basics you need to know

Cultural appropriation vs cultural appreciation

Updated Jan 11, 2024

Cultural appropriation: you have probably heard a lot about it in the context of ethnic jewellery, but what is it, exactly? And what is the difference with cultural appreciation? This quick overview gives you the basics.

What is cultural appropriation?

Cultural appropriation refers to the adoption or use of elements of one culture by members of another culture, without proper understanding, respect, or permission.

It often involves an unequal power dynamic in which the appropriating culture has more power and privilege than the culture being appropriated. It may result in the trivialization, exoticizing or misrepresentation of the appropriated culture and its elements.

What is cultural appreciation?

Cultural appreciation refers to the respectful and informed understanding and engagement with elements of another culture. It involves learning about and gaining an understanding of the cultural context, history and significance of the elements in question, and being vocal about these.

Appreciation involves a deeper understanding and respect for other cultures, putting these cultures centrally, and amplifying their voices.

What is the main difference between appropriation and appreciation?

Basically, the difference between cultural appropriation and cultural appreciation is the context in which the elements of the culture are used, and the intent behind it.

Cultural appropriation is often done with little regard for the culture being taken from, and is exploitative or disrespectful. Think fashion houses adopting styles or motifs without acknowledging, crediting and supporting the cultures they are traditionally used in.

On the other hand, cultural appreciation is based in respect and understanding, and aimed at actively supporting the culture borrowed from.

Of course, the field of cultural appropriation is endlessly more complex than these three points. So this blog continues with the question ‘Can I wear ethnic jewellery?‘ in which I explore the difference between appropriation and appreciation further, and also discuss the role of history!

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References

An excellent start to read more is this blog, or this one.

The Atlantic discussed the difference in this article

Would you like to quote this article? Please do! Here’s how:

S. van Roode, [write the title as you see it above this post], published on the Bedouin Silver website [paste the exact link to this article], accessed on [the date you are reading this article and decided it was useful for you].