ET H NO C E N T R I S M A ND

C U L TU R A L R E L A TI V IS M
LEARNING COMPETENCY:
BECOME AWARE OF WHY AND
HOW CULTURAL RELATIVISM
MITIGATES ETHNOCENTRISM
(UCSP11/12DCSID-10)
ETHNOCENTRISM
•PEOPLE HAVE A TENDENCY TO JUDGE OR
EVALUATE OTHER CULTURES IN THE CONTEXT OF
THEIR OWN CULTURE. LANGUAGE, BEHAVIOR,
CUSTOMS, OR RELIGION, WHICH ARE
UNDERSTANDABLY UNIQUE FOR EVERY CULTURE
ARE THE COMMON SUBJECTS OF THESE
JUDGMENTS. SOCIOLOGICALLY SPEAKING, THIS
IDEOLOGY OR TENDENCY IS KNOWN
•ETHNOCENTRISM IS THE IDEA THAT ONE’S OWN
CULTURE IS ABOVE OR SUPERIOR THAN OTHERS'. IT IS
ALSO THE BELIEF THAT ONE'S OWN CULTURE IS THE
MAIN STANDARD BY WHICH OTHER CULTURES MAY BE
MEASURED OR UNDERSTOOD. ETHNOCENTRISM IS
FAILING OR REFUSING TO SEE THE WORLD AND ITS
ASPECTS IN A WIDER OR ENCOMPASSING
PERSPECTIVE. IT MAY CAUSE PEOPLE TO PRACTICE
BIAS AND INTOLERANCE.
 CULTURAL RELATIVISM
•NOT ALL PEOPLE ARE ETHNOCENTRIC. THERE ARE THOSE WHO USE
WIDER PERSPECTIVES IN ASSOCIATING THEIR CULTURE FROM
ANOTHER’S. THERE ARE PEOPLE WHO ACCEPT AND RESPECT THE
EVIDENT DIFFERENCES OF MEMBERS OF THE SOCIETY. WHEN PEOPLE
RECOGNIZE THAT EACH CULTURE IS NATURALLY DIFFERENT FROM
OTHERS, THAT IS CULTURAL RELATIVISM. CULTURAL RELATIVISM DOES
NOT MEAN THAT WE SHOULD IMMEDIATELY ACCEPT AND TOLERATE
CULTURAL DIFFERENCES. INSTEAD, IT REQUIRES UNDERSTANDING THE
CULTURE OF OTHER PEOPLE IN THEIR OWN CULTURAL CONTEXT THAT
IS FREE FROM ANOTHER’S BIASES.
•CULTURAL RELATIVISM IS THE IDEA THAT
ALL NORMS, BELIEFS, AND VALUES ARE DEPENDENT
ON THEIR CULTURAL CONTEXT, AND SHOULD BE
TREATED AS SUCH. ACCORDING TO FRANZ BOAS
(1887), "...CIVILIZATION IS NOT SOMETHING
ABSOLUTE, BUT ... IS RELATIVE, AND ... OUR IDEAS
AND CONCEPTIONS ARE TRUE ONLY SO FAR AS OUR
CIVILIZATION GOES."
 HOW CULTURAL RELATIVISM MITIGATES
ETHNOCENTRISM?
• IT IS BELIEVED THAT EACH PERSON, IN ONE WAY OR ANOTHER, POSSESSES
AN ETHNOCENTRIC ATTITUDE OR BEHAVIOR. THERE IS NOTHING WRONG WITH
HAVING SUCH BECAUSE, UNLIKE SOCIAL SCIENTISTS OR ANTHROPOLOGISTS,
NOT ALL PEOPLE ARE EQUIPPED WITH SUFFICIENT KNOWLEDGE AND
EXPOSURE TO CULTURES ACROSS THE GLOBE, THUS, THE HARDSHIP IN
UNDERSTANDING AND TOLERATING OTHERS' ACTS AND VALUES. HOWEVER,
WE ALSO HAVE TO RECOGNIZE THAT ETHNOCENTRIC BEHAVIOR, IF NOT
CONTROLLED, MAY CAUSE TROUBLE TO ONESELF, ESPECIALLY IN THIS
MODERN TIME WHEN EVERYONE CALLS FOR SOCIAL OR CULTURAL
INCLUSION.
•HISTORICALLY, COLONIALISM WAS JUSTIFIED BY
