| A
B S T R A C T S
|
 |
Diplomats
Communicating Across Cultures
Dr
Zareen Karani Araoz (Managing Across Cultures)
How important is intercultural communication as a tool for
diplomacy? This presentation
will look into the goals of diplomacy in the world of today,
and explore the role of communication in the success of
diplomatic activity, as well as in the life of a diplomat.
To
be an effective communicator working across cultures, it is
important to understand one’s own cultural values, to
re-evaluate them from time to time, and to tune in to the
mind-set of others. We will look into ways of doing this, as
well as enhancing one’s ability to "see yourself as
others see you".
For this purpose, salient intercultural
communication challenges in the life of a diplomat will be
identified. A number of models that demonstrate different
cultural ways of being, as well as ways of communicating in
various cultures will be looked at. We will explore how the
challenges identified may best be addressed. Incidents from
everyday life and situations in the work of a diplomat, UN or
NGO leader will be showcased. Lively examples of challenging
communication and negotiation situations will be discussed, as
well as some internal and external conflicts that many
diplomats are likely to face. Examples involving diplomats
from India and the US will be used, along with others.
We will also look at how effective intercultural communication
competencies might be developed, and the kinds of training
that are most likely to be effective for diplomats, to enhance
their ability to work, communicate and negotiate effectively
and build genuine relationships when working across cultures.
How can they best represent their countries, while always
being true to themselves?
...................................................................................................................................
Justice–Home Affairs Diplomacy and Contemporary Migrations
Anis H. Bajrektarevic (IMC – University of Applied Management Sciences, Krems, Austria)
Clearly, migrations as a phenomenon are a historical and civilizational category. Consequently, my presentation will try to examine (by a brief elaborate overview) currents in the migratory trends in Europe, existing policies and practices (including “right-wing” anti-politics) as well as the needs of the wider pan-European front to address these issues. Additionally, a closer look will be devoted to the global/pan-European Justice-Home Affairs Diplomacy and some comprehensive legal/political instruments at its disposal (including different negotiation cultures/techniques in this respect).
...................................................................................................................................
Making
the “Other” Human: The Role of Personal Stories to Bridge
Deep Differences
Nike Carstarphen
(Alliance for Conflict Transformation, Barcelona)
This presentation explores the role of personal stories
towards conflict resolution and their implications for
diplomacy. Conflict resolution is essentially the art and
science of relationship building and agreement building. This
is true whether one focuses on individuals, groups, or nations
striving for peace. In the past, most theory and practice in
the conflict resolution field has emphasized agreement making
on “substantive” issues at the expense of relationship
building. Increasingly, academics and practitioners in the
field are recognizing that relationship building is not only a
worthy end in itself, but may also be the key towards conflict
resolution, especially in protracted, deep-rooted conflicts
between different identity groups.
To explore intergroup relationship building and its role in
conflict resolution, I interviewed diplomats, academics and
practitioners of different conflict resolution efforts around
the globe. I also interviewed participants of dialogue groups
in the United States, including: Jewish-Palestinian dialogues,
race/ethnic dialogues, and pro-life/pro-choice dialogues
around the abortion issue. The results suggest the first step
in relationship building is to “make the ‘other’
human” and that sharing personal stories—in the spirit of
genuine dialogue—is one of the most successful starting
points in this process. Stories help adversaries break through
their stereotypes, fears and animosities toward the other by
helping them begin to understand and recognize the other’s
needs, values and core concerns. Stories help create bridges
across deep differences and lay the foundation for conflict
resolution.
...................................................................................................................................
Cultural
Chasm: The Ill-Fated 1999-2000 Israeli-Palestinian
Negotiations
Professor Raymond Cohen (Department of International
Relations, Hebrew University of Jerusalem)
The failure of the negotiations between the Israeli government
and the Palestinian Authority in 1999-2000 has by now been
heavily overlaid with propaganda and special pleading by both
sides. Israel claims that it made an offer the Palestine
Authority could not refuse while the latter charges that it
was offered nothing but a divided and unviable Bantustan. For
the last year a group of researchers at the Davis Institute
has been interviewing many of the main actors on the Israeli
side. On the basis of these exclusive interviews (and also
published American and Palestinian accounts) we are now in a
much better position to analyse the causes of the catastrophic
breakdown in talks. Both sides made lamentable errors and
neither prepared its public opinion for far-reaching
concessions or the necessary reconciliation in human terms.
