Ethnocentrism

Ethnocentrism is the process by which people understand other cultures using their own culture as the norm. The term was coined by William Graham Sumner, a late-19th-century Yale University sociology professor. Ethnocentrism involves making assumptions about other cultures based on a limited experience of them. All groups can be ethnocentric, but it is often most obvious among Western academics who privilege a Western viewpoint without acknowledging how this limits their work. Often this process involves valuing familiar cultures more than unfamiliar ones and can lead to discrimination against cultures different from one's own. People are usually not aware that they are being ethnocentric because it is very difficult to identify the assumptions on which the behavior is based. Our realities are built on our experiences, and when we have new and different experiences, it is only normal to evaluate them based on our own realities. But using the standards of one culture to judge another culture does not work. Ethnocentrism is problematic because it usually leads to misunderstandings. To study and interact with different cultures, it is necessary to develop an awareness of ethnocentrism.

Ethnocentrism is an important concept in the history of both geography and anthropology. Throughout the 19th and early 20th centuries, both disciplines tended toward ethnocentrism, and studies of non-Western cultures saw these cultures as primitive or in need of development that would make them more like Western cultures. During the mid-20th century, social scientists from both Western and non-Western cultures began to question the ethnocentric manner in which much research was carried out. To counter this trend, the concept of cultural relativism was developed so that all cultures would be treated in similar ways and not prejudged based on familiarity or difference. This theory holds that with time, patience, and an open mind, we can learn to understand other cultures as they understand themselves. Ethnography, or the study of daily life, is considered a very good way in which to counter ethnocentrism. When we study other cultures in their own context, it is easier to understand their differences from our own cultures. The concept of situated knowledge, popular in feminist geography, [Page 142]helps us to identify our particular political, economic, and social positions to better understand how and from where we produce knowledge about others.

Examples of ethnocentric behavior include seemingly innocent comments such as “the British drive on the wrong side of the road” and “the Spanish are lazy and that's why they take a siesta every day.” A good way in which to avoid ethnocentrism is to stay away from generalizations that are judgmental and do little to help understand differences in cultural practices.