ETHNOCENTRISM. WHEN EUROPEANS REACHED THE
AREAS POPULATED BY THE NATIVES WHOM THEY
CONSIDERED AS UNCIVILIZED AND SAVAGE, THEY SAW THE
PROMISE TO CIVILIZE AND TAME THEM THROUGH RELIGION
(CHRISTIANITY) AND COLONIALISM. DESPITE ITS
ADVANTAGES, WE CAN SAY THAT THE AGE OF
EXPLORATION CHANGED THE COURSE OF WORLD HISTORY
IN A WAY WHICH DEPRIVED THE CONQUERED.
•IT IS WIDELY BELIEVED IN THE FIELD OF SOCIOLOGY THAT
ETHNOCENTRIC BEHAVIOR MAY BE MITIGATED THROUGH THE
RECOGNITION AND APPLICATION OF CULTURAL RELATIVISM. A PERSON
CAN PRACTICE CULTURAL RELATIVISM BY RECOGNIZING THAT
CULTURE SHAPES WHAT IS CONSIDERED TO BE BEAUTIFUL, UGLY,
APPEALING, DISGUSTING, VIRTUOUS, FUNNY, AND ABHORRENT, AND
THAT THESE SHOULD NOT BE THE BASIS FOR EVALUATING OTHER
CULTURES. CULTURAL RELATIVISM SHAPES OUR UNDERSTANDING OF
DIFFERENT ISSUES IN THE SOCIETY−AS TO WHY CERTAIN RELIGIONS
BELIEVE IN THIS AND OTHERS DO NOT, OR HOW COME THIS GROUP
EATS THIS TYPE OF DISH, WEARS THIS WEIRD CLOTHING, SINGS AND
DANCES ALONG TO MUSIC WHILE OTHERS PREFER NOT TO.
•WHAT WE NEED IS AN OPEN HEART AND AN
UNBIASED AND CRITICAL MIND, EXPOSURE,
EDUCATION, AND INVOLVEMENT IN ACTIVITIES,
AND PROGRAMS SUPPORTING AND
RECOGNIZING THE UNIQUENESS AND BEAUTY
OF EVERY CULTURE FOR US TO TRULY GRASP
WHAT CULTURAL RELATIVISM MEANS.
FO R M S OF T A NG IB LE A N D
INTANGIBL E H E RI T A G E
LEARNING COMPETENCY:
IDENTIFY FORMS OF TANGIBLE
AND INTANGIBLE HERITAGE
AND THE THREATS TO THESE
(UCSP11/12DCSIE-11)
CULTURAL HERITAGE
•CULTURAL HERITAGE IS A REPRESENTATION OF THE WAYS
OF LIVING ESTABLISHED BY A SOCIETY OR A GROUP THAT
IS PASSED ON FROM GENERATION TO GENERATION.
LEGACY IS WHAT REMAINS AFTER ONE’S TIME. HANDED
DOWN FROM ONE GENERATION TO ANOTHER, LEGACY
MAGNIFIES ONE’S LIFE AND LIVING. IT IS SAID THAT LEGACY
IS WHAT CULTURAL HERITAGE IS.
•ACCORDING TO JOHN FEATHER, CULTURAL HERITAGE IS A
HUMAN CREATION INTENDED TO INFORM.
CULTURAL HERITAGE
•EXAMPLES:
•ARCHITECTURES SUCH AS BUILDINGS, HOUSES, AND
STRUCTURES
•ARTIFACTS LIKE BOOKS, DOCUMENTS, OBJECTS, IMAGES,
CLOTHING, ACCESSORIES, AND JARS
•THINGS THAT MAKE PEOPLE WHO THEY ARE, LIKE ORAL
STORIES, VALUES, LAWS, NORMS, RITUALS, AND
TRADITIONS
•CULTURAL HERITAGE HELPS HISTORIANS AND
ARCHAEOLOGISTS UNDERSTAND AND
DECIPHER THE WAY OF LIVING PEOPLE OF
YESTERDAY HAD. THROUGH THESE OBJECTS,
WE ARE PRESENTED WITH FACTS AND FIGURES
WHICH HELP US DRAW THE LANDSCAPE OF THE
WORLD AS IT ONCE WAS.
TANGIBLE AND INTANGIBLE
HERITAGE

