Sociological Imagination And Cultural Relativism

cultural relativism and the sociological imagination have greatly influenced the social sciences of sociology and anthropology. According to Newman, cultural relativism is defined as a “Principle that people’s beliefs and activities should be interpreted in terms of their own culture” (Newman, 2017, p. 462). As humans, we view the principle of cultural relativism as a challenge, due to the fact we’re confronted with cultures or beliefs that conflict with our own. For example, in modern France, there is a restriction on Islamic women wearing headscarves in public. To the French, banning headscarves is important because it helps to maintain a secular society and gender equality. Individuals with different cultural backgrounds feel imposed upon ultimately because they feel a sense of pride within their own ethnicity, causing great controversy among the Muslim community in …show more content…
This implies that people may look at their shortcomings as social issues and connect their own individual experiences with the workings of society. According to Newman, “The sociological imagination enables us to understand the larger historical picture and its meaning in our own lives” (Newman, 2017, p. 10). The sociological imaginations allow for people to distinguish between personal troubles and public issues. For example, unemployment can be an extremely negative experience and feelings of personal failure begin to emerge. According to Newman, “Being unemployed is not a character flaw or personal failure if a significant number of people in one’s community are also unemployed. As long as the economy is arranged so that employees are easily replaced or slumps inevitably occur, the social problem of unemployment cannot be solved at a personal level” (Newman, 2017, p. 11). The two concepts of cultural relativism and the sociological imagination allows people to have a better understanding of the social