Understanding Culture, Civilization, and Intercultural Dialogue
Culture and Civilization
The word ‘civilization’ comes from the Latin terms civis (citizen) and civitas (city). Speaking of civilization is to talk about the city itself. In the eighteenth century, the Encyclopedists modified the meaning of the term. According to them, historically humans progress from a state of savagery to the perfection of civilization. In this sense, ‘civilization’ does not support plural: it is the progress of humanity. Today, when we speak of ‘civilization’ in different ways, the most common is to consider it as the synthesis of more general traits that has come to a set of cultures that relate to each other. ‘Culture’ is more partial, and ‘civilization’ is more global. Samuel P. Huntington states that cultural civilization is the broadest level of cultural identity that can distinguish one human being from another. Civilization is, then, the broader element to identify a person.
Cultural Diversity: Attitudes
Frequently encountered attitudes are:
Ethnocentrism
Ethnocentrism analyzes different cultures from the perspective of one’s own culture, making it the measure to assess the remaining cultures. There are at least two consequences: a lack of understanding of those who do not share their way of life and the radicalization of the sense of cohesion within the own group. Ethnocentrism may manifest as xenophobia, racism, or chauvinism. But the most widespread position is aporophobia, aversion and contempt for the poor.
Cultural Relativism
Cultural relativism seeks to analyze different cultures from their own values and not from an alien culture, and recommends enduring the different cultural expressions. This approach has severe limitations, even advocating that each one is locked in its values, and is unable to avoid risks like these:
- Racism: Some say that each should stay home and live according to their culture.
- Separation between cultures that are tolerated but have no interest in establishing contacts.
- A romantic attitude of exaggerating the positive aspects of cultures other than their own. This exaggeration can lead to a loss of critical meaning and even to showing indifference to human rights violations that some customs may entail.
- Cultural paralysis provoked by defending a static vision of cultures. The important thing is to preserve the traditions.
Interculturalism
Interculturalism starts from the respect of other cultures but overcomes the shortcomings of cultural relativism. It advocates encounter between different cultures on an equal footing and proposes the following objectives:
- Recognize the pluralistic nature of our society and our world.
- Understand the complexity of the relation between diverse cultures in the personal and the community.
- Promote dialogue between cultures.
- Assist in the search for answers to global problems.
Interculturalism suggests learning to live in a pluralistic world and understands that diversity is a source of wealth. It is the attitude we should adopt toward that fact.
Dialogue Between Cultures: Relativism or Universalism?
According to relativism, cross-cultural communication is almost impossible and not very desirable. Universalism discovers shared values, among which is respect for cultural differences. Universal values can be translated into the following:
- Respect for human rights.
- Appreciation of values such as freedom, equality, and solidarity.
- The disposition to dialogue, active tolerance, not just passive or indifferent; the person who wants to come to terms with others is genuinely interested in that understanding.
Léopold Sédar Senghor sees the invitation to dialogue between cultures as the cornerstone for building the civilization of the universal, which will be the work of all races and all civilizations.