Concepts of Interculturality and Alterity : Renewing Elements for Training

Concepts of Interculturality and Alterity : Renewing Elements for Training

Why ICARET ?

There is no shortage of so-called intercultural programmes in higher education, and mobility is on the increase. However, 2024 is taking place against a backdrop of uncertainties linked to conflicts, whether in Europe or the Middle East, causing communities to withdraw into themselves. And yet the little phrase « I don’t want any international students in my project group » frequently crops up, raising questions about the contribution of intercultural training: at a time when we are talking about inclusion and diversity, does intercultural education still have a place?

Intercultural, interculturality, Meanings?

To answer this question, there is an important first step: to grasp the conceptual essence of interculturality. What do we hear when we say “Intercultural “? Interculturality is often associated with cultural differences diluted in lists of mistakes not to be made, losing all conceptuality to become a comparative guide. However, scientific studies insist on a more complex dimension when it comes to interculturality, implying otherness, plurality and not differences.

How to make sense of it all

This project aims to legitimise the concept of interculturality by analysing the terminology used to describe it. The first step will be to bring together the concepts and texts specific to the field of interculturality, both in its philosophical aspects and in its commercial and management applications. A qualitative survey will also be carried out among former students and actors in the international field in order to gain a better understanding of the essentials of interculturality nowadays.

As has been pointed out in previous studies (GLAT Colloquium 2016, L’Essentiel de la Médiation, etc.), interculturality, which sometimes resembles a nine-headed hydra, reveals invariants such as otherness, decentralisation, cultural differences and plurality within a specific field.

ICARET an interdisciplinary and multilingual Project

It is through an interdisciplinary approach combining terminology (M. de Gioia, Padova), philosophical questioning (G. Hartung, K. Feldmann, Wuppertal) and discourse analysis (M. Raj, K. Moussafir, Settat, C. Sablé, Alison.Gourves-Hayward Brest) that this project aims to shed light on interculturality in all its conceptual richness, in order to promote intercultural training as a support for the development of responsible citizens of the 21st century.