6 gedachten over “Lecture 3: Intercultural and Interreligious dialogue”
Intercultural and Interreligious dialogue
Can you meet me halfway? Quest-blog entry by team 3.
Today we see how the world is blending and different cultures get in touch with each other in an attempt to find a way to beneficially coexist in the contemporary global realm. Any form of interaction aims at mutual understanding in order to create peaceful relationships. But do we always get there? The interaction might not result in mutual understanding. It may end up with conflicts and stigmatization, ruining the potential of successful cooperation.
Therefore it is crucial to understand the successful ‘musts’ in the intercultural dialogue. What shall we consider when building it?
The level of the blend between religion and culture
Conte (2001) says “The language and images that the media have used in conjunction with ideas of Muslims and Islam have been value-loaded and lack context… portraying Islam as a dangerous religion rooted in violence and irrationality. While the world moves on and new ideas develop we still use the same words, in relation to Islam, that we used 10 and 20 years and even 30 years ago”. For instance, Western culture has quite a negative image of x Islam, built by media, which results in stereotyping. Many Westerners put religion above all other cultural features without attempting to dive deep into the individual cultural differences among the representatives of the same religion. This superficial understanding might result in distancing behaviours towards Muslims while interacting (Ramahi & Suleiman, 2017). This refrains them from establishing productive relationships since in the Muslim culture a relationship based on trustworthiness is an essential part for doing business in the Arab world (Weir, Sultan, van de Bunt, 2016). How do Muslims differ from each other? This question is usually never asked by people coming from Western cultures and for this reason stereotypes arise, limiting relationships.
The lens through which we are looking at things
From the Western point of view blending religion and business is something that has been left far behind (Hampden-Turner, Trompenaars & Cummings, 2015). Adopting Western lenses, the representatives of secular states might find it old-fashioned and inefficient that in the Arab world religion is still an essential part of business practice. For example, in the Arab world, a common practice of wasta (social network of interpersonal connection actively used while conducting business), which is regulated by Islamic rules, helps to build trust from the point of view of Islamic representatives. From the western point of view, it is a corrupted system of favoritism (Weir, Sultan, van de Bunt, 2016).
Another example of the western lens could be applied to the way we look at the community and networking. The concept of guanxi in China is woven into Chinese social and business life. Chinese people see the value of dependence on others, as this attitude promotes high concerns about one’s reputation (Li, Du & van de Bunt, 2016) while the representatives of the same religion on the individualistic culture might find it difficult to act in accordance with social preferences and expectations (Hampden-Turner, Trompenaars & Cummings, 2015).
The level of other’s desire to understand different cultures
In the interaction it is important for both sides to make a step forward. The example of rejection of Westerners who converted to Islam shows that the common understanding of the societal challenges and safe space for communication will not be created unless both sides will try to be open for different cultures (Ramahi & Suleiman, 2017). In their qualitative exploration Ramahi and Suleiman (2017) demonstrate that the attempts of the newly converted Muslims to explain their religious foundations does not make family’s or friends understanding better unless they express their desire to reshape their understanding of Islam. Respectively, authors call the converted to look at the event from the point of view of their relatives to build a mutual understanding of the event.
Taking into consideration all of the above, what is the best strategy we can extract to build an intercultural dialogue? While this issue is new in both research and practice, qualitative data has already been trying to provide practical solutions. Bakker (2017) identified interreligious marriages as a societal challenge. For instance, in the married couples where one is Muslim and another is Christian, Islamophobia is a dilemma in the relationship. Bakker (2017) introduced two strategies to deal with Islamophobia in marriages. First one is reshaping Islam as a contemporary approach to religion in terms of spiritual, intellectual and cultural aspects. The second strategy is distancing from the religious discourse in everyday life and creating a common language outside of the religious discourse.
In an attempt to apply the findings to the business reality, we see that using the second strategy is not always an option as many practices of the Arab world (and other cultures) are tightened to the religious content. Moreover, it is not clear what to do with the cultural differences which are not related to the religion.
