Hoe does ethnocentricity cause conflict?

March 22, 2011

Hoe does ethnocentricity cause conflict?

Ethnocentricity causes conflict because one lets their own culture influence their judgements on other people instead of accepting and embracing cultural differences. In the movie the First Australians, the British people accused the Aboriginals of being savage and barbaric, because they didn't wear clothes. The British let their own cultural difference lead them to a conclusion of the Aboriginals being untamed. The Aboriginals in this movie were less ethnocentric because it is part of their cultural values to accept other people regardless of their differences. As a race, the Aboriginals are more open with each other and close to one another. This caused them to think that the British were strange because they were not as open as they were. In western culture, it is a common practice to explore and take over others' land. When the British came and colonized australia, the Aboriginals were speechless because they already had their own set of functioning borders and the British completely disregarded them. Both parties evaluated one another through they eyes of their culture, which resulted in conflict. The British felt they were superior to the first Australians and proceeded to take by force. In the Rabbits, the British took over the Aboriginals land, destroying it ruining it. The Aboriginals fought back to keep their land, but the British had the advantage of advanced warfare and wiped out most of the Aboriginals. This horrible conflict could have been stopped if each culture was more welcoming to the other and treated their differences with respect. Also, the conflict could have been avoided by the Aboriginals and British talking about their differences and their problems. If that had taken place, the cultural dispute might have been settled in a less disastrous way.