Introducing Society 4 · Section 9

by their speech, dress codes, preference for particular kind of music or the manner in which they interact with their group members. Sub-cultural groups can also function as cohesive units which impart an identity to all group members. Within such groups there can be leaders and followers but group members are bound by the purpose of the group and work together to achieve their objectives. For instance young members of a neighbourhood can form a club to engage themselves in sports and other constructive activities.

Such activities create a positive image of the members in the locality and this gives the members not only a positive self- image but also inspires them to perform better in their activities. The orientation of their identity as a group undergoes a transformation. The group is able to differentiate itself from other groups and thereby create its own identity through the acceptance and recognition of the neighbourhood. cultural values projected as the standard or norm are considered superior to that of the beliefs and values of other cultures.

We have seen in Chapter and in Chapter (particularly in the discussion on religion) how sociology is an empirical and not a normative discipline. Underlying ethnocentric compari- sons is a sense of cultural superiority clearly demonstrated in colonial situations. Thomas Babbington Macaulay’s famous Minute on Education ( ) to the East India Company in India exemplifies ethnocentrism when he says, ‘We must at present do our best to form a class who may be interpreters between us and the millions whom we govern, a class of persons Indian in blood and colour but English in tastes, in opinions, morals and intellect’ (quoted in Mukherji / : ), (emphasis added). Ethnocentrism is the opposite of cosmopolitanism, which values other cultures for their difference.

A cosmopolitan outlook does not seek to evaluate the values and beliefs of other people according to one’s own. It celebrates and accommodates different cultural propensities within its fold and promotes cultural exchange and borrowings to enrich one’s own culture. The English language has emerged as a leading vehicle of international communication through its constant inclusion of foreign words into its vocabulary. Again the popularity of Hindi film music can be attributed to its borrowings from western pop music as well as from different traditions of Activity Are you aware of any sub-cultural group in your locality?

How are you able to identify them? Ethnocentrism It is only when cultures come into contact with one another that the question of ethnocentrism arises. Ethnocentrism is the application of one’s own cultural values in evaluating the behaviour and beliefs of people from other cultures. This means that the