Therefore, we propose and invite you to discuss the following: the interacting sides should attempt to reshape the understanding of their own culture and the culture they interact with rather than distancing themselves from cultural and religious discourse. We believe that this strategy has more potential to build trust and prosperous intercultural relationships. What do you think?
References
Bakker, B. 2017. One Bed Two Beliefs. Societal Influences in Everyday Life of Muslim- (post)Christian Couples in the Netherlands. MSc thesis, Faculty of Theology. Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam, Introduction and Chapter 1, 2 and 3.
Conte, W. (2001) British Media Portrayals of Muslims. In the Wake of the September 11 Attacks.
Li Y., Du J. & Bunt S. van de (2016). Social capital networking in China and the traditional values of Guanxi. In: The political economy of “Wasta”: use and abuse of social capital networking, Ramady, M. (Editor), Springer Publishers, Chapter 12, p.173-183.
Ramahi, D. & Suleiman, Y. (2017) Intimate strangers: perspectives on female converts to Islam in Britain, Contemporary Islam, 11: pp. 21-39.
Weir, D., Sultan, N., and Van de Bunt, S. (2016). Wasta: A Scourge or a Useful Management and Business Practice? In: The political economy of “Wasta”: use and abuse of social capital networking, Ramady, M. (editor), Springer Publishers, Chapter 2, pp. 23-31.
Hampden-Turner, C. and Trompenaars, F. with Cummings, T. (2015). Nine Visions of Capitalism, Infinite Idea Limited, Oxford. Chapter 2 Nothing to excess: can a once winning combination be overplayed?.
Team:
Elena Elli
Brechtje Kroes
Quinten Van As
Tatyana Varol
Serap Dalmizrak
Emily de Vries
Lilian Vijver (Contact person)
Gilat Rodrigues Garcia
Team 4:
Nowadays, there is a fear of a multicultural society (Marranci, 2004). The fear results from the potential integration of the Islam in Europe (Marranci, 2004). However, understanding the Arab world is of international importance (Weir, Sultan & van de Bunt, 2016). This corresponds to the prediction of multi-cultural diversity throughout the whole world (Sheth, 2006).
The creation of a multicultural society, requires space for the other, but also that one accepts that this common space includes close contact and interaction with other cultures, possibly leading to cultural transformations (Marranci, 2004). In this way, “you” as a citizen do not have to distance yourself from the discourse, but you just need to be aware that making space for another culture goes hand in hand with transformations. These transformations can be related to hybrid models for international organisations. It is suggested that international organisations may benefit from hybrid models when these organizations use both Western business practices and practices from the developing world . In this manner, the Westerners and Arabs may learn from each other (Weir et al., 2016). These hybrid models assume that both sides make room for each other , accepting thus the resulting transformation through this bilateral interaction. By using hybrid models, one prevents the self reference criterion (SRC) which means that one prefers one’s own values, perspectives and visions above the ones from other cultures (Sheth, 2006). This SRC can negatively impact a company, for example because this posture might lead to an insufficient use of the human capital in a company. Furthermore, it is important for businesses to accept that there can be multiple visions on phenomena and these can all be true (Sheth, 2006). This relates to the statement of team 3, as acknowledging that multiple visions can exist also means that there is space for other visions.
Consequently, we agree with team 3 which states that the interacting sides should attempt to reshape the understanding of their own culture and the culture they interact with rather than distancing themselves from cultural and religious discourse. We think that, just as relatives from a family member ignore the conversion of their family member (Ramahi & Suleiman, 2017), businesses have also ignored the conversion of their company to a hybrid company. Sheth (2006) states: ‘’Just like the world at large, a fusion of cultures is more desirable, and therefore more likely to occur, than a clash of cultures’’ (p. 221). In line with Sheth (2006), we propose that businesses and people need to actively reshape their understanding of their cultures.
Team 4: Anna Denk, Femke Boersma, Kaeye Klein, Marin Lanting, Marilena Sartzis, Maxime Slaats and Nina Brennecke
References
Marranci, G. (2004). Multiculturalism, Islam and the clash of civilisations theory:
rethinking Islamophobia. Culture and Religion, 5(1), 105-117.
