Discussion – Cultural Relativism

The term cultural relativism is very important today, particularly in the wake of a globalized world that is increasingly interdependent, and I only came to know about this fact when I started touring the world. There is a growing need for societies, especially businesses, schools, and other institutions, to build cross-cultural relationships that ensure people respect, acknowledge, and understand the cultures and values of others (Macclancy, 2010). This is truly the background that cultural relativism is anchored on, with the focus being to foster an understanding of cultural practices unique to one’s own and promote the creation of healthy relationships between cross-cultures. Our assignment writing help is at affordable prices to students of all academic levels and disciplines.

In my entire life, I had never lived or worked in an ethnically diverse environment where language was a primary barrier. This lack of cross-cultural experience only meant that I was biased towards Asians, Arabs, Indians, and Africans – perhaps because a majority of these people came from third-world countries with a poor educational background. I particularly viewed Africans as academically inferior because a majority of the first ones I interacted with could barely speak English. I assumed most Africans lived in the jungle with elephants, lions, and other games. I also hated Arabs so much because of their link to terrorism and their connection to groups like ISIS. In all honesty, my stereotypical mentality of America having the superior and the best culture changed the moment I first stepped into China and Africa. Chinese people were not only hospitable but also valued justice, democracy, civility, friendship, the rule of law, integrity, and freedom. For the one year I lived in China, I can attest to starting to like the communist mentality and philosophy of the Chinese. Everything is truly done for the benefit of the entire community, unlike in the U.S., where individualism is the order of the day.

From my experience, I think cultural relativism can play an integral role in helping people to understand one another without viewing their cultures and values as better than the others. As Macclancy (2010) notes in his book Exotic No More: Anthropology on the Front Line, the world is today becoming more interconnected and interdependent than in the 18^th or 19^th centuries. This means that it is becoming inevitable for one to interact in school and in the workplace with other people’s customs traditionally viewed as “abstruse” or do business with “out-of-the-way” tribes.