Neither side fully grasped the core concerns of the other. The
respective leaderships proved inadequate. The United States
played a most unsatisfactory role. Clinton’s Camp David II
replay was a sad parody of Carter’s 1978 Camp David I
triumph. At the same time it is sad to confirm that the same
old intercultural antinomies and pathologies that have proved
so corrosive in past Israeli-Arab negotiations yet again made
their unfortunate appearance. Where culture is concerned,
nothing apparently is learned from history.
...................................................................................................................................
The
Dual Nature of Russia-West Intercultural Communication
Yuliya Anatol evna
Druzhinina (Moscow State Linguistic University)
The zigzags of Russian policy (diplomacy) are the stumbling
block of many negotiations between Russia and the West.
Russian policy can be explained through an examination of
Russian culture, mentality, and attitudes towards the West,
and through the interpretation of basic values and ambiguous
language. Russians have always viewed the West with both
hatred and love, an attitude which in itself contains elements
of a mental duality. On the one hand, Russia wanted/s to
borrow the values of the West, one of the most efficient
civilizations; on the other hand, Russia was/is resolute in
defending its own path of development. This can be
demonstrated with the interpretation of the notion freedom,
which is an ambiguous notion as it includes the struggle from
darkness to light, from poverty to prosperity, from
dictatorship to democracy. In the West this notion is imbedded
in stable social order, in a strong political system and is
governed by law. In Russian mentality this notion at the same
time includes the idea of volya, will, which has the
meaning of being able to live without being disturbed by any
social restrictions and which leads to anarchy. The same dual
pattern is expressed in Russian foreign policy. The
appointment of Russian ambassadors is an example of this
pattern. On the one hand, these appointments resemble the
Western pattern, where leaders name their personal friends as
ambassadors; on the other hand, Russia’s actions may
represent a step towards the Soviet-era pattern, where leaders
made use of former officials and it was a form of political
exile.
Russia’s dual policy towards the West emerged in the past
and is still relevant. Russia will undoubtedly exert a certain
impact on the future of the 21st century, but the nature of
this impact will depend on the path she will choose.
Russia’s isolation from the West and declining incentive for
modernization could become a source of new international
tensions. On the other hand, Russia’s partnership with the
West and accompanying modernization could contribute to a more
balanced pace of globalization.
...................................................................................................................................
European Challenges to Cross Cultural
Borders
Dr Elena A. A .Garcea (Department
of Philology and History, Universita’ di Cassino, Italy and
European Federation for Intercultural Learning, Brussels)
This
paper presents the reasons why international affairs must be
related to intercultural issues in order to be effective and
successful. The latter have been for long related to peace and
understanding, an ideal territory that was not necessarily the
one where diplomats and international politicians were to
operate. They rather felt the need to acquire skills in the
field of international negotiation and conflict resolution,
which seemed to be much more practical and necessary than
intercultural awareness. This paper demonstrates that, on the
contrary, no political or economic agreement can take place
without a certain knowledge of the other organisational
culture.
A few examples will be taken into consideration, particularly
from Europe. A few cases of failures in international
corporate mergings will be presented as well as some best
practices. Furthermore a programme of educational
intercultural training will be presented.
...................................................................................................................................
Misunderstood: The
Information Technologist’s Lament
Dr Eduardo Gelbstein (DiploFoundation and United Nations
Institute for Training and Research)
As the world becomes increasingly complex, communications
among professionals with different areas of expertise become
harder and yet, more important. The creativity and enthusiasm
of information technologists have changed the way in which
hundreds of millions of people work and communicate – the
last twenty years gave us personal computers and software,
cellular telephone, global networks, including the Internet
and so much more.
Yet, instead of being admired in the way actresses and
football players are, they are regarded with derision (geeks,
nerds, techies) or the subject of jokes (Dilbert). Worse
still, very often their work is strongly criticised for not
delivering what was expected, for making things too complex
(like setting a VCR). With few exceptions, information
technologists are excluded from the top level of enterprise
management and treated little different from those that run
the canteen or clean the building – providers of important
but non-strategic services and simply part of the “cost of
doing business”.
This essay will make the case that the root cause of this
situation is the lack of effective inter-professional
communications. This will be supported by describing the main
factors that inhibit effective communications and several
perspectives that, together, present a more complete
perspective of a complex but not unique situation. Given that
complex problems are never solved but merely transformed, the
paper will include pointers on how to transform the problem
into a number of contained issues that are manageable.