Ramahi, D. & Suleiman, Y. (2017).Intimate strangers: perspectives on female converts to
Islam in Britain, Contemporary Islam, 11: 21-39.
Sheth, J. (2006). Clash of cultures or fusion of cultures? Implications for international
business. Journal of International Management. (12): 218-221.
Weir, D., Sultan, N., and Van de Bunt, S. (2016). Wasta: A Scourge or a Useful
Management and Business Practice? In: The political economy of “Wasta”: use and abuse of social capital networking, Ramady, M. (editor), Springer Publishers, Chapter 2, pp. 23-31.
With the world becoming increasingly connected and through disruptive Internet innovations, like Facebook and Twitter, it has become easier than ever to engage in intercultural and interreligious dialogue. Unfortunately, those same innovations have resulted in a more accessible, and widespread distribution of negative stereotyping and false information reinforced by the media (Korhan, 2006). We believe that this misinformation, and the general fear of the unknown that people sense, further decreases the level of mutual understanding, resulting in often unsuccessful intercultural and interreligious relationships. Especially after the 9/11 attacks, the topic of terrorism is often falsely correlated to to Muslims and ‘Islamic violence’ this fuels ignorance and misunderstandings, and negatively influences people’s perceptions, making it difficult to engage in prosperous intercultural dialogue (Ramahi and Suleiman, 2017).
As said by Marranci (2004), people fear the ‘cultural other’ and simply allocating a space for the ‘other’ is not enough. Moreover, we need to understand and accept the transformations that the cultural contacts and cultural interchanges with the ‘other’ may cause (p. 116). Building on this, we believe that understanding, and accepting, each other’s culture will be a more beneficial strategy rather than ‘avoiding’ the differences by cultural and religious distancing, and therefore agree with the statement presented.
As an example of the weight misinformation and a lack of understanding has, although in a slightly different situation, we can look at the current Coronavirus pandemic. Discrimination and racism against people from Chinese (and other Asian) ascendance has seen a significant increase, largely practiced by people who do not understand the workings of the virus (Medford et al., 2020). As suggested by Bakker (2017), sharing positive discussions and debates on the matter could help create an understanding and tolerance of each other’s cultures, build mutual trust, and in turn result in more fruitful intercultural relationships.
Team 2:
Derk Kappelle (Contact person)
Lindsay Lynch
Renske Velthoven
Paul Engelbert
David Iflé
Quinta Baaijens
Jamil Kreugel
Norbert Narancsik
Maaike Gerkema
References:
Bakker, B. 2017. One Bed Two Beliefs. Societal Influences in Everyday Life of Muslim- (post)Christian Couples in the Netherlands. MSc thesis, Faculty of Theology. Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam, Introduction and Chapter 1, 2 and 3.
Marranci, G. (2004). Multiculturalism, Islam and the clash of civilisations theory: rethinking Islamophobia. Culture and Religion, 5(1), 105-117.
Medford, R. J., Saleh, S. N., Sumarsono, A., Perl, T. M., & Lehmann, C. U. (2020). An” Infodemic”: Leveraging High-Volume Twitter Data to Understand Public Sentiment for the COVID-19 Outbreak.
Li Y., Du J. & Bunt S. van de (2016). Social capital networking in China and the traditional values of Guanxi. In: The political economy of “Wasta”: use and abuse of social capital networking, Ramady, M. (Editor), Springer Publishers, Chapter 12, p.173-183.
Korhan, D. (2006). Islamaphobia in the West: Framing of Islam and Muslims in the western media.
Ramahi, D. & Suleiman, Y. (2017) Intimate strangers: perspectives on female converts to Islam in Britain, Contemporary Islam, 11: pp. 21-39.
