What is cultural relativism and how did it challenge older anthropological theories?

Cultural relativism is the anthropological principle that there are no objective, universal criteria by which to rank cultures as "higher" or "lower." Instead, it posits that all cultures should be understood as equally capable of fulfilling the needs of their members and that each represents a unique development shaped by its own specific history, environment, and social circumstances.123

Challenging Older Theories

Cultural relativism, championed by Franz Boas and his students, fundamentally challenged the 19th-century school of cultural evolutionism in several key ways:

• Rejection of Unilinear Hierarchies: Older theories often arranged societies on a single, hierarchical ladder from "savagery" to "civilization." Relativists argued this framework was ethnocentric, as it used the standards of Western societies to judge others as inferior.14
• Decoupling Race and Culture: Many 19th-century evolutionists were influenced by racist assumptions, linking biological "race" to cultural capacity. Boasians demonstrated that there is no scientific connection between race and the ability to create culture, asserting that cultural differences are the result of historical events rather than biological destiny.14
• Focus on Particularism: Rather than seeking universal laws of cultural development, relativists emphasized particularism—the idea that each culture must be studied as a holistic, unique product of its own history and local context.25