Cultural Relativism: Understanding Diversity and Overcoming Biases

1 Topic 1: Relativism Discuss why cultural relativism should always be applied Our society is an amalgamation of different culture, belief, rituals, religion and morality. All such differences and diversity defines different groups and people and often makes this society a complex social structure. Such differences may often lead to instability and thus, to avoid such instances there is a need to have acceptance and respect for diversity and not imposing our belief and practices on others. "Cultural relativism" approach could be used in this situation to avoid judging cultural differences and practices of groups which are different from ours (Fluehr‐ Lobban, 2005). Cultural relativism is a concept which refers to not judging any culture by what is wrong or right, normal or strange as per our individual standards. It further asserts an emphasis over trying to understand other's cultural practices within their own cultural context. During this era of globalization, society has become much more diverse and cultural relativism can be used as an idea that acknowledges and respect differences and promotes inter-cultural relations to understand diverse lives. People from different backgrounds can collaborate and help themselves to see possibilities that were never thought because of their own beliefs posed by limitations or cultural proscriptions. This cultural relativism concept also implies that any ethical opinion within a culture is a subject to each individual perspective. Therefore, there can never be such a system that can ethically be termed as wrong or right (Fluehr‐Lobban, 2005). This seeks to encourage the interpretation of cultural behaviours that are unfamiliar to many people through a systematic understanding of this term called as cultural relativism. Therefore, using cultural relativism viewpoint contributes to

LESSON 1 2 the belief that no one culture can be superior to any other culture as compared with systems based on morality, politics et cetera. This makes cultural relativism, a basic need that should always be used. Topic 2: Biases Describe a situation where you came into contact with a new or different set of beliefs and had to recognize your own ethnocentrism. What did you do and what was the outcome? I had the opportunity to visit and work in the Arab Gulf countries Dubai, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and Kuwait in the Middle East. Nationals of Gulf countries have their own familial culture heritage, traditions, mythological and characteristic traits. While interacting and getting familiar with some people, I realized that they were having a perception and thinking of their culture, tradition and heritage is much better than other cultures. Such practices were clearly subjected with prejudice behavior resulting from Ethnocentrism ( Haller Jr, 1971) . Ethnocentrism can be defined as a significant factor in the division of members having different racial or cultural denominations. It also extends the belief of one group to be superior of another. And thus, all such claims of their culture and practices being the correct method led to the recognition of my own ethnocentrisms ( Haller Jr, 1971) . Therefore, to effectively deal with that situation, I tried not to make any assumptions or start judging them before I know them well. Then I tried to learn about them, their culture and lifestyle, it helped me to develop a relationship with them and problem were resolved before it could have raised.

LESSON 1 3 Topic 3: The Danger of Unilineal Cultural Evolution How were cultural and biological evolution, and race and progress, related to one another? Why is it dangerous to interpret cultures as static and linear? How did anthropologists/ethnologists in the late 1800s and early 1900s contribute to racist thinking and what are some of the consequences of this even today? How did the work of Franz Boas set the tone for racial justice? Although American ethnologists of the 19th century depended on the term "evolution" to describe their theory of culture rather than the term "development," their theory of evolution also suggested a teleological interpretation that was little more than a paeon for Anglo-Saxon race achievement ( Haller Jr, 1971) . For most of the anthropologist the human races passing from one generation to another generation through the increasing levels of complexity were same as that of any of the biology proposed series of types progressing from homogeneity to heterogeneity, from the single-celled organism to the multi-celled organism ( Pierpont, 2004) . Most of the anthropologist considered the progress through the evolution of the most of the backward and less developed races of the society. With the evolution of each generation, the races of those generation were seeming to be progressing as well and at the time, most anthropologist signified that the biological concepts and human behavior can only be best analyzed and learned through the topology of biological characters only. Anthropologists/ethnologists in the late 1800s and early 1900s contribute to racist thinking to a great extent. From those times, most of them focus on the evolution of behavior mostly on the basis of races which ultimately lead to the discrimination and inferiority of some of the races. German-American anthropologist Franz Boas was one of the most influential critics of the prevalent philosophies of modern racism, the notion that race is a biological thing and therefore human action is better described through the typology

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LESSON 1 4 of biological features. Through a sequence of pioneering tests of skeletal anatomy he found that cranial form and scale were extremely malleable based on environmental variables such as health, well-being and diet, as compared to the assumptions of racial anthropologists who considered head shape to be a fixed ethnic characteristic. Boas introduced the concept of cultural relativism according to which no culture can be hold to be ranked as inferior or top and set the tone for racial justice. Topic 4- Professionalization Discuss to the best of your ability what distinguishes anthropology from other sciences. Then, discuss the significance of the professionalization of the field of anthropology. Anthropology explores the psychological, cultural and political elements of man and thus anthropology applies to history, economics and political science ( Stocking Jr, 1960) . As per the analysis of the articles, Anthropology are centered on human development and traditions, while other science are mostly concentrated on basic elements of human societies rather than communities. Anthropologists research not only all individual types but other facets of human life as well. For example, an anthropologist may examine the background of the region in which people reside, the physical landscape, the structure of family life, the general characteristics of their language, the living patterns of the population, political and economic structures, and religion. Whereas the other disciples of sciences such as economics, political science, etc. are much related to it but still those above discussed facts shows a major difference. As per the view of Mead, with the better establishment of the field, more and more students are now opting towards this field ( Mead, 1961) . With the increasing importance of the study of society, biology, history etc. The importance of professionalism is increasing its significance each day.

LESSON 1 5 Reference

LESSON 1 6 Fluehr‐Lobban, C. (2005). Cultural Relativism and Universal Rights in Islamic Law. Anthropology News , 46 (9), 23-23. Haller Jr, J. S. (1971). Race and the concept of progress in nineteenth century American ethnology. American Anthropologist , 73 (3), 710-724. Mead, M. (1961). Anthropology among the sciences. American Anthropologist , 63 (3), 475-482. Pierpont. (2004). “The Measure of America”. Retrieved from https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2004/03/08/the-measure-of-america Stocking Jr, G. W. (1960). Franz Boas and the Founding of the American Anthropological Association 1. American Anthropologist , 62 (1), 1-17.

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