Introduction
In general view, ethnocentrism is a concept that one ethnic group or nation thinks that their cultural heritage is better than other groups or nations. It is observed that each a particular nation, group, the area has thousands of norms and beliefs especially for that community only. It is observed that if one is not aware of these, one will have to face problems while mingling with another group of people.
Ethnocentrism is defined by Haviland as “the belief that one’s own culture is superior in every way to all others” (Haviland, 1991/2001).” (McNair).
This definition clearly goes to show that it is a trend to look at the world from one’s own cultural perspective and judge all others obviously as low degree to themselves. This judgment will be on the basis of language, color, religion etc. Any country or people may experience the merits and demerits of this phenomenon. There are many types of ideologies that evolved in association with this concept.
But in present day’s modern world the man’s life and beliefs are crossing the barriers of culture and country. In today’s world of globalization where invention of advanced telecommunication and mass media have influenced the lives of the people as never before, this concept appears to have been pushed to a low degree of profile. But still Ethnocentrism exists and it is possible that one comes across it in different parts of the world in different forms.
Theoretical explanation of Ethnocentrism
In a general way, in any society, family culture is the basic tool to analyze and judge others’ ways of life and customs. The common phenomenon of all societies is to judge other cultures in terms of their way of life and customs inherited from their own family customs and values.
“Ethnocentrism is very much associated with a sociological theory called cultural relativism. This theory explains that this concept is socially constructed and varies cross- culturally. Ethnocentrism and values are like the spine of cultures. It separates culture from culture and how we look at each other. Ethnocentrism and values can bring good and bad effects and it may manifest itself in attitudes of superiority or hostility toward members of other groups and is sometimes expressed in discrimination or violence. (Chun-Yan).
It is assumed that Ethnocentrism is a natural process of observation of one individual who can cope with similar views and similar ideas of another culture. Many scientific studies revealed that a human being is a product of both nature and nurture. It is evident that an individual is born to a particular culture and grows with values and beliefs of that culture normally. Obviously, that individual will analyze and form a viewpoint on another culture according to his/ her socio-economic situation and customs in which they will mold rather than another culture’s view. As a result, he will observe another culture with some degree of errors than admitting the merits of other cultures.
“It was assumed that Ethnocentrism would result from two mental mechanisms: social identification and social contra-identification. Social identification was defined as the selective perception of predominantly positive characteristics of the in-group, while social contra-identification was defined as the selective perception of predominantly negative characteristics of out-groups.Both mechanisms would contribute to the reinforcement and/or maintenance of a positive social identity. These theoretical ideas were operationalized by Eisinga and Scheepers (1989). Tests confirmed the existence of the expected structure of the ethnocentric body of ideas in The Netherlands and Belgium.” (Para: Ethnocentrism: concept and theory: HTML version of the following site)
Hence, it is clear from the above statement that the attitude and values of ancient generation will influence to form a mindset on the particular culture than the personal traits or experience of an individual.
Different types of Ethnocentrism
There are different types of ethnocentrism ideas that developed in the world from European Countries too. Asian Countries like,
- Afro centrism- it is practice of viewing world from the perspective of African people ‘black people
- Americentrism- it is practice of viewing world from the perspective of Americans.
- Eurocentrism – Practice of viewing world from the concept of European culture
- Sinocentrism – Practice of viewing world in the view of Asian Countries.
In general, it is cohesive group having common attitudes, believes and community feelings.
My experience with the concept of Ethnocentrism
Recently on my visit to India I observed the positive effects and ill effects of the concept called Ethnocentrism. India is a multi-lingual, multi-ethnic country with strong nationalism. India has a very ancient culture of Hinduism and its different forms.
Different forms of rituals, festivals and ceremonies were seen in different parts of the country. In the interior part of the country caste system was prevalent in full force. The upper caste ‘Brahmanas’ were dominant over the lower caste people. People of different castes follow ascribed culture from their own ethnic group. I visited one of the rural areas of Orissa state of India where we can see the worst form of Ethnocentrism. The upper caste persons think that their culture is supreme to all other cultures.
They treat lower caste people as second-class citizens. They were allocated special geographical locations, beliefs and norms, very low income-generating jobs and they are slaves in the eyes of upper caste people. They were physically and mentally abused by upper caste people. The backward caste and religious minorities have to live under the shadow of the upper caste. On the other hand many of the lower caste people are trying to adopt upper caste people’s culture, religion and beliefs. So here we can see the integration of the theory and practical Ethnocentrism concept.
During my visits I met different people who have very optimistic and positive mindsets towards foreigners. Upper caste people were saying that they were following the culture which they received by birth. Through their thoughts and way of life they try to show that they are the supreme people in the world. During our interaction with few upper caste people they criticized the encroachment of foreign cultures to their country. They argued that people’s behavior, attitude and way of life have changed due to the westernization of the Indian culture. In their view people are adopting the negative points of western culture to a great extent than the merits of the foreign culture. They also pointed out that people of India are very generic and caring and willing to accept the positive part of the lifestyles of the foreign people.
Ethnicity means a collection of group that has common origin and shared beliefs. In India, there are multi caste and religious groups but they have common belief of ‘Hindutva ‘. On the other hand the lower caste people are willing to subscribe to the culture and beliefs of upper caste or other religious minorities. It shows the assimilation of culture of ethnic groups. In certain aspects, our team also expressed willingness to follow some aspects of Indian culture. This ethnic culture is formed from the ancient culture of India. It is passing on to the various generation and they got the present form. During our interaction about the differences of both cultures people of India always advocate to impart their cultural features to us instead of listening to our viewpoint.
In my understanding the ethnocentrism has good and bad effects. As a nation, India can stand united with a solid nationalism concept. The common culture and beliefs of the people promote feeling of oneness among community as well as the individual. The people were broad-minded and have developed an attitude of helping each other. This concept has helped very much in the economical and social growth of India as a country. But the negative effect is that we tend to make false judgments and assumptions against other cultures and customs. If a society is very small in its geographical location then this concept will help the people there to evaluate and analyze crucially the other culture in accordance with our own culture. But in a highly populated country with larger geographical locations the concept of ethnocentrism is not likely to have too much influence on the life of the people.
To sum up, it is observed that every culture has its own positive side and negative side. In today’s world, the distance between the countries and people is reduced due to the advancement in the science and technology. It is said that many traditional cultures are disappearing and new systems are evolving. But it is the need of the hour is to protect and preserve the positivism of our ancient culture and values. For this we have to develop an international network to exchange our ideas, values with others so that they can understand other cultures in a broad way. Each country’s tourism department can play a vital role in this process. So we need to promote the positive part of our culture and mitigate the negative impacts by adopting the merits of other cultures. In developed countries we can see the common identity and nationalism within the nation. But in the case of developing countries hundreds of minority groups have their own culture and entity to follow. So for national integration and positive growth we need to adapt and cope up with other cultures with an optimistic view.
Works cited
Barger, Ken. Ethnocentrism: What is it? Why are People Ethnocentric? What is the Problem? What Can We do About it. 2008. Web.
Chun-Yan, NI. Analysis Of Ethnocentrism. 2008. Web.
Ethnocentrism. Answers.com. 2009. Web.
McNair, Joseph. What is Ethnocentrism: Ethnocentrism as Defined by Havilland. 1998. Web.