ETHNOCENTRISM

The world ethno comes from Greek and refers to a people, nation, or cultural grouping,
while centric comes from Latin and refers, of course to the centre. The term ethnocentrism
then refers to the tendency for each society to place its own culture patterns at the centre
of things. Ethnocentrism is the practice of comparing other cultural practices with those of
one's own and automatically finding those other cultural practices to be inferior.

HORTON & HUNT- “Ethnocentrism as the habit of every group of taking for granted the
superiority of its culture.”

History for example, is often taught to glorify the achievements of one's own nation, and
religious, civic and other groups disparage their competitors openly. Even within society,
social groups are ethnocentric.

ADVANTAGES

Ethnocentrism encourages the solidarity of the group. Believing that one's own ways are the
best, encourages a "we" feeling with associates and strengthens the idea that loyalty to
comrades and preservation of the basis for superiority are important values.

Promotes nationalism and patriotism among members of society.

Provides protection to members as they feel the belonging and provides compensation to
people of low status.

Castes and biradries are developed where marriages and other social relations are facilitated.

DISADVANTAGES

Boundaries among various social groups.

ethnocentrism hinders the understanding of the cooperation/social relations with other

groups. If the ways of one's own group are best, there is little incentive to interact with
inferior groups.

attitudes of suspicion, disdain and hostility are likely to be engendered. Extreme

ethnocentrism is likely to promote conflict, as the records of past wars, and religious and
racial conflicts reveal.

Conflict, of course often leads to social change and in that sense ethnocentrism becomes a
vehicle for the promotion of social change. It does so, however, through encouragement of its
peaceful evolution. The revolutionary efforts of groups who see themselves as downtrodden
blacks, the poor, women, and young people have included deliberate efforts to foster
ethnocentrism as a means of strengthening themselves. Slogans such as' "black power"
conflict model of society from which they operate.

Limits an individual in small social groups.

National dev slows down where ethno is emphasized on tv, media etc.

Cultural Lag
The role played by material inventions, that is, by technology, in social change probably
received most emphasis in the work of William F. Ogburn. It was Ogburn, also, who was
chiefly responsible for the idea that the rate of invention within society is a function of the
size of the existing culture base. W.F. Ogburn, an American sociologist introduced the
concept of ‘Cultural Lag’ in his book “social change: which was published in the year 1920.
The word ‘lag’ connotes crippled movement. Hence cultural lag means the flatering of one
aspect of culture behind another.

Ogburn believed that material and non-material cultures change in different ways. Change in
material culture is believed to have a marked directional or progressive character. This is
because there are agreed-upon standards of efficiency that are used to evaluate material
inventions. To use air-planes, as an example, we keep working to develop planes that will fly,
higher and faster, and carry more payloads on a lower unit cost. Because airplanes can be
measured against these standards, inventions in this area appear rapidly and predictably.

In the area of non-material culture, on the other hand there often are no such generally
accepted standards. Whether one prefers a Hussain, a Picasso, or a Gainsborough, for
example, is a matter of taste, and styles of painting fluctuate unevenly. Similarly, in
institutions such as government and the economic system there are competing forms of styles,
Governments may be dictatorships, oligarchies, republics or democracies.

This difference in rates of cultural change led Ogburn to formulate the concept of culture lag.
Material inventions, he believed bring changes that require adjustments in various areas of
non-material culture.Invention of the automobile, for instance, freed young people from
direct parental observation, made it possible for them to work at distances from their homes

Culture lag is defined as the time between the appearance of a new material invention and the
making of appropriate adjustments in corresponding area of non-material culture. This time is
often long. It was over fifty years, for example, after the typewriter was invented before it
was used systematically in offices. Even today, we may have a family system better adapted
to a farm economy than to an urban industrial one, The resulting imbalance is defined as a
social problem until non-material culture changes in adjustment to the new technology.

CRITICISMS:

The theory of ‘cultural lag’ of Ogburn is not free from the criticisms.

(a) There is no clear-cut distinction between material and non- material culture. Again, it is
not necessary that non-material culture should invariably lag behind material culture.

(b) A major defect in Ogburn’s theory is that he uses the “cultural lag” for expanding all gaps
in the process of social change. Maclver has suggested the use of different terms for the
various types of disequilibrium and conflicts, such as technological lag, technological
restraint and cultural clash etc.
 (c) According to the theory of cultural lag, while one thing progresses forward, another lags.
Hence this word should not be used in the context of those objects which are the encouraging
as well as the restraining and are similar and possess a common standard of evaluation.

(d) Finally Ogburn has not provided any standard or scale to measure the units of material
and non-material culture. So it is difficult to find out whether one aspect of culture changes
faster than the other or not.

In spite of the above short comings, the theory of “cultural lag” of Ogburn has been proved to
be beneficial for understanding the cultural factors in bringing about social change

MULTICULTURISM
In sociology, multiculturalism describes the manner in which a given society
deals with cultural diversity.
Proponents of multiculturalism believe that people should retain at least some
features of their traditional cultures. Opponents say that multiculturalism
threatens the social order by diminishing the identity and influence of the
predominant culture.

Multiculturalism Theories

The Melting Pot Theory

The melting pot theory of multiculturalism assumes that various immigrant
groups will tend to “melt together,” abandoning their individual cultures and
eventually becoming fully assimilated into the predominant society. In 1782,
French-American immigrant J. Hector St. John de Crevecoeur wrote that in
America, “individuals of all nations are melted into a new race of men, whose
labors and posterity will one day cause great changes in the world.”

The melting pot model has been criticized for reducing diversity, causing
people to lose their traditions, and for having to be enforced through
governmental policy. For example, the U.S. Indian Reorganization Act of 1934.

