Cultural Relativism

Development of Cultural Relativism

Anthropologist Franz Boas is credited with initially developing the notion of cultural relativism at the turn of the 19th century to counter what he saw as the [Page 362]observer bias of Western anthropologists who used their own cultural values and practices to judge the cultural mores of non-Western societies.

Boas argued that the causes of observed ethnological phenomena are embedded in the specific cultural context of the societies being studied. It is fallacious to assume that seemingly similar ethnological phenomena observed across different cultures must have developed from the same cause and in the same manner and therefore can be compared, he said. In fact, the simpler the ethnic phenomena being observed, the more likely they developed from different sources, Boas argued. He gave the example of the use of masks, which is found in many cultures but has many different origins. In some cases, masks are used to ward off evil spirits; in others, the mask represents the spirit that is personified by the wearer; still other masks are commemorative. In all cases, understanding the culture of the society is critical in understanding the true significance of these phenomena.

Thus, to Boas, the key was cultural contextualization and historical particularism. In opposition to the comparative method that was popular at the time, he was in favor of a slow and detailed study of cultural phenomena in relation to the total culture of the tribe or society practicing it, in order to understand the historical causes that led to the formation of the phenomena in question. Only once these true causes had been isolated could any comparisons be conducted, Boas believed, and comparisons should be restricted to an investigation of the geographical distribution of comparable phenomena among neighboring tribes.

As a reaction against the earlier ethnocentric work of Western anthropologists who indiscriminately contrasted and judged foreign cultures based on a superficial understanding of their cultural practices and an inherent notion of Western cultural superiority, cultural relativism became a popular epistemological and methodological technique. Boas and his students, including Margaret Mead, Melville Herskovits, and Ruth Benedict, applied cultural relativism extensively in their work, and today it is considered one of anthropology's greatest contributions to the social sciences.

Crisis of Cultural Relativism

Grounded in the idea that foreign cultures are worthy of as much respect as one's own and should be treated accordingly, cultural relativism called for greater tolerance and pluralism in and across societies. It encouraged a deeper study of foreign cultures that was more consciously value neutral than had been the case in the past.

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