CULTURAL INTERACTION everyday life

1. CULTURAL INTERACTION everyday life Dr Dolors Mayoral Arqué dmayoral@geosoc.udl.cat Universitat de Lleida

2. CULTURAL INTERACTION • We live in multicultural societies in which different cultures coexist • It is impossible to avoidinteraction between cultures. • Interaction is desirable • From an ethical point of view • From a democratic point of view

3. CULTURAL INTERACTION • Why: • We aim for well-consolidated societies • We want newcomers to participate in our project for society and in our democratic and cultural values • We are also convinced of the advantages of newcomers conserving and maintaining their own culture

4. CULTURAL INTERACTION • There are three main areas in which to work: • a) Cultural diversity • b) Consolidating and perfecting democracy • c) Constructing a common project • For all of these reasons • It is necessary to structure and achieve agreement on a series of norms that help to make cultural diversity and social harmony compatible

5. CULTURAL INTERACTION • Difficulties • There are three elements to consider: • Culture • Religion • Communication

6. CULTURAL INTERACTION • Questions to consider • Culture: • 1st – The fact that there are numerous possible responses to the same cultural reality • 2nd – The difficulties in understanding cultural responses that differ from those of our own culture • 3rd – The difficulties in discerning between culture and religion, manifestations of culture that have a religious origin, and/or religious manifestations that have a cultural origin

7. CULTURAL INTERACTION • Culture implies: • An instrumental order • A moral order: conceptions based on dichotomies such as truth/lies, good/evil, beauty/ugliness, etc. In different cultures there may be different conceptions of this moral order. • All of the previously mentioned aspects influence and determine communication

8. CULTURAL INTERACTION • Communication is influenced by: • a) The level of social identity • b) The level of individual identity • In the case of individual identity, it is difficult to provide pre-established responses

9. CULTURAL INTERACTION • Elements: • a) How people present themselves • b) Verbal and non-verbal language • c) The context: formal or informal

10. CULTURAL INTERACTION • Research • 1. Objectives: • a) To facilitate communication through a knowledge and understanding of aspects that govern basic relations between different communities in order to avoid conflict. • b) To improve the ability of professionals to interact with immigrants from these communities. • c) To identify and remove potential sources of intercultural conflict. • d) To improve the efficiency of professional practice.

11. CULTURAL INTERACTION • The communities: • Senegalese • Argentines • Romanians • Moroccans • Methodology: • Observation • Interview • Group discussion

12. CULTURAL INTERACTION • Actions analysed: • How people greet each other • Image – what people look like • Interaction with heath care, educational and social service institutions: how people make initial contact; their previous experiences; perceptions of different attitudes, habits and forms of organisation. Differences and similarities between the country of origin and the receiving society

13. CULTURAL INTERACTION • Conclusions about cultural difference: • 1st – People from different cultural backgrounds habitually present different responses to the same problems because they have different cultural values • 2nd – Different cultural values also produce differences in the resulting forms of social relations • 3rd – Cultural/religious differences in situations or contexts in which religious norms dictate social responses. It is important to prevent religious values becoming a source of permanent conflict. It is also necessary to find ways of accommodating them and to seek reasonable compromises that are acceptable to all parties.

14. CULTURAL INTERACTION • Cultural difference in direct inter-personal relations: • This may condition communication even when all the parties concerned seek to make the best possible impression • Cultural difference may either be very evident or remain hidden • Cultural difference influences expectations regarding communication and interaction

15. CULTURAL INTERACTION • Everyone wants to make a good impression • Forms of communicating with others do not only differ at the community level but also at the individual level. • Heterogeneity of responses: the absence of rules and self-imposed inhibition of certain cultural traits and expressions

16. CULTURAL INTERACTION • Different options for meeting and greeting people: • a) Adopting Western customs and uses • b) Developing different models according to the context and level of formality • c) Continuing with their own model, reaffirming their identity and explaining their reasons for doing this.

17. CULTURAL INTERACTION • We are not conscious of cultural difference • We rely on too many pre-conceived stereotypes • We tend to be oversensitive, especially in the case of official institutions • Their presence tends to be exaggerated • We lack knowledge and understanding of what cultural difference implies and also lack strategies for dealing with it • We often make comments and/or act in ways that help to maintain and promote these prejudices

18. CULTURAL INTERACTION • Immigrants feel disorientated and have a tendency to be wary of strangers and to doubt their motives • Dress and gestures mark clear differences • This latent prejudice is present in the majority of social interactions • Prejudice can take many forms: • Deficient communication+ lack of comprehension = suspicion

19. CULTURAL INTERACTION • Attitudes that tend to humiliate others: making it obvious that they do not belong to the community = suspicion • The existence of stigmatised communities: in defence, these communities often overreact • Refusal to break ceremonial rules. Affronts to self-respect, verbal abuse, despective looks…