Question

Is cosmopolitanism something you associate with modernity? Observe and give examples of ethnocentrism.

Answer 1

Cosmopolitanism means valuing other cultures for their difference. A cosmopolitan perception is always ready to adapt to other cultures and share its own culture with others.

In this process of sharing, neither foreign culture becomes a legitimate part of one’s own culture, nor does the indigenous culture lose its base. Hence, it respects every culture.

Cosmopolitanism is associated with modernity, in the contemporary period, as it is emerging in most parts of the world. Since modernity has to deal with time, cosmopolitanism is the phenomenon of the modern world.

Ethnocentrism, on the other hand, refers to the standard cultural values that are considered more superior to that of the cultural values of others. For example, the British people were ethnocentric as they regarded the Indian culture as primitive and orthodox. Similarly, the people belonging to cities consider the people of villages inferior to them. The above examples show that unlike cosmopolitanism, ethnocentrism ranks the culture as superior or inferior.