This section of the document focuses on moving beyond cultural relativism
The diverse cultures that exist in the world today embody different ways of perceiving and interacting with the world. Humanity is gradually maturing beyond the notion that some ‘advanced’ and ‘civilized’ cultures carry the burden of ‘civilizing’ others. Most thoughtful people agree that cultural imperialism, or the domination of one culture by another, can no longer be condoned or enabled. Along with a growing appreciation for local knowledge, people everywhere are gaining greater understanding of the strength and richness that comes from cultural diversity, much like the genetic diversity that we treasure in the natural world and view as a common trust.
There are, however, certain beliefs or practices in every culture that are prejudicial towards, or are in some way harmful to, particular groups, especially women and girls who often occupy the most vulnerable positions in society. Cultural relativism, the view that all cultural practices and beliefs are equally valid, has gained prominence in recent times and has certain value. But when cultural relativism is elevated as the sole lens through which we view cultures, it provides no means of overcoming oppressive aspects of cultures, no means of addressing the injustices that are frequently carried out in the name of tradition, culture, and often religion, and no means of creating more just and equitable societies. Taken to the extreme, cultural relativism denies the possibility of any universal moral standards. It can also be used as an excuse for inaction to prevent injustice or, more seriously, as a defense for action that is objectively harmful to certain groups. This kind of approach has in many circumstances led to a moral void, and a paralysis of will, that has allowed for the perpetuation of injustices.
[to see more work from Kimia Kline click here]
engendering equality 
Since the “oppressive aspects of cultures” are most frequently embedded in religion how can we go about changing them without seeming to attack that religion?
This is a great question Meg and how does one go about sorting this out? On one hand you have the belief in universality of moral principles and on the other you have religious traditions and cultural particularlism.
I know that one can come up with examples of outdated cultural norms that have changed for the better (even just thinking about social injustice over the last few centuries you can pull out examples of ‘traditional/cultural’ ways of life that have been changed – things like slavery, universal suffrage, injustice directed towards women, and even nepotism). I share the same question of at what point is an injustice an injustice, no matter what the cultural/traditional dressings it may be cloaked in?
Pingback: Cultural Relativism? « engendering equality
This part of the document demonstrates one of my favorite concepts in Baha’i-inspired discourse. In my social justice coursework, I ran into a good amount of radical literature (A good example is “Grassroots Postmodernism”) in which the authors equate the idea of universal values with cultural imperialism. Some have said that the notion of “human rights” is an insidious way of imposing one culture’s version of civilization on another. I particularly love how this passage acknowledges cultural relativism’s usefulness while still highlighting the truth that without a universal moral standard, there can be no concept of justice. I also like how it qualifies that every culture has aspects that promote oppression, and these aspects need to be changed. It helps emphasize that while it’s necessary to condemn some aspects of culture, there isn’t one culture on earth that be held up as an example of the right way to do things.
I always find it interesting how selective we can be about the ‘cultural imports’ that bother us – hardly anyone, anywhere ever seems to complain about how gunpowder, or silk or cocoa beans or mobile phones or cars have changed their culture.
In the West there’s a paranoia about the influence of Islam, in the East there’s a paranoia about the influence of the West, everywhere outside Europe and North America there’s a widespread view that human rights are a Western construct etc etc – and still nobody ever complains to the Chinese about gunpowder…