Cultural Appropriation

What cultural appropriation is, how it is deployed in public discourse, and if and when it is harmful. What exactly is cultural appropriation? At one extreme are those commentators who suggest that any borrowing of elements outside of one’s own culture is cultural appropriation, and therefore, always wrong; at the other extreme, are those who argue that the history of human civilization just Patti Tamara Lenard and Peter Balint define cultural appropriation as the non-consensual, knowing (or culpably ignorant) taking of something of cultural value, usually a symbol or a practice, to others. Alleged acts of cultural appropriation generate substantial contestation in public discourse. But the fact of contestation, over whether an act is in fact cultural appropriation, is not sufficient to mean that someone has done something wrong and thereby merits criticism. The authors show that there are particular conditions--including power imbalances and potential profit at the expense of the cultural group--under which cultural appropriation is inarguably wrong, and therefore, worthy of criticism.

Product details

• Authors: Peter Balint, Patti Tamara Lenard, Lenard Patti Tamara
• Publisher: The MIT Press
• Languages: English
• Product format: Paperback / Softback
• Release: 31.03.2026
• EAN: 9780262051583
• ISBN: 978-0-262-05158-3
• No. of pages: 240
• Series: The MIT Press Essential Knowledge series
• Subjects: SOCIAL SCIENCE / Anthropology / Cultural & Social, Social & cultural anthropology, ethnography, Social discrimination & inequality, Ethnic groups and multicultural studies, Social and cultural anthropology, Ethnic minorities & multicultural studies, SOCIAL SCIENCE / Discrimination, SOCIAL SCIENCE / Race & Ethnic Relations, Social discrimination and social justice