Interculturalism is the philosophy of exchanges between cultural groups within a society.

Various states have intercultural policies which seek to encourage the socialization of citizens of different origins. These policies are often used as an instrument to fight racism, overcome prejudice and misunderstanding of others. The term socialization is used by sociologists, social psychologists and educationalists to refer to the process of learning one’s culture and how to live within it. ... Racism is a belief or concept that inherent differences between people, in particular those upon which the concept of race is based, significantly influence cultural or individual achievement, and may involve the idea that ones self-identified race or ethnic group or others race or ethnic group is superior. ...

Interculturalism requires an inherent openness to be exposed to the culture of the "other". Once a person is exposed to an element of a different culture, a dialogue will ensue, where everyone embarks upon understanding the culture of the other, and usually this involves comparisons. Thus, interculturalism breeds dialogue, in order to be able to look for commonalities between that element of one's culture and the culture of the other.

Interculturalism seeks to enhance fusion by looking for commonalities. Hence, a new world culture is constructed based on the fusion of all commonalities of cultures. The differences that remain make up the subcultures of the world.

See also

• Cross-cultural
• Transculturation
• Cosmopolitanism
• Tolerance
• Multiculturalism
• Intercultural communication
• Intercultural competence
• Thai-Maori Musical Exchange Project

Cross-cultural communication (also frequently referred to as intercultural communication) is a field of study that looks at how people from differing cultural backgrounds endeavour to communicate. ... Transculturation is a term coined by Fernando Ortiz in 1947 to describe the phenomenon of merging and converging cultures. ... Cosmopolitanism is the idea that all of humanity belongs to a single moral community. ... It has been suggested that toleration be merged into this article or section. ... The multicultural national representation of the countries of origin at the student union of San Francisco City College. ... Cross-cultural communication looks at how people, from differing cultural backgrounds, endeavor to communicate. ... Intercultural competence is the ability of successful communication with people of other cultures. ...

External links

• Journal of Intercultural Communication
• polylog: Forum for Intercultural Philosophy
• interKulti
• National approaches to "intercultural dialogue" in the EU. A comparative study conducted by the European Institute for Comparative Cultural Research (ERICarts) for the European Commission in preparation of the year of intercultural dialogue.

interactive website:[1]

Further Reading

• Bennett, Milton J. (1998) Basic Concepts of Intercultural Communication. Intercultural Press, Boston, MA.
• Kohls, L. Robert; Knight, John M. (1994). Developing Intercultural Awareness. Intercultural Press, Boston, MA.
• Storti, Craig. (1994). Cross- Cultural Dialogues. Intercultural Press, Boston, MA.