How does cultural appropriation work – and how can you spot it?

From the West’s yoga obsession to Justin Bieber’s hair style, accusations of cultural appropriation are common

Two people do an elaborate yoga pose in Times Square
Yoga practitioners in India have accused the West of whitewashing the spiritual discipline
(Image credit: Alexi Rosenfeld / Getty Images)

Is practising yoga a form of cultural appropriation? The question has arisen in recent years as the yoga industry continues to grow and strange new forms of the practice – from “goat yoga” to “gin and yin yoga” – are introduced.

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