For most of human history, societies have been smaller than the nations of today, and most people have interacted only with members of their own society. Under such circumstances, the role of ethnocentrism in helping a society to survive by motivating its members to support one another in their common goals has probably outweighed its negative aspects. However, ethnocentrism definitely has a darker side. It is a direct barrier to understanding among peoples of diverse customs and values. It enhances enmity between societies and can be a motivation for conflict among peoples whose lives are guided by different cultures.
Ethnocentrism stands in fundamental conflict with the goals of anthropology: the recognition of the common humanity of all human beings and the understanding of the causes of cultural differences. To many students, much of the appeal of the field of anthropology has been its intriguing discussions of the unending variety of customs grown out of what, from the viewpoint of the uninitiated, may seem like strange and exotic, unexpected, and even startlingly different values. A people’s values generally make perfectly good sense when seen and explained in the context of their cultural system as a whole. Yet, it is often difficult to make sense out of another cultural tradition because its symbolic meanings may be so different from one’s own. While negative reactions to the customs of another society may, therefore, be expected, they should be guarded against by the student of anthropology.
3. Culture Shock
Anthropologists who engage in fieldwork in a culture that differs from the one in which they grew up often experience a period of disorientation or even depression known as culture shock before they become acclimatized to their new environment. Even tourists who travel for only a short time outside their own nations may experience culture shock, and unless they are prepared for its impact, they may simply transform their own distress into a motive for prejudice against their host society.
4. Groups
Every human society is a group, whose members perceive their common identity because of the culture that binds them together. All human societies that have been studied subdivide into smaller groups that coalesce from time to time for specialized activities. Such groups have geographical boundaries, specifiable members, a common activity engaged in by members, and a division of labor. Basketball fans, for example, when scattered across the country are not a group, but spectators at a specific game are. When a group is formally organized, it may have an explicitly formulated ideology, a goal-oriented, game plan or set of procedures for carrying out the activity that brings its members together.
The members of social groups generally identify themselves symbolically with a name or some other emblem of their group identity. Commonly, the identifying emblem indicates the activity that draws the members together or represents some other important aspects of the group’s characteristics. Thus, the group identity of the United States of America is symbolized by a flag that portrays the political unity of that society’s 50 states by a group of 50 stars. The Great Seal of the United States of America contains the image of an eagle clutching an olive branch and arrows, symbols of peace and war, which suggest that the major purpose of the nation as a political entity is to maintain internal order and to defend the group. A smaller, more face-to-face group, such as a basketball team, may identify itself as a unified body by naming itself and by symbolizing its athletic purpose with some symbol of its prowess, such as a charging bull or a flying hawk.
There will also be structured relationships between groups in every society. Interactions by groups are culturally patterned, and may involve hierarchical ranking, with each group having different degrees of honor and social power. Group relationships are sometimes called the social structure of a society, to distinguish this aspect of social organization from other aspects such as individual statuses and roles. 感谢您阅读《Society 》一文，出国留学网(liuxue86.com)编辑部希望本文能帮助到您。