Even without moving into what can be described as cultural genocide it can certainly be argued that a group is destroyed already when its components, besides the physical lives of the group members, are eliminated.
As has been pointed out previously, the groups that are protected under the UNGC cannot be distinguished if there are not characteristics that make them different from surrounding peoples. Once again the works of Lemkin through the drafting of the UNGC illustrate this point. He emphasized that physical and cultural existence are one in the same insofar as an ‘attack on a group’s physical existence is also an attack on it’s cultural existence, and vice versa.’
Cultures shape the worldview people hold, the view and understanding of human rights, the reasons for protecting human rights and it also shapes one cultures fear of differing cultures. It is therefore necessary to understand what culture is and its components in order to not only reshape the concept of cultural genocide but also to provide a solid analysis of the differences between cultural genocide and cultural change. …show more content…
Reasons
The first reason why the loss of culture is of concern is that different cultures produce different experiences of reality. Many anthropologists especially in the 20th century saw culture as having a mostly unlimited power and influence in shaping humans. This school of thought can be seen in a passage from the influential American anthropologist Ruth Benedict:
No man ever looks at the world with pristine eyes. He sees it edited by a definite set of customs and institutions and ways of thinking. Even in his philosophical probing 's he cannot go behind these stereotypes...The life history of the individual is first and foremost an accommodation to the patterns and standards traditionally handed down in his community. From the moment of his birth the customs into which he is born shape his experience and behaviour. By the time he can talk, he is the little creature of his culture, and by the time he is grown and able to take part in its activities, its habits are his habits, its beliefs his