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ETHNOCENTRISM
The assumption that the culture of one's own group is moral, right and rational and that other cultures are inferior. When confronted with a different culture, individuals judge it with reference to their own standards and make no attempt to understand and evaluate it from the perspective of its members. Sometimes ethnocentrism will be combined with racism, the belief that individuals can be classified into distinct racial groups and that that there is a biologically-based hierarchy of these races. In principle, however, one can reject a different culture without in any way assuming the inherent inferiority of its members. See: RACISM / XENOPHOBIA / .

Last updated 2002--0-9-


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Athabaca University ICAAP

© Robert Drislane, Ph.D. and Gary Parkinson, Ph.D.
The online version of this dictionary is a product of
Athabasca University and
ICAAP

*This social science dictionary has 1000
entries covering the disciplines of sociology, criminology, political
science and women's study with a commitment to Canadian examples and
events and names