We explain what interculturality is, its principles, examples and why it is important. Also, what is multiculturalism.
What is interculturality?
Interculturality is the social, cultural and communicative phenomenon in which two or more cultures or, rather, representatives of different specific cultural identities, relate on equal terms without any point of view predominating over the others or being considered “normal.” These types of relationships favor dialogue and understanding, integration and enrichment of cultures.
Although culture has always been a field of frequent exchanges, mixtures and hybridizations, the concept of interculturality is typical of modern times. Today, globalization and digital commerce have brought individuals from very distant geographies and cultures into contact, and migration is an everyday phenomenon. Therefore, the idea of interculturality is in contact with other similar ones, such as those of diversity, plurality and multiculturalism.
However, the horizontal dialogue proposed by interculturality has not exactly been common in human history. Economic empires, cultural hegemony and colonialism are a legacy that is difficult to reconcile with the idea that, deep down, cultures are all equal, without some being more advanced than others, or some better than others, but rather everything It depends on the point of view (that is, one's own cultural framework) of the person giving the opinion.
Principles of interculturality
The principles of interculturality can be summarized as follows:
- There are no cultures better than others nor more advanced, but all are equally worthy and deserving of respect. Therefore, the only way to understand a culture is to interpret it from its own criteria.
- Cultures are enriched by contact with others: the greatest manifestations of cultural wealth and variety are associated with migration, integration, hybridization and miscegenation.
There are three recognizable types of interculturality:
- Relational interculturality when it has to do with contact between cultures, that is, the equal coexistence between people of different cultural backgrounds.
- Functional interculturality when it has to do with the inclusion of traditionally marginalized groups in the economic, cultural, social and political apparatus of the nation, through equalizing mechanisms, such as positive discrimination.
- Critical interculturality when it has to do with the promotion of a critical debate regarding the relationships between cultures, to illuminate and question the historical, colonial and racial inequalities between different cultures, promoting a high-level cultural dialogue.
Importance of interculturality
Interculturality is vital in times of massive migration and cultural plurality, such as globalization. Basically, it is about proposing instruments for rethink traditional social, political and economic dynamics in which one cultural group exercised hegemony over the others.
In this sense, the concept of interculturality is more useful than that of multiculturalism or pluralism, which simply diagnoses the presence of sociocultural elements other than traditional ones in a community.
Examples of interculturality
Examples of intercultural relations today are:
- The dynamics of international student exchange and promoting the learning of other languages (and with them, other cultures).
- The promotion of a global culture through initiatives such as those of the Unesco World Heritage Site and other similar institutions.
- The academic revaluation of cultural and social traditions formerly disdained for belonging to “barbaric” or “backward” peoples.
- The hybridization of markets typical of economic globalization.
Interculturality and multiculturalism
The concepts of interculturality and multiculturalism have many points of similarity, referring to the coexistence in human communities of people with different cultural backgrounds. However, multiculturalism is content to point out and value cultural plurality often ignoring the political and historical links that exist between cultures, and which are largely responsible for the place that each one traditionally occupies.
Instead, interculturality normally proposes an egalitarian assessment, that is, political-social of the relationships between cultures, emphasizing synergy and points of contact, hybridization and mutual enrichment between them.
Continue with: Ethnocentrism
References
- “Interculturality” on Wikipedia.
- “Interculturality: you can be more than 100%” (video) by Lisa Wang in TEDx Talks.
- “Intercultural dialogue” at UNESCO.
- “Interculturality” at Universität Bielefeld (Germany).
- “Initerculturality” in Laboratoire de Méthodologie de la Géographie (France).
