I think the simplified statement that all cultures are equal (or that there aren’t superior cultures) is a reaction to popular believes in Europe and the US (mainly from the 17th to the 20th Century) that the European culture is vastly superior to all others, and that it is therefore right and good that Europe dominates “inferior” cultures. Which had also been used to justify chattel slavery of African people in specific.
I would agree with Neon though that there are better or worse aspects to cultures and that it is right to criticize them and want to change them to a degree. I think it’s best to look at ones own culture first though and see what we can improve there. Neon brings up LGBT rights, and that is a good example where things have gotten a lot better for people just in the last 10 years in the west. Most recently things like marriage inequality being addressed. But in many western countries LGBT people would be put in jail not even 30 years ago, and forced sterilization was a thing as well. Legalized racial Apartheid in the United States only ended a bit over 50 years ago. So if our own society was so wrong and immoral so recently, what else are we wrong and immoral about right now that we might not even notice.
The example of the executions of LGBT people by the Saudi regime is also a good one, I would agree that this regime (that rightly or wrongly sees itself legitimized by a certain culture) is immoral. Yet in many ways their evil condoned or even financed by Europe and America, and politically they are an ally, does our culture have any culpability if it enables the evil of another culture? The same can be said about the Apartheid state of Israel, the subjugation of the Palestinian people is in parts financed with US money, is that something our culture condones?
It’s a tricky subject, and I get where the all cultures are equal idea comes from, but like Neon said that is not true categorically, it’s much more nuanced, and there are better and worse aspects to certain cultures.
Maybe you can have a discussion with your professor about what that means to her exactly, and what she bases her opinions on, that might be fruitful.
I'd be interested to hear an update, it's an interesting topic for sure. I wonder if she has some more theories behind to back up the relatively simplistic assertions or if it is just an empty phrase to her.
I don't disagree with a lot of this which is why the idea Eon propagates is so silly. You have many variables which mean overall comparisons are impossible and subjective. Of course you are ;(
If you want to challenge her and see how she responds you could phrase it in a way that you might suspect she disagrees with. So for example you could say, do you think that the peaceful culture of the Native Americans is morally equal to that of the American settlers that killed them and took their land, while instituting chattel slavery?
That would be somewhat provocative, I'd be interested to hear her reply, but you could also go at it in a milder manner and give more varied examples.
Well, you don't need to be confrontational, you could just say "I didn't quite understand the point" give your example and ask her to clarify and explain what she meant.
And if people jump in you can just listen, you don't have to engage, wouldn't be ideal.
Yeah, I mean you must gauge how comfortable you are revealing any of your politics, and how worried you are that you might get repercussions for it. If she's a good teacher that should not be the case, but of course that's not necessarily how things always go. I do think you can go about it without revealing your own politics, but it's up to you really. You could also maybe just email her and ask her what that means exactly, I mean she is there to teach you stuff.
Depending on the department you can usually find some bias in one way or another that is true. You generally don't have to worry that they are too left wing economically though, lol. Idk, try to get what you can out of it, I guess, a lot of information you get in academia is pretty good, and I think in many ways, especially when talking about the social sciences, it's more the material that makes people view things a bit more left compared to their conservative surroundings, which I don't think is a bad thing, per se. And if you look at like economics departments, you can find a lot of right wingers or libertarians there as well. But I get what you mean, since everything is framed in a culture war kind of way it is difficult now to bear disagreement and that's the same for university lectures, who may see things in a very ideological way and may forget that their job is helping people learn through that partisan lens.
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Jan 3rd, 2021 11:15 PM
