Ethnocentrism
By: Adrian Garces
By: Adrian Garces
Ethnocentrism can be thought of as "thinking one's own group's ways are superior to others" or "judging other groups as inferior to one's own". When broken down, "ethnic" refers to cultural heritage, and "centrism" refers to the central starting point. Therefore, ethnocentrism, according to anthropology professor Ken Barger at Indiana University Indianapolis, can be defined as “making false assumptions about others' ways based on our own limited experience” (Barger) .
The term ethnocentrism was coined by William Graham Sumner in 1906, as mentioned by author, professor, and researcher Boris Bizmuic, who stated, “it meant a tendency in the individual to be 'ethnically centered,' to be rigid in his acceptance of the culturally 'alike' and in his rejection of the 'unlike'” (Bizumic). But the concept was mentioned much before Sumner by Gumplowicz dating as far back as 1879, which drew parallels of ethnocentrism and geocentrism, which is the belief that the Earth is the center of the universe, and anthropocentrism, the belief humans were the main points of the earth (Bizumic). He found a common denominator in all his research and concepts linear to ethnocentrism as centralism stating, “One can comfortably say that the largest part of historical writing so far actually has only sprung from this subjective need of human beings to glorify their own and nearest and at the same time humiliate and sully what is foreign and distant”(Bizumic) . Ethnocentrism is a direct cause for many occurrences throughout human history, including but not limited to war, colonialism, genocide, racism, among other things that are still relevant today
With the origins of ethnocentrism now explained, we can dive in deeper to specific examples in order to make it clear how dangerous the concept and mindset can be when unchecked, based on world history and the frequency in which the term is used. For instance, colonialism is considered to be ethnocentric because, according to Libretext, "the political conquests by one society of another leads to 'cultural domination with enforced social change' (“Ethnocentrism”). This means that one group of peoples forced their belief system and daily life onto another. Some other examples include the genocide of Jewish people in Nazi Germany during World War II, through murder, torture, and concentration camps, with the goal of propelling the German race forward as though they were superior. Another example is the colonization of Africa during the late 1800s and early 1900s, with Germany again at the forefront; however, it was not just Germany that was involved. Other nations, including Britain and Portugal , were also involved. All these nations believed their culture was to be superior to the African culture, thereby justifying their takeover of the continent of Africa. Unfortunately, these situations were extremely lethal to groups of people, but the concept of ethnocentrism can be as simple as judging Asian people who eat their food with chopsticks through an American viewpoint. Americans may find this way of eating to be strange or bizarre, but this viewpoint simply comes from a lack of understanding; there is no type of inferiority or superiority that comes with eating food using a different utensil.
As mentioned before, the idea of ethnocentrism is based on the belief that people of all walks of life, no matter where they are from, make assumptions about other groups of people based on their perspective. These beliefs are often shaped by where and how they were brought up, creating a subjective point of view to world in terms of only you, rather than looking at the world from a viewpoint that recognizes and accepts differences. If we continue to lack appreciation for other cultures and remain in a state of ethnocentrism, we will continue to misinterpret cultures other than our own, which will in turn lead to hardship, hateful communication, and potentially, wars filled with injury and death. It is important to take a step back and look at our culture and practices from an outsider's perspective.
Learn More
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wlyS4zrklww
Animated examples of ethnocentrism that clear up any confusion regarding the topic
https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/avoiding-ethnocentrism/id1278331007?i=1000391831358
Podcast on Apple discussing different cultures and on this episode specifically tackling the idea of ethnocentrism.
https://thecitizen.com/2019/08/20/the-dangers-of-ethnocentrism/
This article provides a more in-depth approach towards the the dangers of ethnocentrism and provides personal testimonies to describe the ubiquity of the concept
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qnNpFYVaXIc
A ted talk explanation of experience with cultural differences and ethnocentrism in America
Work Cited
Barger, Ken, “ETHNOCENTRISM”, Indiana University Indianapolis, 2019
Bizumic Boris, “Who Coined the Concept of Ethnocentrism? A Brief Report”, Research School of Psychology, the Australian National University, January 2014
“Ethnocentrism”, Social Science Libretext, August 15, 2000.