Cultural identity, Ethnocentrism & Cultural Relativism Overview

With issues of cultural diversity that is bring up a new understanding of local culture that has its own distinctive features and characteristics that are different from the others so it needs to be maintained. What happened next is the emergence of ethnocentrism view is a view that says that the group is the center of everything and all the other groups were compared and assessed in accordance with the standards of earlier groups. By saying that the tribes themselves who best represent the views of ethnocentrism. Ethnocentrism is a trait that could enhance the development of nationalism and patriotism of a particular nation. Without having ethnocentrism the national consciousness of a nation to maintain and improve the integration of the nation would be very difficult to achieve. In addition to the ethnocentrism is also capable of blocking the changes that come from outside either of which would destroy its own culture and society that is able to support the aims of these tribes.

Still difficult indeed to say that ethnocentrism is good or bad. What do you think? Is the development of ethnocentrism attitude is the attitude that needs to be taken by the tribal population? But the most important thing that the cultural diversity that exists in Indonesia is that we must not only understand the behavior of other groups to compare their own customs and cultural behaviors. Cultural relativism must be developed in view of the cultural diversity that exists in Indonesia. Cultural relativism capable of describing the fact that the function and meaning of an element of culture depends on the cultural environment was developed.

For example, the Eskimo tribes have always used a thick clothes because living in a very cold pole. The concept of cultural relativism does not mean that all traditions have the same value also does not know that certain habits must have hurt. In some places some of the patterns of behavior may be detrimental but in other places such patterns may have some purpose in their culture and society will suffer no such pattern unless there is a replacement. In the local context Indonesiaan, where the pattern of religious life of the diverse and plural cultural relativism is one of the best ways to get to the attitude of wisdom and tact in seeing the cultural differences.

On the one hand, man has saved the forms of different cultures living in the past but at the same time, there is strong scientific intention to refusal to accept the perception of homogenization. Cultural relativism, many times, taking the form of ethnocentrism, where for example we believe that our understanding of the known art is the most beautiful and the values ​​it the most sublime. It is inevitable that the culture is known to mediate and limit our perception of things. Culture needs to be understood as outside food, art and music and religion, it is the full amount of mental and physical reactions and activities. Mental and physical reactions characterize our behavior and of the general characterization that we form social groups, with each individual continues to be exclusively 'himself'.