POETRY,

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STORIES, AND

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VARIOUS FORMS OF TRADITIONAL KNOWLEDGE SUCH AS

ETHNOBOTANICAL KNOWLEDGE.

 

THREATS TO TANGIBLE AND INTANGIBLE HERITAGE THERE WAS A TIME IN CONTEMPORARY HISTORY WHEN •

MUSEUMS WERE IN CONSTANT SEARCH AND IN A HURRY TO LOOK FOR HISTORICAL MATERIALS TO DISPLAY. DUE TO THE INCREASE IN DEMAND FOR CULTURAL MATERIALS, OPPORTUNISTS SAW THIS AS AN AVENUE TO EARN MONEY. THEY INVENTED MATERIALS AND CLAIMED THAT THESE WERE EXCAVATED OR UNEARTHED AND WERE ONCE OWNED BY A CULTURAL GROUP.

 

DOCUMENTS WHOSE AUTHENTICITY ARE YET TO BE

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DETERMINED INCLUDE THE HITLER DIARIES, CRYSTAL SKULLS OF MESOAMERICA (TANGIBLE), AND THE STATUS OR STORY OF SAINT NICHOLAS' COMPANION, BLACK PETER (INTANGIBLE). •AUTHENTICIT Y OR TRUTHFULNESS OF ORIGIN, ATTRIBUTES,  AND INTENTIONS OF CULTURAL HERITAGE ARE ONE OF THE ISSUES CONCERNING THE SOURCES OF OUR CULTURE.  ASIDE FROM AUTHENTICITY ISSUES, PRESERVATION, OR THE

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 ACT OF MAKING A CULTURAL HERITAGE LAST AND EXIST, EX IST, IS

 

PRESERVATION OF CULTURAL HERITAGE   RESERVATION OR THE ACT OF MAKING A CULTURAL

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HERITAGE LAST AND EXIST SHOULD BE A TOP PRIORITY OF THE GOVERNMENT. IN COMPARISON TO INTANGIBLE HERITAGE, TANGIBLE HERITAGE

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POSSESSES QUALITIES AND PROPERTIES WHICH MAKE IT EASIER POSSESSES TO RECOVER AND PRESERVE. DESPITE THIS, IT IS NOTEWORTHY THAT THEY REMAIN SUSCEPTIBLE TO PERISHING OVER TIME ESPECIALLY IF NOT GIVEN PROPER ATTENTION.

 

PRESERVATION OF CULTURAL HERITAGE THE GOVERNMENT SHOULD WORK ON IMPLEMENTING AND

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ENRICHING EXISTING NATIONAL POLICIES, PROJECTS, TRAINING, AND RESEARCHES PROMOTING THE PRESERVATION PRESERVATIO N OF OUR CULTURAL HERITAGE. IT IS TRUE THAT INTANGIBLE HERITAGE IS HARDER TO PRESERVE, BUT IT SHOULD STILL BE GIVEN EQUAL ATTENTION LIKE WHAT IS GIVEN TO TANGIBLE HERITAGE.

 

EACH NATION SHOULD TAKE PART IN MAINTAINING CULTURAL IDENTITY AND MAKING IT A VITAL DRIVING FORCE FOR

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SOCIAL PROGRESS. THIS OBJECTIVE IS CITED IN THE CONVENTION ON THE PROTECTION OF THE ORAL AND INTANGIBLE HERITAGE OF HUMANITY.

 

 ACCORDING TO UNESCO, “HERITAGE IS OUR LEGACY

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FROM PAST,ON WHAT WE LIVEGENERATIONS. WITH TODAY, AND WHAT THE WE PASS TO FUTURE OUR CULTURAL AND NATURAL HERITAGE ARE BOTH IRREPLACEABLE SOURCES OF LIFE AND INSPIRATION.” INDEED, WHATEVER WE HAD YESTERDAY IS OUR PRESENT, AND WHATEVER WEFUTURE. MAKE OUT IT WILL BE THE FOUNDATION OF OUR WEOF BETTER ENSURE THAT IT IS WELL TAKEN CARE OF.