•CULTURAL HERITAGE CAN BE

CATEGORIZED AS
EITHER TANGIBLE OR INTANGIBLE.
TANGIBLE
•TANGIBLE MEANS PERCEPTIBLE, TOUCHABLE,
CONCRETE, OR PHYSICAL. A TANGIBLE
HERITAGE IS A PHYSICAL ARTIFACT OR OBJECT
SIGNIFICANT TO THE ARCHAEOLOGY,
ARCHITECTURE, SCIENCE, OR TECHNOLOGY OF
A SPECIFIC CULTURE.
OBJECTS THAT CAN BE STORED ARE INCLUDED IN THIS
CATEGORY, SUCH AS:
•TRADITIONAL CLOTHING,
•UTENSILS (E.G. BEADWORK, WATER VESSELS),
•VEHICLES (E.G. THE OX WAGON),
•DOCUMENTS (E.G. CODES, LAWS, LAND TITLES, LITERATURE),
AND
•PUBLIC WORKS AND ARCHITECTURE BUILT AND
CONSTRUCTED BY A CULTURAL GROUP (E.G. BUILDINGS,
HISTORICAL PLACES, MONUMENTS, TEMPLES, GRAVES,
ROADS, BRIDGES).
INTANGIBLE HERITAGE
•INTANGIBLE IS THE OPPOSITE OF TANGIBLE.
UNLIKE TANGIBLE HERITAGE, AN INTANGIBLE
HERITAGE IS NOT A PHYSICAL OR CONCRETE
ITEM. INTANGIBLE HERITAGE IS THAT WHICH
EXISTS INTELLECTUALLY IN THE CULTURE.
INTANGIBLE HERITAGE INCLUDES:
•SONGS,
•MYTHS,
•BELIEFS,
•SUPERSTITIONS,
•ORAL POETRY,
•STORIES, AND
•VARIOUS FORMS OF TRADITIONAL KNOWLEDGE SUCH AS
ETHNOBOTANICAL KNOWLEDGE.
THREATS TO TANGIBLE AND INTANGIBLE
HERITAGE
•THERE WAS A TIME IN CONTEMPORARY HISTORY WHEN
MUSEUMS WERE IN CONSTANT SEARCH AND IN A HURRY
TO LOOK FOR HISTORICAL MATERIALS TO DISPLAY. DUE
TO THE INCREASE IN DEMAND FOR CULTURAL
MATERIALS, OPPORTUNISTS SAW THIS AS AN AVENUE TO
EARN MONEY. THEY INVENTED MATERIALS AND CLAIMED
THAT THESE WERE EXCAVATED OR UNEARTHED AND
WERE ONCE OWNED BY A CULTURAL GROUP.
•DOCUMENTS WHOSE AUTHENTICITY ARE YET TO BE
DETERMINED INCLUDE THE HITLER DIARIES, CRYSTAL SKULLS
OF MESOAMERICA (TANGIBLE), AND THE STATUS OR STORY
OF SAINT NICHOLAS' COMPANION, BLACK PETER
(INTANGIBLE).
•AUTHENTICITY OR TRUTHFULNESS OF ORIGIN, ATTRIBUTES,
AND INTENTIONS OF CULTURAL HERITAGE ARE ONE OF THE
ISSUES CONCERNING THE SOURCES OF OUR CULTURE.
•ASIDE FROM AUTHENTICITY ISSUES, PRESERVATION, OR THE
ACT OF MAKING A CULTURAL HERITAGE LAST AND EXIST, IS
PRESERVATION OF CULTURAL HERITAGE
•PRESERVATION OR THE ACT OF MAKING A CULTURAL
HERITAGE LAST AND EXIST SHOULD BE A TOP
PRIORITY OF THE GOVERNMENT.
•IN COMPARISON TO INTANGIBLE HERITAGE, TANGIBLE HERITAGE
POSSESSES QUALITIES AND PROPERTIES WHICH MAKE IT EASIER
TO RECOVER AND PRESERVE. DESPITE THIS, IT IS NOTEWORTHY
THAT THEY REMAIN SUSCEPTIBLE TO PERISHING OVER TIME
ESPECIALLY IF NOT GIVEN PROPER ATTENTION.
PRESERVATION OF CULTURAL HERITAGE

•THE GOVERNMENT SHOULD WORK ON IMPLEMENTING AND

ENRICHING EXISTING NATIONAL POLICIES, PROJECTS,
TRAINING, AND RESEARCHES PROMOTING THE
PRESERVATION OF OUR CULTURAL HERITAGE. IT IS TRUE
THAT INTANGIBLE HERITAGE IS HARDER TO PRESERVE, BUT
IT SHOULD STILL BE GIVEN EQUAL ATTENTION LIKE WHAT IS
GIVEN TO TANGIBLE HERITAGE.
•EACH NATION SHOULD TAKE PART IN
MAINTAINING CULTURAL IDENTITY AND
MAKING IT A VITAL DRIVING FORCE FOR
SOCIAL PROGRESS. THIS OBJECTIVE IS CITED
IN THE CONVENTION ON THE PROTECTION OF
THE ORAL AND INTANGIBLE HERITAGE OF
HUMANITY.
•ACCORDING TO UNESCO, “HERITAGE IS OUR LEGACY
FROM THE PAST, WHAT WE LIVE WITH TODAY, AND
WHAT WE PASS ON TO FUTURE GENERATIONS. OUR
CULTURAL AND NATURAL HERITAGE ARE BOTH
IRREPLACEABLE SOURCES OF LIFE AND INSPIRATION.”
INDEED, WHATEVER WE HAD YESTERDAY IS OUR
PRESENT, AND WHATEVER WE MAKE OUT OF IT WILL
BE THE FOUNDATION OF OUR FUTURE. WE BETTER
ENSURE THAT IT IS WELL TAKEN CARE OF.