The Salad Bowl Theory

A more liberal theory of multiculturalism than the melting pot, the salad bowl
theory describes a heterogeneous society in which people coexist but retain at
least some of the unique characteristics of their traditional culture
“Chinatown” is considered an example of a salad bowl society.

On the negative side, the cultural differences encouraged by the salad bowl
model can divide a society resulting in prejudice and discrimination. 2007
study conducted by American political scientist Robert Putnam showing that
people living in salad bowl multicultural communities were less likely to vote
or volunteer for community improvement projects.
MULTICULTURAL COUNTRIES

A 2018 study conducted by the Pew Research Center found that the “post-
millennial” generation of people ages 6 to 21 are the most diverse generation
in American society.

Argentina’s constitution promotes immigration by recognizing the right of

individuals to retain multiple citizenships from other countries.

As a key element of the country’s society, Canada adopted multiculturalism as

official policy during the premiership of Pierre Trudeau in the 1970s and
1980s.

Why Diversity Is Important

In 2001, the General Conference of UNESCO took this position when it
asserted in its Universal Declaration on Cultural Diversity that “...cultural
diversity is as necessary for humankind as biodiversity is for nature.”

ASSIMILATION
Assimilation is a gradual process by which a person or group belonging to one culture adopts the
practices of another, thereby becoming a member of that culture. Sociologists commonly distinguish
between forced and unforced assimilation.

ACCULTURATION
Acculturation is a basic process in which people of different cultures meet
people of different cultures.

There may be some conflicts which have not been removed from a long
interval of time, in this place of hatred and dislike each other, acculturation
provides time for clearing out the reasons of quarrelsome.

CULTURAL IMPERIALISM

Europe’s colonial expansion, begun in the 16th century, was often accompanied by a severe cultural
imperialism. European colonizers often viewed the people in the lands they colonized as uncultured
savages who were in need of European governance, dress, religion, and other cultural practices

CULTURE SHOCK

when confronted with all the differences of a new culture, one may experience disorientation and
frustration. In sociology, we call this culture shock. Student from China might be annoyed by the
constant interruptions in class as other students ask questions—a practice that is considered rude in
China. Anthropologist Ken Barger (1971) discovered this when conducting participatory observation
in an Inuit community in the Canadian Arctic Oberg found that most people found encountering a
new culture to be exciting at first. But bit by bit, they became stressed by interacting with people from
a different culture who spoke another language and used different regional expressions. An American
visiting Italy might long for a “real” pizza

Cultural relativism is the practice of assessing a culture by its own standards rather than viewing it
through the lens of one’s own culture. Practicing cultural relativism requires an open mind and a
willingness to consider, and even adapt to, new values and norms. However, indiscriminately
embracing everything about a new culture is not always possible. widespread practice of female
genital mutilation in countries such as Ethiopia and Sudan

Xenocentrism is the opposite of ethnocentrism, and refers to the belief that another culture is superior
to one’s own. (The Greek root word xeno, pronounced “ZEE-no,” means “stranger” or “foreign
guest.”)

High Culture and Popular Culture

People often associate high culture with intellectualism, political power, and prestige. In America,
high culture also tends to be associated with wealth. Events considered high culture can be expensive
and formal—attending a ballet

The term popular culture refers to the pattern of cultural experiences and attitudes that exist in
mainstream society. comment on “American Idol” v/s deep discussion on the classical Greek play
Antigone

the labels of high culture and popular culture vary over time and place. Shakespearean plays,
considered pop culture when they were written, are now among our society’s high culture.

Subculture and Counterculture

A subculture is just as it sounds—a smaller cultural group within a larger culture; people of a
subculture are part of the larger culture, but also share a specific identity within a smaller group.
modification community embraces aesthetic additions to the human body, such as tattoos, piercings,
and certain forms of plastic surgery

In contrast to subcultures, which operate relatively smoothly within the larger society, countercultures
might actively defy larger society by developing their own set of rules and norms to live by,
sometimes even creating communities that operate outside of greater society.

Cultural Change
Cultures change when something new (say, railroads or smartphones) opens up new ways of living
and when new ideas enter a culture (say, as a result of travel or globalization).

Innovation: Discovery and Invention There are two ways to come across an innovative object or
idea: discover it or invent it.

Discoveries make known previously unknown but existing aspects of reality. In 1610, when Galileo
looked through his telescope and discovered Saturn, the planet was already there, but until then, no
one had known about it. When Christopher Columbus encountered America, the land was, of course,
already well known to its inhabitants. it opened the way to changes in culture
Inventions when things are put together in an entirely new manner to carry out new kinds of activities.
Their adoption reflects (and may shape) cultural values, and their use may require new norms for new
situations.

Norms were needed for cell phone use. Some people pushed for the idea that those who are out in the
world should pay attention to their companions and surroundings or alternative to use texting.

When the pace of innovation increases, it can lead to generation gaps. Sociologist William F.
Ogburn coined the term culture lag to refer to this time that elapses between when a new item of
material culture is introduced and when it becomes an accepted part of nonmaterial culture (Ogburn
1957 technology can spread through society in a matter of months, but it can take generations for the
ideas and beliefs of society to change.

Diffusion and Globalization

The integration of world markets and technological advances of the last decades have allowed for
greater exchange between cultures through the processes of globalization and diffusion. Beginning in
the 1980s, Western governments began to deregulate social services while granting greater liberties to
private businesses. As a result, world markets became dominated by multinational companies

diffusion, or, the spread of material and nonmaterial culture. While globalization refers to the
integration of markets, diffusion relates a similar process to the integration of international cultures.
Middle-class Americans can fly overseas and return with a new appreciation of Thai noodles or Italian
gelato.