The solutions discussed will not be easy to implement as they
require a profound shift in the internal operations of
individuals’ minds and in the way people’s personalities,
backgrounds and behavioural patterns affect inter-personal
communications. The hypothesis is that these conclusions are
of general applicability to all inter-professional
communications, including those with diplomats.
...................................................................................................................................
Intercultural
Communication on a South-South Dimension: A Look at
Sino-African Exchanges
Dr Sandra Gillespie,
University of Aizu, Japan
Researchers
in the West, often preoccupied by the complexities of their
own relations with Asia and Africa, have taken comparatively
little time to examine how the peoples of those regions have
related among themselves. Indeed, the action and reaction of
Western and non-Western values is a major theme of the modern
world. Since Vasco daGama arrived in the Indian ocean at the
end of the 15th century, the story of humankind has
been largely an account of the response of Asia, Africa, and
South America to the alien culture of the West.
However, long before the West rose into prominence,
contacts between other cultures flourished.
Building
international appreciation requires understanding ourselves,
others, and how we relate together. It also involves
understanding how others relate among themselves.
In efforts to internationalize and build a truly global
future, the consideration of contacts among all parts of the
world becomes critical. The sustained cooperation in
educational exchange which has taken place in the last fifty
years between China and African nations may be an instructive
example.
This paper acknowledges the sustained educational cooperation
between China and Africa and places this knowledge within a
larger literature on approaches to international academic
relations. Within the context of international academic
relations, knowledge, resources, and people have moved among
nations for centuries. Yet while this flow has long historical
precedents, the characteristics of the present flow differ
from previous times in that it is now skewed in the direction
of a largely South to North movement. The overall trend is for
students to go from the peripheries (the less industrialized
Third World) to the centres (the industrialized market-economy
nations). Past research has reflected this phenomenon. This
study aims to begin to fill this gap and contribute to a
larger understanding of international relations by directing
attention toward a South-South dimension.
...................................................................................................................................
The
Impact of Cultural Diversity on Multilateral Diplomacy and
Relations
Professor
Dietrich Kappeler
(DiploFoundation)
Whereas
in bilateral relations cultural differences manifest
themselves in misunderstandings and conflicts between two
cultures only, in the multilateral field the situation is more
complex. Although international law and therefore the basic
language used in international conventions is a product of
Euro-American concepts, the perception of terms varies greatly
from one culture to another and gives thus rise to
controversy. A typical example is the understanding of what
are human rights. For a long time, Islamic countries were more
or less alone in affirming their right to their own
interpretation of international law. More recently one notes a
growing assertiveness of other cultures in this regard. It is
fortunate that at a time when cultural diversity is stressed
the approach to multilateral discussions and negotiations has
changed from confrontational attitudes to the search for
compromise and consensus. This search is further facilitated
by the new instruments offered to diplomats by applications of
information and communication technologies.
...................................................................................................................................
Cultural Content on
the Websites of Diplomatic Systems
Dr
Valentin Katrandzhiev (DiploFoundation)
This
paper presents a comparative analysis of 'culture' related
information available on the ministry of foreign affairs
websites of China, India, Germany, France, Chile, Brazil, US,
Canada and several African states. The research also deals
with the 'cultural' web presence of at least one embassy per
country. The objective is to explore levels of transparency
and coherency of cultural content. The study aims to determine
to what extent official web presence of foreign ministries and
their respective missions aboard contribute to intercultural
dialogue and understanding. The impact and utility of web
cultural content for conduct of cultural and public diplomacy
will be considered as well.
...................................................................................................................................
Dealing with Asian Diversity: Communicating across
Cultures
Dr Eun Y. Kim (CEO International)
“East
is East and West is West.” This statement has a certain
truth to it, but it can lead to an erroneous assumption that
all Asian countries are the same. It is critical that
diplomats understand the cultural diversity of vast Asia (57%
of world population) for their effectiveness across borders.
This paper will present traditional Asian values and
assumptions and their impact on modern diplomacy. Then, it
will address recent cultural changes across Asia and discuss
ethnic, religious, linguistic and generational diversity and
their impact on diplomacy and cross-cultural communication.
Comparing general communication styles preferred by Westerners
and Asians, it will further identify different communication
patterns, negotiation styles, and level of technology adopted
by various Asian countries. This paper will identify specific
strategies for effective intercultural communication in
dealing with Asia. Lessons from private sectors may be drawn
for benchmarking practices to better facilitate collaboration
and communication.
...................................................................................................................................
