Understanding

Culture, Society,
and Politics
Learning
Objective
The learners:

explain the importance of cultural

relativism in attaining cultural
understanding
Ethnocentrism
and Cultural
Relativism
Loop-A-Term!
10 words listed below are hidden inside the grid.
These words can run on all possible directions – horizontally, vertically or diagonally.
Ethnocentrism
The view that one’s own cultural elements such as
norms, values, ideology, customs, and traditions are
dominant and superior to others (Brown, 2007).

William Graham Sumner (1906) coined the term

ethnocentrism in his work Folkways that served as
the foundation in social analysis of every culture.
Sumner mentioned some characteristics of an individual with an
ethnocentric view. Ethnocentric persons -
⎯ have a dominant cultural element which they see as superior
to other cultures;
⎯ view rigidly their own socio-economic, political, and cultural
elements;
⎯ see their cultural elements as normal and acceptable to all;
⎯ consider in-group norms can be universalized;
⎯ discard out-group ethnicities and cultures;
⎯ believe that other cultures are inferior; and
⎯ look at other culture’s elements as inferior and unacceptable
 Chinof (2016) made some observations on how to
address this growing concern on Filipino
ethnocentrism.

1. Identify indigenous culture that truly reflects

Filipino identity.
2. Eliminate foreign influences and stick to
“home-grown" practices.
3. If we want to settle our identity, we must accept
the good part of the foreign influences that
come to us.
Cultural Relativism
an objective analysis of one’s own culture – seeing and
understanding of one’s beliefs and traditions from his/her
own point of view.
 According to James Rachels (2003),
the following claims have all been
made
by cultural relativists:

1. Each society has a diverse set of moral conducts.

2. The rightfulness of an action within a society is
primarily determined by the moral standards of that
society.
3. There is no objective standard that can be used as a basis
of comparison among societies.
4. The moral code of our own society is just part of a larger
body of morality and ethical standards.
5. High tolerance among all culture must be exercised
always.
1. It is difficult to determine if the custom of other societies is
morally inferior to others.
2. The decision whether actions are right or wrong can be done just
by consulting the standards of our society.
3. The idea of moral progress is always questionable.
4. The objective criticism of one’s own culture is shallow.
5. There will be no idea of moral progress because of acceptance
of other’s culture.
However, in his critical analysis, he also posited some
observations and consequences of accepting cultural
relativism.
 World
Ethnocentrism
Research on how the concept
of ethnocentrism is being
observed or done in
the following countries.
You may follow this format to
make your research organized.