Eurocentrism

Krajzen

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Well, are you civfanatics rabid haters of eurocentrism, like me? ;) Or maybe you think that Europe dominated the world so much, that eurocentrism is nothing ridiculous? Do you think all world cultures are equal, or some kind of White Man's Burden exists? :p

This thread is to discuss about eurocentrism, Europe in the world, or maybe underrated contributions of other cultures to the world heritage ;)

http://www.whenweruled.com/articles.php?lng=en&pg=37
 
Well, first of all, all cultures are morally equal. Attributing inferior attitudes to culture diminishes individual responsibility and dismisses the importance of political structures in that given culture, since culture doesn't embed moral viewpoints anyone considered part of that culture necessarily ascribe to. For instance Arabs are not inherently more prone to honour killings than Westerners, because the fact it is more common to Arabs simply notifies a correlation, not a casual link.

That said, European culture does have significantly more influence in popular political discourse than any other culture. Eurocentrism is arguably unavoidable, even if you aren't European.
 
Certainly a Eurocentric point of view. Talk to people is China or other East Asian countries, and I think you would get a different take. But certainly the leading European nations did a lot more exploring and colonizing, and therefore, spread their influence throughout the world than say, middle eastern countries. Add in the fact that it was a lot more people, and they were on the ocean, and it is going to happen. "Europe" is the majority of the western old world. Kind of like comparing the US to the western hemisphere (even more so).
 
Given how entrenched Polonocentrism is, I give your proposal little chance of succeeding.
 
I wonder, does Polonocentrism technically qualify as a sub-category of Afrocentrism?
 
I wonder, does Polonocentrism technically qualify as a sub-category of Afrocentrism?

I'd classify it more as an inferiority complex/narcissism hybrid, but yes.
 
This thread is to discuss about eurocentrism, Europe in the world, or maybe underrated contributions of other cultures to the world heritage

When it comes to my historical interests - I've been interested in the cultures of Pre-Columbian America. I've been reading some books on them and on North American Indians. Also I've been quite fascinated with the history of the Parthian and Sassanid Persian Empires and the Carthaginian Empire, all of which resisted Rome so well and all of which were not European. I've been interested in Chinese history and Chinese historical inventions. And also in US history.

So yes, I think that I'm not so excessively Eurocentrist. Still I am mostly Eurocentric but this is inevitable when you are European.
 
America in general is Eurocentric, Europeans by definition should be Eurocentric. That said, this forum (the vast majority of the members come from either Europe or America) seem to be far less Eurocentric and more educated than the general public.
 
America in general is Eurocentric, Europeans by definition should be Eurocentric. That said, this forum (the vast majority of the members come from either Europe or America) seem to be far less Eurocentric and more educated than the general public.

Difference between uneducated eurocentric white redneck racist and educated eurocentric bloodthirsty keyboard empire builders.
 
My first and only girlfriend had redneck parents that didn't judge my Iranian heritage. Point being just because someone is redneck and conservative (as they were) is not a guarantee they're racist. Still I get what you mean more or less.
 
Or maybe you think that Europe dominated the world so much, that eurocentrism is nothing ridiculous?
This. Respecting and not underestimating other's cultures and nations doesn't imply to diminish your own's accomplishment.

Europe won a Domination victory. Suck it up, rest of the world :D
 
Nope - we didn't conquer China and Japan at all, and before we captured their capitals other conquered civs rebelled :p :p :p

The closest civs to domination victory were England and Mongolia,
science victory - China was leader here for most of the history, currently America/Europe is winning, but East Asia is close and reaching Alfa Centauri seems really far away, so who know which country will win science victory :lol:
Giving the brilliant absurdity of our Universe, it would be pretty normal for Poland to achieve science victory and definitely proving that it can into space :lol:

diplomatic victory - wtf dude? probably USA
cultural victory - Greece (intellect)/India (soul)/China (damn everything)/Japan (anime :p )/America (Pepsi & Big Mac)
 
I would describe myself as consciously eurocentric. To me, European history and culture are by far the most interesting and I don't care that much about the rest because it simply isn't that appealing/accessible.

That being said, I don't deny the non-Europeans the right to think the same about their respective cultural regions/civilizations. I am sure the Chinese find the history of their country fascinating, but to me it's all... chinese, if you get my meaning.

Well, first of all, all cultures are morally equal.

Ugh.

Attributing inferior attitudes to culture diminishes individual responsibility and dismisses the importance of political structures in that given culture, since culture doesn't embed moral viewpoints anyone considered part of that culture necessarily ascribe to. For instance Arabs are not inherently more prone to honour killings than Westerners, because the fact it is more common to Arabs simply notifies a correlation, not a casual link.

I don't think I can agree with this. I agree with the point that adherence to a culture doesn't diminish individual responsibility, but since culture to a large degree shapes behavioural patterns, one can't simply hide behind the shield of the "correlation isn't causation" mantra. After a certain point, the correlation is so strong that it cannot be ignored.

Example: an island culture where infanticide is a perfectly common, accepted form of population control deeply embedded in the local culture, which in order to survive needed to find ways to prevent overpopulation and the resulting overconsumption of natural resources.

Now people coming from this cultural background are settled in a European-culture country where infanticide is seen as a grave crime, a murder most foul. Friction is bound to occur when women coming from the island culture kill their unwanted newborns as is customary among their people. Since laws of the European-culture country are shaped by its adherence to European culture, these women will be considered murderers and face high prison sentences, or perhaps even life without parole.

Clearly, correlation is causation, or very close to it in this simplified example.

That said, European culture does have significantly more influence in popular political discourse than any other culture. Eurocentrism is arguably unavoidable, even if you aren't European.

Agreed.
 
When other people have done as much as the Western world has, they can get their centrism. Until then, good luck. Eurocentrism is the sexy vampire of worldviews.
 
Nope - we didn't conquer China and Japan at all, and before we captured their capitals other conquered civs rebelled :p :p :p
I didn't say "conquest victory", I said "domination", and Europe managed it by a wide margin.
 
I didn't say "conquest victory", I said "domination", and Europe managed it by a wide margin.

Europe is a bunch of civs, not just one. Otherwise we could say that Eurasia won a domination victory, or Afro-Eurasia, or the whole planet.
 
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