Dr.$George$SIMONS!!is$an$intercultural$consultant$&$writer$with$over$40$years$experience$in$the$fields$of$intercultural$communicaCon,$negoCaCon$&$team$management.!

Creator$&$chief$editor$of$diversophy®,$he$has$authored$&$edited$EuroDiversity,-Global-Competence,-Pu8ng-Diversity-to-Work,-as$well$as$8$instruments$in$the$Cultural-Detec<ve®-series.-With$his$partners,$he$is$currently$working$on$establishing$contemporary$understandings$of$cultural$competence.--Reach$him$at$diversophy@gmail.com$See$his$work$at$www.diversophy.com$&$www.georgesimons.com.!!

Plus-ça-change,-plus-c'est-la-même-chose!-Why?$

My!perspec)ves:!!– 50!years!of!formal!diversity!&!intercultural!engagement.!– Recent!review!of!life)me!ac)vity.!– Ongoing!review!of!new!literature.!– LinkedIn!forum!(over!2400!members).!

diversophy®!

-Cultural-Competence-1735--

Cultural-Competence!-2012-&-beyond?-

Whence?$! Empires,$trade,$colonizers$&$missionaries—starCng$500BCE$

! Studies$by$historians,$psychologists$&$anthropologists—19th$&$20th$centuries$

! Increasing$organizaConal,$$commercial,$poliCcal,$migratory,$$economic,$healthcare,$religious,$$etc.,$needs$for$cultural$$competence$&$synergies—$starCng$1950s$

Empire$&$Mission$

Whence?$! Development$of$intercultural$competence$as$a$field$&$as$a$profession$—$largely$since$1960s$

! ConsolidaCon$around$a$complex$of$Western$research$models$(Hall,$Hofstede,$et-al)$—$c.$1970[1990$

! Diversity,$mobility$&$globalizaCon$require$an$increasingly$values$oriented$&$situaConal$focus,$understanding$the$dynamics$of$hybridity,$management$of$glocality—1990s$to…?$

Who?$Interculturalists Diversity specialists Cultural anthropologists Cultural historians Cultural linguists Cultural psychologists Intercultural psychologists Intercultural communicators Intercultural negotiators Transcultural leaders Management researchers Cultural intelligence Cultural coaches Cultural preservationists Cross-cultural marketers Ecoculturalists Missionaries

Whither?!•  DecolonizaCon$•  DeconstrucCon$•  ContextualizaCon$•  HybridizaCon[[MulCcultural$personaliCes,$communiCes$

•  Unexamined$domains…URcultures$

– PoliCcs$– Gender$– Foreign$policy$– Diplomacy$

– Human$rights$

– Military$

– Economics$

– Ecology$$– Religion$– Sustainability$!

The$shoemaker’s$children$go$unshod!

Chez%le%forgeron,%%cuillère%en%bois%

!

Culture$is$constructed$

“The!collec)ve!memory!is!systema)cally!unfaithful!to!the!past!in!order!to!sa)sfy!the!needs!of!the!present."!In!other!words,!we!aLempt!to!address!the!present!by!reconstruc)ng!the!past!as!if!it!always!existed!in!the!way!we!now!adopt!it.”!

R.A.!Peterson!!

The$Illusion$of$Cultural$IdenCty!Authen)city!and!iden)ty!have!no!existence!in!themselves!or!in!us,!but!exist!only!by!virtue!of!acts!of!iden)fica)on!that!we!ourselves!produce.!

DecolonizaCon$

Western!mindset!– Enlightenment!!– Scien)fic!method!– Empiricism!– Moral!superiority!– Civilizing!impera)ve!– Market!economy!– Consumerism!

Globaliza)on—marke)ng!disease!

Anorexia!PTSD!

Schizophrenia!Depression!

!

Iden)fying!!&!addressing!urcultures$!(metadiscourse)!!

Gender!Science!Religion!Economy!Marke)ng!

!!!

Why!do!you!stack!your!firewood!like!that?!

The!challenge..!How!do!we!get!off!automa)c!pilot?!

Peeling$the$onion$

Face$value$saves$face!

diversophy®!

The!debates!

•  What!is!universal!?!What!is!rela)ve?!•  Is!Culture?!•  Where!does!culture!live?!•  What!forces!shape!culture?!•  How!is!culture!communicated?!•  How!does!the!individual!relate!to!culture?!•  Ac)ve!vs.!passive!cultural!agency?!•  How!and!to!what!degree!do!we!adapt!to!ambient!culture(s)?!

Is$culture?$

Culture?!Of!course!I!know!it!exists.!How!else!would!I!explain!the!behavior!of!those!I!find!incomprehensible?!

Anonymous%

The!Glocal!Paradox—!you%must%be%able%to%func8on%at%both%levels!%

Local$ Global$

Holis)c! Social!Contract!Group!determines!role!and!place!

Iden)ty!built!through!achievements!

Hierarchy,!obliga)ons,!du)es!

Seek!autonomy,!equality,!rights!

Group!loyalty,!rules!nego)able!

Common!interest,!universal!rules!

Personal!rela)ons,!networking!cri)cal!

Func)on,!efficiency,!anonymity!

Thanks%to%Yves%Lagier%

What$is$cultural$competence?$1.   Knowledge$&$awareness$of$oneself$as$a$cultural$

being,$i.e.,$one�s$core$cultural$values$&$how$these$express$themselves$in$aetudes,$behavior$&$communicaCon$paferns.$

2.   Similar$knowledge$&$awareness$of$the$other.$

3.   The$willingness,$tools$&$ability$to$idenCfy$&$respond$creaCvely$to$cultural$challenges$&$conflicts$in$ways$that$both$respect$&$engage$the$other.$

4.   Knowing$how$culture$is$constructed$&$deconstructed.$CreaCng$safe$spaces$to$do$this.$

"Communica<on-is-Cohabita<on"------Dominique-Wolton-

The$overall$challenge...$

This!means!a!mental!shi_!from!concepts!created!to!capture!the!essence!of!a!par)cular!human!phenomenon,!to!careful!par)cipa)ve!observa)on!of!what!is!happening!in!the!here!and!now!as!it!constructs!our!world.!!This%does%not%mean%jeAsoning%our%toolkit%but%learning%how%to%use%it%beCer.%%