Cultural Relativity and Globalization

Going into this last blog post, I again don’t have a clue what Cultural Relativity and Globalization is about and how it related to technology ethics. After browsing the internet to find articles I can say that I am more familiarized. Khan Academy defines Cultural relativism to not judging a culture to our own standards of what is right or wrong, strange or normal. Instead, we should try to understand cultural practices of other groups in its own cultural context. 

GuangXIA refers to globalization as a “process by which humans and human creations move around the globe; in this process, people from different cultures are connected and interact with each other. Globalization so defined is not unfamiliar to humanity – it is part of human history even in premodern times, and it goes hand in hand with modernity.”

Esikot(2012) says, “While, globalization seeks to assimilate cultures, relativism insists on the disparate commitments of cultures and the defense of specific cultural identities and uniqueness. Globalization is thus a threat.”

From these three articles, I found and highlighted some of the important concepts, I can relate some of my learning back to my education background. In my education classes, we have talked a lot about culturally relevant and responsive teaching. With both of those pedagogies, you see the student as a whole person rather than a vessel for learning. After reading these articles more in depth I believe these two concepts go hand in hand.