A Multi-scale Approach to Interculturalism: From Globalised Politics to Localised Policy and Practice

Abstract

Interculturalism (IC) is presently discussed as a foundational basis for local public policy aimed at managing migration-related diversity within ethno-culturally plural societies, especially at the local level. Despite its increased saliency over the last decade, IC is neither theoretically new nor was it always intended for mere application in strictly city contexts of diversity. Rather, it has a global origin as a political basis for international relations and negotiations. In discussing these origins, this article has two main interrelated aims. Firstly, it provides an overview of the multi-scale approach of IC, with the purpose of disentangling analytically the different empirical bases where it can frame the diversity agenda. Secondly, it explores whether a lack of appreciation and awareness of this multi-scale orientation may affect IC’s capacity to address the challenges of diversity governance at the local level. Methodologically, the article will undertake a textual analysis of a select number of leading documents framing its practice within the broader policy literature produced by the four main institutions that have advocated the intercultural approach within a global agenda. These are the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) and United Nations University, on one hand, and the European Union and the Council of Europe on the other. The main findings show us the importance of a multi-scale thinking in diversity and IC studies, to avoid contributing to greater confusion in its applications.

Governance agility in reception of war refugees from Ukraine: The case of Wrocław, Poland

“…By 1 April 2022, the Ukrainian population in Wrocław doubled, reaching over 140,000 residents (approx. 23% of the city's total population) (Wojdat et al, 2022). About 6500 new Ukrainian children were attending educational institutions in Wrocław, including 1503 in kindergartens, 4325 in primary schools and 672 in secondary schools (Dialogopolis'22 2022).…”

“…In this approach, urban resilience is defined in two perspectives: (1) responding to current and urgent crisis situations, tensions and needs, also in the sphere of services and infrastructure; and (2) long‐term (and predictable) process of adapting the city to ethnic diversity (social, economic, cultural and even political) resulting from the influx of migrants. This duality is pointed out, for example, by Ricard Zapata‐Barrero, Fethi Mansouri (Zapata‐Barrero & Mansouri, 2021), who discuss two levels of intercultural governance. One is a reactive dimension, which refers to the reduction of conflicts over cultural differences.…”

Per què introduir la perspectiva interseccional al debat teòric sobre ciutadania intercultural?

“…Uno de los cambios relevantes que propone la política intercultural parte, por tanto, de un enfoque basado en la importancia de promover espacios de contacto entre las personas. Estos espacios se proyectan con especial intensidad en la imaginación de un espacio público de diversidad y de acción (Zapata-Barrero, 2022); un espacio público que no renuncie a la protección de la diversidad por parte del Estado, pero que se centre en la creación de un marco normativo de derechos y deberes compartidos de carácter individual (Zapata-Barrero, 2017a). De hecho, una de las diferencias entre el multiculturalismo y el interculturalismo es la forma en que se prioriza al individuo como sujeto de derechos y deberes por encima de la comunidad y sus posibles vínculos culturales.…”

“…intercultural. De forma específica se procede a una revisión de la tesis interculturalistas de los argumentos de Zapata-Barrero (2022, 2021a, 2017a, 2017b, 2015a, 2015b como uno de los autores de referencia nacional e internacional en la formulación de una filosofía pública interculturalista. A pesar de que en este apartado no se realizará una revisión sistemática de la literatura sobre el modelo intercultural, deben tomarse en consideración las contribuciones interculturalistas de Ted Cantle, Gérard Bouchard, Charles Taylor o John W. Berry, y el debate teórico con el multiculturalismo y autores como Will Kymlicka, Martyn Barrett,Fethi Mansouri,Nasar Meer,Tariq Modood,Christian Joppke o Riva Kastoryano,entre otros.…”

Intercultural Communication and Community Participation in Local Governance: the EU Experience

“…The achievements of scholars allowed outlining the vector of research on the transformation of EU strategies and policies in the field of intercultural communication and local governance. In turn, the author found about a multi-vector approach to interculturalism: from globalized politics to localized politics and practice through the article by Zapata- Barrero and Mansouri (2021).…”