Cultural Relativism
• The objective analysis of other cultures –
understanding a culture’s beliefs and practices
from that culture’s point of view.
• Cultural Relativism is not about imposing
judgement or assessing the worth of other
cultures. This is ethnocentrism.
• For example, can we judge the wearing of the
burqa in Islamic communities, simply because it
differs from Western ideas about femininity?
The theory of Cultural Relativism has
been criticised. According to some
critics it is an excuse for the violation
of human rights to continue…
Cultural Relativism
Ethnocentrism
Ethnocentrism
Ethnocentrism
Ethnocentrism
Ethnocentrism
Challenging Ethnocentrism
Ethnocentric beliefs about White
superiority were challenged in
the 1950s-1970s in the Civil
Rights Movements (USA). African
Americans protested to overturn
racist laws that prohibited their
access to ‘white facilities’ Eg.
waiting rooms, toilets, drinking
taps. Desegregation of schools
and public transport came about
and unfair legislation, such as
‘unequal pay’, was addressed…