Today, we cannot ignore the fact that we live in a multicultural society. This requires us to engage in intercultural and interreligious dialogue with various people, whether this is in our personal or professional life. However, this does not always happen as successfully as desired or claimed. People may coexist with some tolerance for other cultures and religions, but a true multicultural society may miss, as different backgrounds are not appreciated as equally (Ramahi & Suleiman, 2017). An example that prevents the success of a multicultural society and intercultural and interreligious dialogue is Islamophobia. This ungrounded fear of Islam has been increasingly visible in mass media and political life, especially after September 11 2001 (Marranci, 2004; Mustafa, 2002). It spreads through the misrepresentations of Muslims and their life styles as being barbaric and the total opposite of Western society (Marranci, 2004). This misrepresentation of the Islam and Muslim people emphasizes the need to reshape the understanding of different cultures and religions, rather than just coexisting with each other in fear or with negative associations.
Therefore, our team agrees with the statement that team 3 has proposed. People should attempt to reshape the understanding of their own culture and the culture they interact with, rather than distancing themselves from cultural and religious discourse. A great example of where this happens successfully is in marriages between Muslims and Non-Muslims. Couples consciously reject the social construct of Islam and distance themselves from the negative image of Islam and Muslim people as provided by public discourse. They stress that the existing social constructs are merely an oversimplified and inaccurate image of the religion and the lifestyle related to Islam. This example emphasizes the importance of “looking further than the label”, as it gives a more positive and in-depth definition of Islam, without the misinterpretations that are associated with the phenomenon (Bakker, 2017). Additionally, it shows how the understanding of a religion can be reshaped. Thus, in line with the argumentations of team 3, we believe that reshaping the understanding of cultures and religions will foster prosperous intercultural relationships. However, it should be highlighted that this requires businesses and people to “look further than the label” and engage in intercultural and interreligious dialogue.
Team members: Atakan Ertuğrul, Alexander Evatt, Bart Hessing, Christophe de Groot, Julia Bernardo da Silva Lourenço, Laura Jahnke, Maria Azizian, Marija Lugarić, Rumeysa Özalp, Shuyue Guan and Sarah Cameron.
Contact person: Atakan Ertuğrul
References:
Bakker, B. 2017. One Bed Two Beliefs. Societal Influences in Everyday Life of Muslim- (post)Christian Couples in the Netherlands. MSc thesis, Faculty of Theology. Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam, Introduction and Chapter 1, 2 and 3.
Marranci, G. (2004). Multiculturalism, Islam and the clash of civilisations theory:
rethinking Islamophobia. Culture and Religion, 5(1), 105-117
Mustafa, H. 2002. Islam and the west in an era of globalization: clash of civilizations or coexistence. In Muslim Europe or Euro-Islam, politics, culture, and citizenship in the age of globalization, ed. N. Alsayyad and M. Castells. New York: Lexington Books.
Ramahi, D. & Suleiman, Y. (2017). Intimate strangers: perspectives on female converts to
Islam in Britain, Contemporary Islam, 11: 21-39.
The increasing globalization and technological developments has resulted in a modern day society in which a large amount of different cultures can or will need to interact with each other (e.g. Sheth, 2006). This leads to the need to understand and deal with these different cultures in order to thrive as a multicultural society. However, this (willingness of) understanding different cultures is not always observed among people from distinct backgrounds, which prevents common understanding (Ramahi & Suleiman, 2017).
For instance, as already mentioned by Group 3, the interaction between Western cultures and the Islam has led so several difficulties (Conte, 2001; Weir, Sultan & Van de Bunt, 2016; Bakker, 2017; Ramahi & Suleiman, 2017). We support their statement that the interacting sides should attempt to reshape the understanding of their own culture and the culture they interact with rather than distancing themselves from cultural and religious discourse.
Especially in the present-day world, in which the (social) media plays an important role, it is important to actually engage with people to get a better understanding of each other. Refraining from this can lead to misinterpretations, biases, and possible conflicts. This applies to both the personal and business environment. Interaction between different cultures and religions may sometimes lead to conflicts on the short term. For instance, interactions regarding this topic may lead to discussions between the two parties, since they do not fully understand each other’s perspective. However, further engagement will eventually result in common understanding and stronger relationships, forming a basis for a pleasant and thriving multicultural society.
