Cultural appropriation

The term cultural appropriation describes a process in which individual elements from one culture are taken out of their actual social, cultural or spiritual context and are incorporated into another culture. Cultural appropriation is based on the different positions of power in the respective cultures. The culture, which is appropriated, tends to have a lower social and cultural status, have fewer resources and be affected by discrimination. Conversely, the culture that appropriates something tends to be the dominant society and can profit financially and symbolically from cultural appropriation.

A topical example is yoga. The philosophical teaching originates from India and constitutes far more than the sport and fitness elements practiced in Western countries for their health benefits. While people perceived as Indian are the target of racism and discrimination in Western countries, White people dominate today’s world of yoga for their own monetary or social benefit.

A further example involves wearing certain symbols for which a colonized population was punished and which can still lead to discrimination and othering today. This is the case, for example, with hairstyles of people of color, some of whom are still looked down on and subject to racism, but are now being adopted uncritically by descendants of the colonial powers, ignorant of the historical and current dimensions.

Source: IDA-NRW; Susanne Peters (2020)