Culture-Supremacy: Expressions, Sources, and Resistance to a Psychology of Motivated Ignorance

Thomas Teo

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Chapter 17 Culture-Supremacy: Expressions, Sources, and Resistance to a Psychology of Motivated Ignorance

In: Research in the Social Scientific Study of Religion, Volume 32

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Thomas Teo

Thomas Teo
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Type:: Chapter

Pages:: 323–340

DOI:: https://doi.org/10.1163/9789004505315_019

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Abstract

On the background of ethnocentrism, the lack of knowledge and experiences, and the a priori assumption that one’s culture is not only the standard or norm but at the apex of a historically constituted or imagined hierarchy, the expressions of culture-supremacy are discussed. Although culture-centrism afflicts every culture, with every context having a limited horizon as part of mainstream ideology, culture-supremacy entails reinforcing that status quo, using economic, military, ideological, practical, institutional, and academic power, and without knowing or caring about other cultures. It is argued that intersectionality is not only expressed in terms of oppression but also in terms of supremacy, reflecting the nexus between culture, race, religion, nationality, and country of origin, and that culture can easily become a substitute for biological discourses. Expressions and other phenomena of culture-supremacy and its motivated ignorance are discussed, as are its sources that include hierarchical thinking, quantification, and ranking. Culture-supremacy in the discipline of psychology is debated. Suggestions for combatting culture-supremacy, including the practices of solidarity and agape, are proposed, while it is emphasized that resistance cannot be reduced to individual activities and that it is equally important to work on interpersonal, societal, and economic conditions.

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Research in the Social Scientific Study of Religion, Volume 32

Lesser Heard Voices in Studies of Religion

Series: Research in the Social Scientific Study of Religion, Volume: 32

Cover Research in the Social Scientific Study of Religion, Volume 32

E-Book ISBN:: 9789004505315

Publisher:: Brill

Print Publication Date:: 12 Apr 2022

Subjects
- Religious Studies
- Social Sciences
  - Religion & Society

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Open Section

Edited by

Ralph W. Hood and Sariya Cheruvallil-Contractor

Special section 1 Religion or Belief in Higher Education

Edited

by Sariya Cheruvallil-Contractor

Special section 2 Cultural Blindness in Psychology

Edited by

Louise Sundararajan

Special section 3 Religious Authority in Practice in Contemporary Evangelical, Charismatic and Pentecostal Christianity

Edited by

Maren Freudenberg, Martin Radermacher and Sebastian Schüler

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Chapter 17 Culture-Supremacy: Expressions, Sources, and Resistance to a Psychology of Motivated Ignorance

Abstract

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Research in the Social Scientific Study of Religion, Volume 32

Lesser Heard Voices in Studies of Religion

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