UNDERSTANDING CULTURE, SOCIETY
AND POLITICS
QUARTER 3 – MODULE 3:
THE IMPORTANCE OF CULTURAL
RELATIVISM IN ATTAINING CULTURAL
UNDERSTANDING
MELC:
EXPLAIN THE IMPORTANCE OF CULTURAL RELATIVISM IN
ATTAINING CULTURAL UNDERSTANDING.
AT THE END OF THE MODULE, YOU SHOULD BE ABLE TO:
K: DEFINE CULTURAL RELATIVISM
S: DEMONSTRATE A HOLISTIC UNDERSTANDING OF CULTURE AND
SOCIETY
A: VALUE CULTURE AND EXPRESS PRIDE OF PLACE WITHOUT
BEING ETHNOCENTRIC
DIRECTION: READ EACH QUESTION CAREFULLY WRITE YOUR ANSWERS IN YOUR NOTEBOOK/PAPER.
1. WHAT IS CULTURE?
2. WHAT IS CULTURAL RELATIVISM?
3. WHAT IS ETHNOCENTRISM?
4. HOW WILL YOU SHOW RESPECT TO OTHER’S CULTURE?
5. IS SHOWING RESPECT TO OTHER CULTURE NECESSARY? WHY OR WHY NOT?
6. HAVE YOU TRIED VISITING OTHER PLACES AND EXPERIENCED CULTURE SHOCK?
7. HOW DOES CULTURAL RELATIVISM HELP IN UNDERSTANDING OTHER’S CULTURE?
8. DO YOU CONSIDER YOUR CULTURE, BELIEFS AND PRACTICES SUPERIOR TO OTHER CULTURE?
9. HOW IMPORTANT ARE YOUR CULTURE, BELIEFS AND PRACTICES FOR YOU?
10. HAVE YOU EVER EXPERIENCED RACISM? IN WHAT FORM?
PICTURE ANALYSIS. OBSERVE THE PICTURE. WHAT PROBLEM IS BEING EMPHASIZED IN
THE FOLLOWING PICTURES? WRITE YOUR ANSWERS IN YOUR NOTEBOOK.
ANALYZE THE GIVEN LINE:
“ONE HAS TO ABIDE BY THE ETHICAL NORMS
OF THE CULTURE WHERE ONE IS LOCATED.”
[Link] DO YOU SEE IN THE PICTURES?
1. CAN YOU DESCRIBE WHAT THE SCENARIO IS IN THE FIRST
PICTURE? HOW ABOUT THE SECOND PICTURE?
HAVE YOU EXPERIENCED BEING JUDGED OR DISCRIMINATED?
HOW WILL YOU SHOW RESPECT TO PERSONS WHO HAVE DIFFERENT
CULTURE FROM YOU?
CULTURAL RELATIVISM- IS A PRINCIPLE THAT AN INDIVIDUAL PERSON’S
BELIEFS AND ACTIVITIES SHOULD BE UNDERSTOOD BY OTHERS IN
TERMS OF THAT INDIVIDUAL’S OWN CULTURE. IT REFERS TO JUDGING
NOT A CULTURE TO OUR OWN STANDARDS OF WHAT IS RIGHT OR
WRONG, STRANGE OR NORMAL. INSTEAD, WE SHOULD TRY TO
UNDERSTAND CULTURAL PRACTICES OF OTHER GROUPS IN ITS OWN
CULTURAL CONTEXT. IN OTHER WORDS, RIGHT AND WRONG ARE
CULTURE-SPECIFIC. WHAT IS CONSIDERED MORAL IN OTHER SOCIETY
MAY BE CONSIDERED IMMORAL IN ANOTHER, AND SINCE NO
UNIVERSAL STANDARD OF MORALITY EXIST, NO ONE HAS THE RIGHT TO
JUDGE ANOTHER SOCIETY’S CUSTOMS TO BE CORRECT OR INCORRECT.
IT WAS ESTABLISHED AND ACCEPTED IN
ANTHROPOLOGICAL RESEARCH BY FRANZ BOAS IN
THE FIRST FEW DECADES OF THE 20TH CENTURY
AND LATER POPULARIZED BY HIS STUDENTS.
ETHNOCENTRISM-, IN CONTRAST TO CULTURAL
RELATIVISM, IS JUDGING ANOTHER CULTURE
SOLELY BY THE VALUES AND STANDARDS OF ONE’S
OWN CULTURE.
WILLIAM G. SUMNER, ETHNOCENTRISM IS DEFINED AS THE
“TECHNICAL NAME FOR THE VIEW OF THINGS IN WHICH ONE’S
OWN GROUP IS THE CENTER OF EVERYTHING, AND ALL OTHERS
ARE SCALED AND RATED WITH REFERENCE TO IT.” HE FURTHER
CHARACTERIZED IT AS OFTEN LEADING TO PRIDE, VANITY,
BELIEFS OF ONE’S OWN GROUP’S SUPERIORITY AND
CONTEMPT OF OUTSIDERS.
