Universalism/Particularism
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In a more universalistic culture, most people will presume that rules and values are more important than their own needs or those of their friends and family. In universalistic cultures, the rules apply equally to everyone. If there are any exceptions, then the rules will become useless.
For example, in a country that has a prodominantly universalistic culture, if a police officer catches her father speeding, he will have to pay a fine, even though the officer is his daughter.
The more universalistic cultures don't think that their friends and family are unimportant, it's just that the law is regarded as being more important.
However, in a more particularistic culture, human relationships are considered to be more important than rules. Also, if a person is in a difficult situation the law can be overlooked. The emphasis is on the spirit of the law rather than the letter of the law.
There are rules and laws in particularistic cultures, but their purpose is to demonstrate how people should treat each other.
Do you think that your culture is more universalistic or more particularistic? Have you ever expeienced a culture that was the oppsite?
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7 comments:
Schapelle Corby...everyone wanted her to get off even though we ourselves don't know whether she is guilty or not.
I think my nature is more Universalistic than Particualristic, but as I've grown in my understanding of God, and live in love, I have a greater ballance of Particularism. I would say that on a whole, young aussies are particularistic. Church culture tends toward the other way
Had an experience of this this morning. I'm sick at the moment, and it was really hard to get to sleep last night, so I ended up sleeping in, and having to rush to get the bus. Had to go to the ATM on the way to get some money out (my Centrelink money came through today) and didn't have time to buy anything so I'd have change for the bus.
So I got on the bus and asked the driver if he had change of $50.
He didn't say anything to I handed him a $50 note, at which he shouted, 'You've gotta be bloody joking!' and ranted a bit about how they have a sign saying they don't take notes bigger than $5.
I explained that I'd just gotten paid, and that if I'd gone to get change I would've missed the bus and been even later for my class. He repeated that they weren't suppoed to take notes larger than $5.
So I said, 'Well, open the door and let me off.'
So he said, 'Don't worry about it!'
So in the end particularism won, but he wasn't happy about it.
Hey Trav, regarding what you were saying about 'our' culture being 'bad' in both of the dimensions I've covered so far: Communitarianism and universalism aren't necessarily good; individualism and particularism aren't necessarily bad.
For example, in the case of individualism/communitarianism, we need to promote personal freedom and responsibility. But we don't want to degenerate into egocentrism or force compromise, so we have to get individuals to work for consensus in the interest of the group. But we need to avoid conformism and slow decision-making, so we have to promote personal freedom and responsibility.
I'll use the Warrnambool mission as an example of universalism/particularism.
Froma more universalist perspective, we could say, 'In the 1950s we had ran a childrens holidays progarm with puppets and clowns and Sunday school songs, and that worked, so we should always to that. Anything that's any different won't work.'
However, from a more particularist point of view, we might say, 'Um, I don't think teenagers in particular like the puppets and clowns. Maybe we should try something different for this particular group?'
We might come up with some different way of doing mission among teenagers - which may end up being used universally.
yeah particularistic, circumstances are often taken into account in things
Just been reading in the paper how more than 2400 speed camera fines dished out to police have been written off in two years. So yep I think that makes us particularistic.
That is a poor understanding and explanation of particularism and universalism.
An Australian ought to be particularly able to understand universalism vs. particularism but sadly this is not so, in this instance at least.
Take the situation with people who are native to Australia. Another group came in and determined that their set of laws and perspectives ought to be seen as universal. Of course there is no such thing as a a universal perspective, and few things such as universal rights. Universalism was made popular during the colonial period just because of that, one could claim rights that they did not have and thus claim the legacy of others, force others to live in conditions that were not "universal" at all, but beneficial to one's own interests. That is the thing: universalism has been most often used as a ploy to tell people they did not have the rights to their culture, kinship, history, perspectives, etc. while the dominant peoples were able to call their own culture, kinship, history and overall perspectives "universal".
Particularism does not, as you claim, call for unfairness. Quite the opposite. It calls for all things to be taken into account and respected, in a just manner.
The word Particularism may never gain the same currency as universalism because universalism has carried the day, 500 years and counting of domination, oppression, and so forth. It's most devastating trick has been to convince others to shed their perspectives, their identity, their patrimony.
Today however, in the era of consumerism and the emergence of new forms of tribalism, the poison has seeped into the hand of the one who originally administered it. The whites, the Christians, the traditionalists, etc. finds himself being told that their identity is no good, their beliefs are no good, their traditions are no good and that they must surrender all that is theirs and take on the new moral-free, identity-less forms of behavior.
To some there may seem to be justice in the irony. I believe that it just compounds the original sins that universalism caused in the first place.
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