Team members:
Emma Andersen, Previshka Bisnathsingh, Remi Golbach, Tom de Graaf, Floris Greuter, Mick Hoeben, Manish Jhinkoe-Rai, Rod Martinez Romero, Monique Mattos Xavier, Femke Reinders, Marie-Louise van Rooijen and Niels Ruitenberg.
Contact person team 6: Emma Andersen
References
Bakker, B. (2017). One Bed Two Beliefs. Societal Influences in Everyday Life of Muslim- (post)Christian Couples in the Netherlands. MSc thesis, Faculty of Theology. Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam, Introduction and Chapter 1, 2 and 3.
Conte, W. (2001). British Media Portrayals of Muslims. In the Wake of the September 11 Attacks.
Hampden-Turner, C. and Trompenaars, F. with Cummings, T. (2015). Nine Visions of Capitalism, Infinite Idea Limited, Oxford. Chapter 2 Nothing to excess: can a once winning combination be overplayed?.
Ramahi, D. & Suleiman, Y. (2017). Intimate strangers: perspectives on female converts to Islam in Britain, Contemporary Islam, 11: pp. 21-39.
Sheth, J. (2006). Clash of cultures or fusion of cultures? Implications for international
business. Journal of International Management. (12): 218-221.
Weir, D., Sultan, N., & Van de Bunt, S. (2016). Wasta: A Scourge or a Useful Management and Business Practice? In: The political economy of “Wasta”: use and abuse of social capital networking, Ramady, M. (editor), Springer Publishers, Chapter 2, pp. 23-31.
A lot of people these days think they live in a multicultural society. However, what we see often these days is that although we live next to each other, we do not understand what the other culture or religion is about or what drives them. We see this for example in the research done by Marranci (2004). He tries to show that Islamophobia is a real thing in the western world due to not knowing what the Islam really is about. Not understanding each other becomes a problem when people with two different cultures or religions clash, while they do not have to. We see this happen, for example, with female converts to the Islam (Ramahi & Suleiman, 2017). According to research these females that convert to the Islam get neglected or even ignored by their family because they feel betrayed. The main concern is why this is happening. One of the reasons according to research is the lack of interest in the new religion by the family (Ramahi & Suleiman, 2017). They refuse to learn about the new way of life even if this means little change. One of the interviewees even gave her father a Quran, but he did not even read one page of it, meanwhile drifting further away from his daughter. This is not only happening for female converts but all over the world for people with different religions or cultures. These two concepts are sometimes considered as one, which is not the case in most situations.
Another related research shows that three out of four mixed marriages fail in the first seven years of their marriage. A mixed marriage does not solely entail religion, as mentioned before, but also nationality, ethnicity, gender and many more. So, this construct of a mixed marriage is quite broad, which is one of the reasons why it is hard to investigate which characteristics collide with each other. Moreover, also the societal perception of what is ‘normal’ affects how people view mixed marriages (Bakker, 2017). Most couples of mixed marriages try to find a balance between the different practices and beliefs they hold (Arweck & Nesbitt, 2010). This way of acting corresponds to The Trompenaars Hampden-Turner Dilemma Reconciliation Process (DRP). Although the DRP is developed for business organizations, both try to fix the tension that exists between two opposing value propositions (Trompenaars & Hampden-Turner, 2020). An example of two opposing values in the business context is the role Guanxi plays in the Chinese culture, while in the western culture more objective criteria for reward, recruitment et cetera, are being used (Li, Du & Bunt, 2016).
To come back to your main statement, we agree that both cultures should understand their own culture and the culture of the people with whom they interact. We would like to add that the DRP can help with creating a shared understanding of both cultures and fixing the tension that might exist between the cultures. This would then lead to more potential to build trust and prosperous intercultural relationships.
