Cultural assimilation

George Sand’s Indiana and Mikhail Lermontov’s A Hero of Our Time interrogate the conflict between individual and collective identity in the nineteenth century through presenting the individual as a site of ambiguity and hybridity that disrupts the supposed coherence and homogeneity of the collective identities cultivated by national and colonial power relations. Collective identity attempts to bound and border individuals within binary categories, presenting groups defined by national, ethnic,…

Ruth Benedict (1934) stated it best when she stated, “the concept of the normal is properly a variant of the concept of the good. It is that which society has approved.” Moral absolutism is the ethical belief that there are absolute standards against which moral questions can be judged, and that certain actions are right or wrong, regardless of the context of the act. Moral relativism is when there are deep and widespread moral disagreements across different societies, and these disagreements…

The Tiananmen Square Massacre of 1989 marked a significant time in Chinese history. On April 15th, students from Beijing University gathered in Tiananmen Square to mark the death of Chinese leader Hu Yaobang. The students protested and demonstrated for reform against corruption and inflation, asking that the government listen to their ideas. Several members of the Chinese government, including Deng Xiaoping (current leader of China), assumed that the protesters were attempting to overthrow the…

The Tiananmen Square protests was caused by many factors that were present after Mao Zedong’s death. The failed Great Leap Forward and the Cultural Revolution left China in a devastated state with economic and social problems in part to the failure of Communism. The Communist Party still stayed strong throughout these crises although they resulted in more deaths than the Soviet Union and the Nazi regime’s atrocities. The party elected Deng Xiaoping, who was left to lift the country back up.…

In the early 1990’s an enigmatic movement called Falungong began in mainland China and took it by storm. Its unexpected popularity took most off guard but that rapid growth in public attention also came with the scrutiny of the Chinese communist party. The Chinese communist party labeled the Falungong movement as an illegal cult so in consideration of that it became unlawful for anyone to practice Falungong. Militarized policing persecuted all of those who remained loyal to the movement. The…

a. Cultural Anthropology i. The world is a rich tapestry made of up of many different histories, traditions, and cultures. Where Social Anthropology emphasizes an understanding of social institutions and the relationships therein, Cultural Anthropology, is a study of the behaviors, language, foods, and material creations of different cultures. Cultural Anthropology provides a window into the ideas and beliefs of these cultures and the innate desire to understand the world in their own terms.…

An attribute that both generations show is strength. Both show this strength in different ways but this attribute could have been directly passed down from parent to child. The Greatest Generation showed their strength by their ability to fight a war that was on the other side of the world. They fought for other countries’ freedom fully knowing the danger of their service. Those who were left in the United States exhibited enormous amounts of strength by their resilience and ability to…

Franz Boas: An Anthropological Pioneer Often referred to as the “father of modern anthropology”, Franz Boas is best known for establishing the area of cultural anthropology. Having possessed a scientific background with a doctorate in physics, he was one of the first scientists of his day to question the beliefs behind social Darwinism and scientific racism, and try to come to an understanding regarding the differences among people and their cultures. Boas dedicated his life to the study of…

Infidel”). I believe this quote really defines what the Cultural Revolution was all about because the Cultural Revolution started with one man with a vision to shape China’s future, and that man was Mao Zedong. He wanted to spread his ideologies across China and impose his beliefs. He paved the way for the Cultural Revolution and changed the way the people in China lived for an entire decade. There were many consequences caused by the Cultural Revolution which affected China for years to come,…

foundation of his revolution the peasants (Marlay and Neher 1999). Mao instigated a reworking of Chinese society during his rule, as Mao strictly believed that change must be the constant and that revolutions must be continuous (Marlay and Neher). The Cultural Revolution weeded out opposition to Mao’s ideas and enforced the shedding of the “four olds”, old thoughts, old culture, old customs, and old habits through young teenagers (Marlay…