eurocentrism
eurocentrism — noun
1. a way of understanding the world that places European culture, history, and valu
a way of understanding the world that places European culture, history, and values at the centre, treating them as the normal standard against which all other cultures are judged, while often ignoring or undervaluing non-European perspectives.
Jabari's history class covered only European wars and rulers, which he felt was a clear example of eurocentrism.
eurocentrism as institutional bias in curriculum
Diya argued that the museum displayed African masks as exotic objects rather than fine art, revealing a deep eurocentrism.
The novel was praised for challenging eurocentrism by telling world history through the eyes of a Chinese merchant.
International aid programmes designed without local input often suffer from eurocentrism, failing to meet real needs.
Scholars have criticised the eurocentrism of traditional art histories that treat European movements as the central story.
- ethnocentrism
broader term — refers to any ethnic or cultural group seeing itself as central; eurocentrism is a specific kind of ethnocentrism focused on Europe
- western-centrism
overlapping but broader — includes North America and other Western societies alongside Europe
- cultural imperialism
more active and political — implies the deliberate imposition of one culture over others
- cultural relativism
the view that each culture should be understood on its own terms without using another culture as the standard
文法句型
eurocentrism + of + noun phrase
用法筆記
Unlike related nouns such as 'ethnocentrism', eurocentrism specifically refers to a European-centred bias rather than any group's self-centred perspective. Frequently appears in academic writing about postcolonialism, global history, and cultural studies.
常見錯誤
eurocentrism — adjective
- eurocentrismpositive
- more eurocentrismcomparative
- most eurocentrismsuperlative
1. reflecting or based on a view of the world that treats Europe as the central or
reflecting or based on a view of the world that treats Europe as the central or most important point of reference.
Nadia criticised the Eurocentric focus of the conference, which invited no speakers from Asian or African universities.
Eurocentric focus — adjective describing a bias in selection
Sora's research examined the Eurocentric assumptions in early psychology studies that treated European minds as the universal standard.
The committee worked to identify and remove Eurocentric language from the global studies curriculum.
Henrik noticed a Eurocentric bias in the way the documentary presented each country's technological achievements.
- Eurocentric
the standard adjective form — identical in meaning but more widely used and idiomatic
- Europe-centred
more transparent in structure; less common in academic writing
- non-Eurocentric
the direct negation, used to describe approaches that avoid European-centred assumptions
文法句型
Eurocentric + noun (adjective modifying a noun)
用法筆記
This adjective form is relatively uncommon in modern English. The form 'Eurocentric' (adjective) is far more frequent and natural: 'a Eurocentric worldview' rather than 'a eurocentrism worldview'. The attributive noun use of 'eurocentrism' as an adjective is accepted mainly in academic or critical writing.