Language, Culture
and Political Discourse
Dr Diana Lewis (Centre
for Linguistics and Philology, University of Oxford)
Some confusion
surrounds the relationship between language and culture. There
is little agreement on what aspects of language are cultural;
on how culture is expressed linguistically; on whether
linguistic competence includes cultural competence or vice
versa. These issues are addressed through the analysis of
examples of political discourse, followed by a closer look at
two key concepts in current international communication:
'culture' itself, and 'globalisation'.
Like others concerned with creating public discourse,
politicians face an audience design problem: their discourse
must be tailored not only to the immediate audience but also
to numerous and diverse groups of 'overhearers'. Extracts from
political speeches by politicians from Europe, North America
and South America are compared, to illustrate how the aims of
the speakers vis-a-vis their audiences are realized through
rhetorical structure, expressions of attitude and evaluation,
and discourse system. This three-pronged analysis reveals much
of both the 'common ground' (including cultural
presuppositions) and the 'communication gap' that the
politician perceives between him/herself and the audience.
'Culture' and 'globalization' are often linked; for instance,
'globalization' may be portrayed as a threat to 'cultures'.
These terms carry a variety of connotations in English. By
looking at how the concepts behind them are discursively
constructed in public discourse, including the media, we can
see how usage of the terms reflects and creates particular
mental models of the world. Examples are shown of how, in
their speeches, politicians position themselves vis-a-vis
these models.
On the basis of these analyses, it is seen that the
relationship between language and culture is best refocused in
terms of overlapping and evolving discourse communities.
...................................................................................................................................
Challenges
Facing Women in Overseas Diplomatic Positions
Dr Caroline Linse (Minsk State Linguistic University)
The
process of going abroad to live and work for an extended period
of time is referred to as sojourning. Traditionally men have
been the sojourners in both the private and public sector and
have taken their families with them abroad. Expatriate
communities are set up for men to be the breadwinner and for
women to be in a support role to the man. The research that
has been conducted on sojourners has focused on the man as the
occupational status holder. There has been very little research
done in the area of women sojourners overseas, let alone women
serving in diplomatic positions. However, every year more and
more women are assuming occupational positions that require them
to live and work abroad. The number of women assuming
diplomatic postings abroad is also increasing. Just as when
women break into other fields there are certain obstacles when
they join the ranks of men who serve in diplomatic roles.
The
purpose of this paper is to describe the challenges that women
face when they assume diplomatic positions abroad. This study is
based on interviews and surveys with women who serve in
diplomatic positions in foreign countries. The participants
in the research included women who have lived and worked abroad
in a variety of different positions and countries. The
personal and work related challenges that they faced are clearly
delineated. Ways that they coped with the challenges are also
included.
...................................................................................................................................
Lessons from Two
Fields: A Diplomat and an Interculturalist Converse
Lewis R. Macfarlane (US Foreign Service, retired) and Heather
Robinson (Success Across Borders)
What happens when someone with 25 years of experience in
international diplomatic service teams up with someone who has
spent as many years focusing on intercultural communication?
A tapestry of stories from the everyday drama of
diplomacy woven together with theoretical models that
conceptualize the lessons learned.
The speakers will explore critical lessons from a
lifetime of diplomatic service through intercultural
frameworks, including:
-
Projecting values in diplomacy: personal, national, universal
-
The diplomat as critical intercultural intermediary
-
Policy differences v. effective interpersonal
relationships
- Our own cultures as barriers to effective diplomacy
-
Cultural conundrums for diplomats:
formality/informality; direct/indirect communication,
acculturation, high/low context, past/present/future time
orientation, concepts of hospitality, face work,
task/relationship orientation, universalist/particularist,
individualist/collectivist.
This
interactive session also provides opportunity for the
conference participants to reflect upon their field
experiences through perspectives highlighted during the
presentation.
...................................................................................................................................
Foreign
Cultural Policy of States
Ambassador
Heinrich Reimann (Ambassador of Switzerland to the OSCE, UN
and other international organisations in Vienna)
Foreign
cultural policy in itself constitutes an opening to the world
for the one who practices it as well as for the receivers.
Though cultures are different - and should remain so -
throughout the world, they are all receptive to the language
of any culture, as different as it may be, for they have the
ability to speak, or at least understand, the language of
culture. The importance attributed to culture in politics and
therefore to foreign cultural policy varies from country to
country. Because artists are always at the avant-garde of
social life, many societies to which they belong underestimate
their importance and therefore also underestimate the need for
and the impact of a foreign cultural policy whereas from an
objective point of view, foreign cultural policy is vital for
establishing long-lasting and deep relations between countries
in international intercourse.
