Cultural Anthropology
Ethnocentrism and Cultural Relativism
Questions:
1. How does an outsider (i.e. anthropologist)
understand a world completely different from their
own?
2. Is there any value to studying different cultures
around the world?
3. Should we place personal judgements and
standards on other cultures?
4. How does one remain objective when studying
other cultures?
5. Are there elements (universals) that exist in all
cultures?
6. What makes cultures completely different?
7. Are some cultures better then others?
What is your place in the world? How much of the
world do you know?
Do you know Africa?
What about the other continents?
Cultural Anthropology
•Is a social science that studies cultures
around the world
•Cultural anthropologists have to remain
objective and discourage generalizations
•The goal of cultural anthropology is to
prevent ethnocentrism and instead to
promote cultural relativism.
ETHNOCENTRISM
•Ethnocentrism is the belief that one's cultural group is centrally
important and superior to others
•We are ethnocentric when we use our cultural norms to make
generalizations about other peoples' cultures and customs.
•Ethnocentrism leads to cultural misinterpretation and it often
distorts communication between human beings.
CAN YOU THINK OF EXAMPLES?
Some very simple examples of ethnocentric thinking. .. ..
We often talk about British drivers driving "on the wrong side" of
the road. Why not just say "opposite side" or even "left hand
side"?
We talk about written Hebrew or Arabic as reading "backward."
Why not just say "from right to left" or "in the opposite direction
from English."
We consider certain types of art “naive” or “primitive”
While ethnocentric views are not necessarily intended, they have led to major
human disasters throughout history causing
Bullying, Discrimination, Intolerance, War, Genocide….
CULTURAL RELATIVISM
Anthropologists promote cultural relativism as an approach to
understanding diversity.
Cultural relativism is the principle that an individual human's beliefs
and activities make sense in terms of his or her own culture.
Cultural Relativist perspective explains human diversity as a logical
outcome of the diverse environments in which humans live.
Therefore, when it comes to matters of right or wrong, there is no fixed
truth but rather all is relative.
What are some examples of ideas that are culturally relative?
FEMALE BEAUTY: is it a cultural universal? Why or Why not?
FE
FOOD?

TEDTalk Clip: Why don’t we eat insects?
SOME AIMS OF CULTURAL ANTHROPOLOGY:
•To provide objective insight into other cultures
•To help preserve valuable knowledge, cultural
practices and languages around the world
•To foster cross-cultural empathy, understanding and
collaboration
•To emphasize similarities among human cultures
and help bridge their differences and
misunderstandings
DISCUSSION QUESTIONS:
1. Can you think of examples of universal values that
supersede the particularities of cultures?
2. What are the challenges associated with determining
international standards for morality within cultural
relativism?
3. What are the benefits of cultural relativism?
4. What would you say are the deficiencies or dangers of
cultural relativism?
Read "This Forest Is Ours". The Kenyan government views
the Mukogodo forest as a strategic national resource worthy
of protection whereas the Indigenous Yiaaku view the
Mukogodo as a cultural heritage and as inseparable from
Yiaaku life. In your opinion, who should have access to the
forest? Why ?