ethnocentrism

Society

2022

We explain what ethnocentrism is, what types exist and various examples. Also, what is cultural relativism.

The first social sciences saw European culture as superior to the others.

What is ethnocentrism?

Ethnocentrism is the ideological tendency to interpret the reality whole according exclusively to the parameters of the culture. This usually translates into thinking that one's own culture is universal, natural, or the most important, making it the standard against which others are measured, instead of understanding that it is one of the many in the world. world.

So, deep down, ethnocentrism can be a way of validating thoughts xenophobes, racist or discriminatory, even involuntarily or unconsciously.

Ethnocentrism is a common cognitive bias in all human cultures and geographies, which has been well described by the psychology social and by anthropology. In fact, the concept comes from the latter discipline, coined in 1906 by the American social scientist William Graham Sumner (1840-1910), in his book Forkways.

The first studies of anthropology and young women social Sciences The nineteenth century generally presented a notorious ethnocentric tendency that distinguished between European culture and all the others, in terms of "civilization" and "savage culture" respectively.

Ethnocentrism can be classified into different categories, depending on the criteria. For example, it is possible to speak of Eurocentrism (when European culture is privileged), Afrocentrism (African cultures) or Sinocentrism (Chinese culture), but it is also possible to distinguish between:

  • Racial ethnocentrism. Which consists of thinking that one's own ethnic group is biologically or genetically superior, or universal, or "normal", and labeling the rest of the humanity as "different", "exotic" or "mestizo".
  • Linguistic ethnocentrism. Which supposes that one's own language is more natural or universal than the others spoken by humanity, generally calling the others "dialects" or "wild languages".
  • Religious ethnocentrism. What does your own mean religion as superior or true, above the beliefs from other human cultures, often reduced to "religious practices" or "beliefs."

Examples of ethnocentrism

Apparently, ethnocentrism is so common to the human gaze that there is no shortage of examples from the history, such as:

  • Roman citizenship. In classical antiquity, the Roman Empire distinguished between its citizens, either patricians (autochthonous Romans) or commoners (Romans of foreign descent), granting only the former full citizenship and full political rights. However, even more distant was their relationship with the peoples that were not part of the empire, such as the Celts and the Germans, whom they called barbarians (that is, "who stammer when they speak"), since they did not speak Latin, nor they had the traditions "Civilized" of Rome.
  • The colonialism European. Between the 16th and 19th centuries, the great European imperial powers set out to divide up the entire world militarily and economically, imposing on the citizens of other cultures a colonial state, that is, founding colonies. In the latter, the European “civilized” language was imposed, citizens were classified on the basis of color skin or physical features, privileging whiteness, and human development of the colonial community was subordinate to that of the European metropolis.
  • The fascism European. The infamous case of the nationalist and fascist governments of Europe arisen in the 20th century is, clearly, a case of extreme, violent and radical Eurocentrism, since these governments they adhered ideologically to Social Darwinism, that is, to the belief that some peoples are naturally pure and "superior", while others were mestizo and "degenerate." According to his worldview, the latter were worthy of slavery and extermination. We are referring, obviously, to the Germany of Adolf Hitler and the Italy of Benito Mussolini, among other similar regimes of the time.
  • The canon of western beauty. Many scholars and critics have denounced and demonstrated how the standard of beauty that in the West reinforces the media, the fashion industry and advertising, tends to equate Caucasian, European features, and light hair and eyes with the beautiful and desirable. Therefore the rest of the existing ethnic possibilities in the West must use straighteners, bleaches and other beauty products that "beautify" them, that is, that make them more similar to the people of Europe.

Ethnocentrism and cultural relativism

The diametrically opposed to ethnocentrism is cultural relativism. This conception, coming from cultural anthropology, proposes that social values, political, cultural and religious of a society They are not universal, but are the fruit of their particular history. Therefore, they are only one option among many in humanity, since each culture has its own history and therefore its own values.

Thus, cultural relativism denies any ethnocentric possibility, preferring to relativize any sociocultural aspect and rather understand each people in their own right. context unique and particular. In this way, there are no "civilized" and "savage" peoples, but different options for civilization; There are no "advanced" and "archaic" peoples, but rather different models of historical development, and so on.

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