...................................................................................................................................
"Control yourself,
sir!": A Proposal for Research into Emotion Cultures in
Diplomacy
Wynne Russell
(Department of International Relations, The Australian
National University, Canberra)
This paper, a call for further research rather than a summary
of existing findings, proceeds in three parts. First, it
examines and seeks to explode the notion that diplomats are,
or should be, immune to emotion in the conduct of their
duties. Second, it discusses the concept of ‘emotion
cultures’—cultural rules governing the experience and
expression of emotion—and the possibility that modern
diplomacy encourages socialization of diplomats into a
distinctive, ostensibly global diplomatic emotion culture.
Third, it suggests a number of research questions. For
example: to what extent can diplomats globally be said to
share a particular emotion culture? To what extent do
sub-groups within global diplomacy possess distinctive emotion
cultures? To what extent do the emotion cultures of powerful
sub-groups dominate notions of what a global diplomatic
emotion culture should look like? To what extent does the
effectiveness of diplomats depend on their socialization into
dominant emotion cultures?
...................................................................................................................................
Organisational
Culture of UN Agencies: Identifying and Managing Porous
Boundary Phenomena
Dr
Raymond
Saner and Dr Lichia Yiu (Centre for Socio-Eco-Nomic Development,
Geneva)
Diplomats
responsible for interfacing with UN agencies need to recognise
and manage overt and covert aspects of the organisational
culture of UN agencies which are distinct from mainstream
public and private sector organisations. Particular features
of UN organisational cultures for instance often consist of
ill-defined organisational structures, multiple political
interferences (external and internal), cross-cultural value
differences of UN staff and different management practices of
UN agency leadership best described as “porous
boundaries”. This presentation introduces and defines
“porous boundaries,” applies it to the UN system and
describes the power factors which drive the porous boundary
phenomena. As a second step, suggestions are made how
diplomats assigned to UN agencies can best cope with porous
boundaries.
...................................................................................................................................
Selling
Multiculturalism to the Masses: Visual Language and Political
Subtext in Post 9/11 Social Advertising
Dr Biljana Scott (Centre
for Linguistics and Philology, Oxford University)
The terrorist attacks of 9/11 have brought an old
problem into renewed focus: how to unite a population
potentially divided along racial, ethnic and denominational
fault lines. In the light of unprovoked and indiscriminate
racist attacks on Muslim-looking minorities, multi-media
advertising campaigns were mounted in several countries in
order to quell racism and sell multiculturalism. This paper
studies the use of advertising campaigns as a medium for
public diplomacy, and focuses on the promotion of national
unity in a context of cultural diversity.
Three recent ad campaigns are selected as case studies: (1)
The US Ad Council's 'I am an American'; (2) the UK Commission
for Racial Equality's 'The Unique Faces of Britain'; and (3)
the equivalent Scottish campaign 'One Scotland. Many
Cultures'.
Two lines of enquiry are pursued:
1) These three campaigns are analysed in the context of both
social and product advertising. Social advertising (or Public
Service Advertising) sells concepts rather than commodities
and addresses issues which are in the public interest, such as
health, safety and racial equality. Although product
advertising might seem to need no explanation, ever since the
ground breaking 'United Colors of Benetton' campaign, there
has been a growing trend to sell products under the guise of
racial, cultural and political concerns, thus blurring the
divide between ideology and commodity. To what extent have
issues such as multiculturalism been turned into brand names
for the sake of commercial profit?
2) The campaign messages on multiculturalism are analysed in
the light of recent government statements and policies on
ethnic minorities in each of the three countries concerned.
Given certain discrepancies between the sales pitch and the
goods, a variant of the same question is asked: to what extent
has multiculturalism been used politically for its brand
appeal?
The answers to these questions inevitably raise some of the
philosophical and ideological issues which underpin the
concept of multiculturalism. Many of these were debated in the
wake of the 'Family of Man' photography exhibition which was
first shown in 1955 at the Museum of Modern Art in New York,
and subsequently toured the world. This exhibition may be
regarded as the first attempt to sell multiculturalism to the
masses through visual language
....................................................................................................................................
