Scribd Logo
Upload

Welcome to Scribd!

  • 27 views

    Ethnocentrism and Cultural Relativism: Sociology 111 Fall 2008

    Uploaded by

    Jeff Ordinal
    The document discusses the concepts of ethnocentrism and cultural relativism. It defines ethnocentrism as viewing other cultures through the lens of one's own culture and taking one's own culture as the norm, while devaluing other groups. Cultural relativism is defined as evaluating a culture on its own terms by learning to see from another culture's perspective in order to understand it, without making judgments of right and wrong. The document considers whether it is possible and desirable to always practice cultural relativism, or if there are some practices that should be opposed on moral grounds even by social scientists.

    Copyright:

    © All Rights Reserved
    Download as PPT, PDF, TXT or read online from Scribd

    Ethnocentrism and Cultural Relativism: Sociology 111 Fall 2008

    Uploaded by

    Jeff Ordinal
    27 views8 pages
    The document discusses the concepts of ethnocentrism and cultural relativism. It defines ethnocentrism as viewing other cultures through the lens of one's own culture and taking one's own culture as the norm, while devaluing other groups. Cultural relativism is defined as evaluating a culture on its own terms by learning to see from another culture's perspective in order to understand it, without making judgments of right and wrong. The document considers whether it is possible and desirable to always practice cultural relativism, or if there are some practices that should be opposed on moral grounds even by social scientists.

    Original Title

    ethnocentrism-and-cultural-relativism2

    Copyright

    © © All Rights Reserved

    Available Formats

    PPT, PDF, TXT or read online from Scribd

    Did you find this document useful?

    Is this content inappropriate?

    The document discusses the concepts of ethnocentrism and cultural relativism. It defines ethnocentrism as viewing other cultures through the lens of one's own culture and taking one's own culture as the norm, while devaluing other groups. Cultural relativism is defined as evaluating a culture on its own terms by learning to see from another culture's perspective in order to understand it, without making judgments of right and wrong. The document considers whether it is possible and desirable to always practice cultural relativism, or if there are some practices that should be opposed on moral grounds even by social scientists.

    Copyright:

    © All Rights Reserved
    Download as PPT, PDF, TXT or read online from Scribd
    Download as ppt, pdf, or txt
    27 views8 pages

    Ethnocentrism and Cultural Relativism: Sociology 111 Fall 2008

    Uploaded by

    Jeff Ordinal
    The document discusses the concepts of ethnocentrism and cultural relativism. It defines ethnocentrism as viewing other cultures through the lens of one's own culture and taking one's own culture as the norm, while devaluing other groups. Cultural relativism is defined as evaluating a culture on its own terms by learning to see from another culture's perspective in order to understand it, without making judgments of right and wrong. The document considers whether it is possible and desirable to always practice cultural relativism, or if there are some practices that should be opposed on moral grounds even by social scientists.

    Copyright:

    © All Rights Reserved
    Download as PPT, PDF, TXT or read online from Scribd
    Download as ppt, pdf, or txt
    You are on page 1of 8

    Ethnocentrism and

    cultural relativism
    Sociology 111
    Fall 2008
    Alfred Schutz

     German philosopher
    and sociologist
     Heavily influenced
    branch of symbolic
    interactionist sociology
    called phenomenology
     Responsible for the core
    concept of social
    construction
    “The world taken for granted”
     Assume that our culture is natural
     Deeply penetrates our identity
     Evaluate everything through the lens of our
    culture
     Allows us to easily
    function in daily life
    Internalization

     Process of learning culture so well that it is


    bound to your identity
     Internalized culture or “culture within”
    Encountering other cultures

     Culture shock
     Immersion in an
    unfamiliar environment
    causes disorientation
     Radically different
    cultures can challenge
    or cause us to question
    our basic assumptions
     Anomie
    Ethnocentrism
     Ethnocentrism
     Viewing other cultures
    through the lens of our
    own
     Taking our own culture
    as the “norm”
     Group solidarity & pride
    in heritage
     Devaluing groups other
    than own
    Cultural Relativism

     Evaluating a culture
    on its own terms
     Learning to “see” from
    the perspective of
    another in order to
    understand a culture
     Refraining from
    making judgments of
    “right” and “wrong”
    For consideration

     Is it possible to always practice cultural


    relativism?
     Should we always practice cultural relativism?
     Are there practices that we as moral beings should
    oppose, even as social scientists?
     Should scientific objectivity take precedence above
    all?
     If a line is to be drawn, where should it be?

    You might also like