Ethnocentrism is the conception of members of a culture or social group as being the center, the normal, and superior to the others. Cultural relativism is based on the idea of the other (otherness) as being relative, there is no cultural model of reference.
Ethnocentrism is a kind of lens through which all cultures are seen and interpreted from a single conception, assuming an exclusive character. Terms like “barbarians”, “primitive” or “savages”, used to describe other cultures and peoples are hallmarks of ethnocentrism. One way of life is taken as a reference and different ways of life are excluded.
Cultural relativism is the idea that the way of life of a certain group may not be valid or valued in another social system. Cultural relativism demonstrates that human behavior is not based on nature, but on the development of customs.
| Ethnocentrism | Cultural relativism | |
| Meaning | Anthropological concept about the idea of the superiority of one culture over the others. | An anthropological concept referring to the idea of different cultures have different ways of life, without hierarchy. |
| Features | · Standard social system
· Feeling of belonging · Egocentrism · Ethnic supremacy · Intolerance |
· Tolerance
· Assimilation of differences · Inclusion · Multiculturality / Interculturality |
| Reviews | Disrespect for differences, intolerance and the self-centered reading of the world. | Relativism can lead to the emptying of universal values, permissiveness and disrespect for human rights. |
What is ethnocentrism?
Ethnocentrism is a term developed by anthropology that criticizes the reading of the world centered on the perspective and way of life of a social group or culture.
Anthropology itself arose from the intention of the European peoples to study the social organizations of the original peoples of the colonies and in the newly discovered lands.
These studies were made from the perspective that European culture was the culmination of human civilization, while other social systems were measured according to this parameter. Thus, different peoples were classified as more or less civilized.
Many of these original peoples, with varying degrees of complexity, were classified as primitive or barbaric because their way of life was not suited to the way of life in European cities.
It can be said that ethnocentrism has the advantage of making the individual easily recognized as an integral part of a social group, generating a sense of belonging.
However, over the years, ethnocentrism has taken on the meaning of any reading that reinforces the superiority of one social group over another. In this perspective, a standard is considered “normal” or desirable and requires other social groups to conform to that standard.
Thus, an ethnocentric attitude is a form of intolerance, disrespect for differences and different ways of life and social organization. It consists of denying minority groups their right to preserve their own cultural traits, the right to religious freedom or their cultural manifestations.
What is cultural relativism?
Cultural relativism is a term also coined by anthropology as opposed to ethnocentrism. In it, the relative position between “us and the others” is discussed, which varies according to the point of view.
In ethnocentrism, the “we” position is fixed, always part of the group that understands itself to be superior. For cultural relativism, any social system will cause strangeness to the one that is not inserted. The position of “we” and “others” is relative.
Thus, the entire historical, social and cultural path of each society must be based, respecting their differences and particularities. From the perspective of cultural relativism, respect for different ways of life and different forms of social organization is required.
However, relativistic perspectives are also the target of criticism. The idea that all cultures are equally autonomous in their social construction, and cannot be the target of criticism, can generate the conception that everything is allowed, as long as it is based on a culture.
Thus, some social practices can harm rights and values understood as universal.
For example, in some patriarchal societies, women do not have the same rights as men or child marriages are common. This stance can call into question cultural relativism. Is it fair that women have less rights than men or are placed in situations of oppression due to customs, or cultural constructions?
Anthropologists and sociologists seek to answer these questions and find a third way, away from ethno centrism, but without falling into radical relativism.