Mullah
Zaeef and Taliban Diplomacy: Bridging the Culture Gap
Professor Paul Sharp
(Alworth Institute for International Studies, University of
Minnesota, Duluth)
It is commonly supposed that for a system of diplomacy to work
effectively, it depends on the existence of an international
society, a shared sensed of the rules and conventions which
regulate what is going in accordance with some view of what
ought to happen. One consequence of globalization is that it
draws many new actors into diplomacy who do not share this
common understanding, making the conduct of effective
diplomacy enormously difficult. This paper examines a
"tough case" in these terms, the efforts of Mullah
Zaeef over a period of two years at the Taliban embassy in
Islamabad to represent his leaders to the diplomatic community
and, as the prospect for war increased, to represent what the
rest of the world was saying to his leaders. It argues that
while war was not averted, the episode provides grounds for
modest optimism about the possibility of diplomats from widely
differing cultural backgrounds to develop a mutual
understanding of what needs to be done and how it is to be
done if war is to be averted. As always, however, there is
little that diplomats can do once their political masters are
prepared to accept war as the price of what they seek to
achieve.
...................................................................................................................................
Interethnic Communication in
Macedonia: Different People, Different Stories
Marina Tuneva (Balkan Peace Center, Skopje)
A picture of intercultural communication in Macedonia would
reveal two completely contrasting viewpoints. These could be
simply qualified as pessimistic and optimistic. The
pessimistic view would lead us to the position that the two
largest communities in Macedonia (Macedonian and Albanian)
remain stubbornly locked in two separate worlds. The one side
behaves as if the other does not exist. The optimists would
claim that experience shows that the Macedonian and ethnic
Albanian communities have in practice worked out problems
together in the past. Up to now too much attention has been
given to the things that divide us, not the things that bring
us together. It seems that we have all been part of an
imaginary game. And, what is worse, the pessimistic option has
been supported by a number of "international
players" on the Macedonian scene. Many of them came
delivering the message that division between Macedonians and
Albanians would continue to deteriorate. And media reports did
their job, as well, perpetuating the possibility for the
pessimistic scenario. And as a result, the pessimism
prevailed, becoming reality during last year's armed conflict.
Nevertheless, the grounds for reconciliation never did and
never will disappear. In this country it does not mean
forgetting, but rather remembering the past in order to live
normally in the future. Signs for reconciliation have already
been shown. The real story is between the communities, and
that is where the possibility of a solution lies.
...................................................................................................................................
Intercultural Communications and Crisis Public Diplomacy
Dr R.S. Zaharna (American University, Washington, DC)
This piece examines how intercultural communication
differences among nations can inadvertently magnify tensions
during a crisis when nations rely on their own cultural style
of public diplomacy to communicate with foreign publics. Just
as culture plays a role in defining a nation’s style of
negotiations (Cohen, 1991), culture also appears to shape a
nation’s style of public diplomacy. Since 9/11, the
United States has intensified its public diplomacy efforts,
particularly in the Arab world. However, American public
diplomacy reflects American cultural communication patterns
that are effective with the American public, but not
necessarily foreign publics.
For example, President Bush’s penchant for “speaking
straight” may resonate positively with the American public,
which values direct communication, yet resonate negatively
with the Arab public, which values indirect communication,
especially in public. Similarly, most Americans tend to view
communication as "sending a message," hence
America's obsession with how to sharpen, sell, or promote
America's image and message. In the Arab world,
communication is primarily about building relationships --
cultivating, solidifying, and defining relationships.
Knowledge about such cultural differences in public diplomacy
can help facilitate, rather than harm relations among nations.
...................................................................................................................................
Revisiting
the Feasibility of Using Cultural Patterns for Diplomacy
Training in New Zealand
Dr
Zhu Yunxia (UNITEC, New Zealand)
This paper revisits the issues relating to using cultural
patterns and categories for training diplomats in New Zealand.
Using categorisations and cultural dimensions is a prevalent
approach in intercultural communication research and training.
This approach can help us reflect on intercultural issues
systematically as categories and patterns are part of the
human perception and thinking process. Cultural dimensions or
patterns can be found in Hall (1977), Hostede (1990), and
Hampden-Turner & Trompennars (2000).
However, identifying categories is predominantly reflective of
the Western approach, and only represents one side of the
coin. This is also known as an etic approach, which
applies to cultures in general. In order to promote the
intercultural training for diplomacy we need to develop the emic
or culture-specific approach. Specifically this paper develops
a model based on both the etic and emic
perspectives and claims that generalisations and
particularisations in specific sociocultural contexts are
equally essential for diplomacy training. As an example, New
Zealand diplomatic relations with China are discussed to
indicate the validity of the proposed model.
|
