Cultural Relativism

I was reminded of this important concept in a recent Encore class on Somalia.  I first heard this discussed in a Political Science course during my undergraduate studies at Northwestern.  The term simply means that civilization is not an absolute and that one’s ideas are only valid with respect to one’s own culture.  In other words, people of one culture should not attempt to apply their ideas or standards to another culture.

As obvious as this may be, human history is awash with examples where this concept has not been heeded and has led to conflict.  In many cases the result has been that the physically or militarily stronger culture has dominated the weaker one, planting the seeds for long-term resentment and future problems.  The domination of the American Indian culture by the white man is a prime example of this. 

With respect to present day conflicts, one only needs to consider the history of the Middle East and Africa.  In both cases, the seeds of conflict can be traced back to European colonization and especially the carving up of these territories following the two World Wars.

Without going into great detail, European colonial powers were allowed to divide territories and establish governments that they judged would be appropriate for the various regions.  In many cases, such as in Somalia, British, French and Italian interests split up territories without regard to local cultures or traditions.  Invariably this has led to smoldering resentment and can now be identified as a major factor in present day hostilities.

The Europeans were intent on establishing democracies and the U.S. has routinely supported this concept with the notion that every one favors freedom and deserves the kind of democracy we enjoy in this country.  The problem is, this is a prime example of not considering the concept of cultural relativism.  We are so convinced of the absolute virtues of democracy that we are often unable or unwilling to consider or respect different viewpoints held by other cultures.

If we trace the evolution of these other cultures, it’s possible to gain an understanding of how different viewpoints emerge.  For example, in situations where people have lived for many years with the idea of listening to and being led by a strong monarch, they may feel insecure in a setting where they have greater responsibility for determining their own lives.  While such thinking may be difficult for us to understand, our reaction is also a product of our own, quite different, cultural history.

While we place great value on freedom and self determination and feel that these are basic human rights, we need to be mindful that other cultures which have followed a different evolutionary pattern may not yet have developed the same values we treasure so much.  Attempting to prematurely introduce these values  may more often be resented than appreciated.