ETHNOCENTRIC INDIVIDUALS BORN INTO A PARTICULAR
CULTURE THAT GROW UP ABSORBING THE VALUES AND
BEHAVIOR OF THE CULTURE WILL DEVELOP A WORLDVIEW
THAT CONSIDERS THEIR CULTURE TO BE THE NORM
(STANDARD). THEY JUDGE OTHER GROUP OR CULTURE
SPECIALLY WITH CONCERN TO LANGUAGE, BEHAVIOR, CUSTOM
RELIGION ETC.
HOW CULTURAL RELATIVISM MITIGATES ETHNOCENTRISM?
IT IS WIDELY BELIEVED IN THE FIELD OF SOCIOLOGY THAT ETHNOCENTRIC BEHAVIOR MAY BE
MITIGATED THROUGH THE RECOGNITION AND APPLICATION OF CULTURAL RELATIVISM. A
PERSON CAN PRACTICE CULTURAL RELATIVISM BY RECOGNIZING THAT OUR CULTURE SHAPES
WHAT WE CONSIDER TO BE BEAUTIFUL, UGLY, APPEALING, DISGUSTING, VIRTUOUS, FUNNY,
AND ABHORRENT AND THAT THIS SHOULD NOT BE THE BASIS FOR EVALUATING OTHER
CULTURE. CULTURAL RELATIVISM SHAPES OUR UNDERSTANDING OF DIFFERENT ISSUES IN THE
SOCIETY AS TO WHY CERTAIN RELIGION BELIEVE IN THIS AND OTHER NOT, OR HOW COME THIS
GROUP EAT THIS TYPE OF DISH, WEAR THIS WEIRD CLOTHING, SING AND DANCE ALONG WITH
MUSIC WHILE OTHERS PREFER NOT TO. WHAT WE NEED IS AN OPEN HEART AND UNBIASED
AND CRITICAL MIND, EXPOSURE, EDUCATION, AND INVOLVEMENT IN ACTIVITIES, PROGRAMS
SUPPORTING AND RECOGNIZING THE UNIQUENESS AND BEAUTY OF EVERY CULTURE FOR US
TO TRULY GRASP WHAT CULTURAL RELATIVISM MEANS.
CULTURAL RELATIVISM LEADS TO THE VIEW THAT NO CULTURE
IS SUPERIOR TO ANOTHER CULTURE IN TERMS OF SYSTEMS OF
MORALITY, BELIEFS, VALUES, LAW, POLITICS, ETC. WE SHOULD
NOT ASSUME THAT ALL OF OUR PREFERENCES ARE BASED ON
SOME OBJECTIVE MORAL STANDARD. IT’S A GOOD IDEA TO
KEEP AN OPEN MIND WHEN WE ENCOUNTER PRACTICES
DIFFERENT FROM OUR OWN.
POSTER MAKING DIRECTION: MAKE
A POSTER THAT SHOWS
UNDERSTANDING AND RESPECT FOR
OTHER’S CULTURE. USE SHORT BOND
PAPER.
DIRECTION: BASED ON THE ACTIVITIES AND READINGS ON THIS MODULE, WRITE THE THINGS
YOU HAVE LEARNED ABOUT THE IMPORTANCE OF CULTURAL RELATIVISM IN ATTAINING
CULTURAL UNDERSTANDING. DO THIS IN YOUR ACTIVITY NOTEBOOK.
ASSIGNMENT:
DIRECTION: DRAW OR LOOK FOR PICTURES AND PASTE IT ON A
NOTEBOOK/PAPER THAT BEST DESCRIBE ABOUT
ETHNOCENTRIC AND CULTURALLY RELATIVE BEHAVIORS
MANIFESTED BY MILLENNIALS OF TODAY. FOR EACH BEHAVIOR
IDENTIFY THE CAUSATIVE FACTORS THAT ARE HIGHLY INVOLVED
ON THE AFOREMENTIONED.
EXAMPLE: RACIAL DISCRIMINATION – PREJUDICE/OVERT BIAS
Post Test
REFERENCES
AGBO, NJIDEKA. 2018. THE ETHIOPIAN TRIBE WHERE A LIP PLATE MAKES YOU MORE ATTRACTIVE. JANUARY 11.
ACCESSED JANUARY 24, 2022. HTTPS://[Link]/LIFE/THEETHIOPIAN-TRIBE-WHERE-A-LIP-PLATE-MAKES-
YOU-MORE-ATTRACTIVE/. BELEÑA, EDERLINA D., ET AL. N.D.
UNDERSTANDING CULTURE, SOCIETY, AND POLITICS FOR SENIOR HIGH SCHOOL. DAYTON, BRANDON. 2020.
WHAT IS THE TRADITIONOF NECK RINGS IN AFRICA AND ASIA? APRIL 10. ACCESSED JANUARY 24, 2022.
HTTPS://[Link]/BLOGS/NEWS/WHAT-IS-THETRADITION-OF-NECK-RINGS-IN-AFRICA-AND-ASIA.
JSY BLOG. 2019
.
SOCIAL BULLYING. MARCH 06. ACCESSED JANUARY 24, 2022. HTTPS://[Link]/BULLYING/SOCIAL-
BULLYING/. LIM, JED. 2016.
ETHNOCENTRISM AND RELATIVISM. JULY 26. ACCESSED JANUARY 13, 2022.
HTTPS://[Link]/JEDLIM1/ETHNOCENTRISM-AND-RELATIVISM.