Team 1: Anthony Allen, Anouk de Jong, Dennis Leicher, Nikki van der Pijl, David Quella, Jasper van der Sman, Jeanne Verheyden
References:
Arweck, E., & Nesbitt, E. (2010). Close encounters? The intersection of faith and ethnicity in mixed‐faith families. Journal of Beliefs & Values, 31(1), 39-52.
Bakker, B. (2017). One Bed Two Beliefs. Societal Influences in Everyday Life of Muslim-(post)Christian Couples in the Netherlands. MSc thesis, Faculty of Theology. Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam, Introduction and Chapter 1, 2 and 3.
Li Y., Du J. & Bunt S. van de (2016). Social capital networking in China and the traditional values of Guanxi. In: The political economy of “Wasta”: use and abuse of social capital networking, Ramady, M. (Editor), Springer Publishers, Chapter 12, pp.173-183.
Trompenaars, F., & Hampden-Turner, C. (2020). Riding the waves of culture: Understanding diversity in global business.
Marranci, G. (2004). Multiculturalism, Islam and the clash of civilisations theory: rethinking Islamophobia. Culture and Religion, 5(1), 105-117.
Ramahi, D. & Suleiman, Y. (2017). Intimate strangers: perspectives on female converts to Islam in Britain, Contemporary Islam, 11: 21-39.
CCM 2020-a Blog 
Intercultural and Interreligious dialogue
Can you meet me halfway? Quest-blog entry by team 3.
Today we see how the world is blending and different cultures get in touch with each other in an attempt to find a way to beneficially coexist in the contemporary global realm. Any form of interaction aims at mutual understanding in order to create peaceful relationships. But do we always get there? The interaction might not result in mutual understanding. It may end up with conflicts and stigmatization, ruining the potential of successful cooperation.
Therefore it is crucial to understand the successful ‘musts’ in the intercultural dialogue. What shall we consider when building it?
The level of the blend between religion and culture
Conte (2001) says “The language and images that the media have used in conjunction with ideas of Muslims and Islam have been value-loaded and lack context… portraying Islam as a dangerous religion rooted in violence and irrationality. While the world moves on and new ideas develop we still use the same words, in relation to Islam, that we used 10 and 20 years and even 30 years ago”. For instance, Western culture has quite a negative image of x Islam, built by media, which results in stereotyping. Many Westerners put religion above all other cultural features without attempting to dive deep into the individual cultural differences among the representatives of the same religion. This superficial understanding might result in distancing behaviours towards Muslims while interacting (Ramahi & Suleiman, 2017). This refrains them from establishing productive relationships since in the Muslim culture a relationship based on trustworthiness is an essential part for doing business in the Arab world (Weir, Sultan, van de Bunt, 2016). How do Muslims differ from each other? This question is usually never asked by people coming from Western cultures and for this reason stereotypes arise, limiting relationships.
The lens through which we are looking at things
From the Western point of view blending religion and business is something that has been left far behind (Hampden-Turner, Trompenaars & Cummings, 2015). Adopting Western lenses, the representatives of secular states might find it old-fashioned and inefficient that in the Arab world religion is still an essential part of business practice. For example, in the Arab world, a common practice of wasta (social network of interpersonal connection actively used while conducting business), which is regulated by Islamic rules, helps to build trust from the point of view of Islamic representatives. From the western point of view, it is a corrupted system of favoritism (Weir, Sultan, van de Bunt, 2016).
Another example of the western lens could be applied to the way we look at the community and networking. The concept of guanxi in China is woven into Chinese social and business life. Chinese people see the value of dependence on others, as this attitude promotes high concerns about one’s reputation (Li, Du & van de Bunt, 2016) while the representatives of the same religion on the individualistic culture might find it difficult to act in accordance with social preferences and expectations (Hampden-Turner, Trompenaars & Cummings, 2015).
The level of other’s desire to understand different cultures
In the interaction it is important for both sides to make a step forward. The example of rejection of Westerners who converted to Islam shows that the common understanding of the societal challenges and safe space for communication will not be created unless both sides will try to be open for different cultures (Ramahi & Suleiman, 2017). In their qualitative exploration Ramahi and Suleiman (2017) demonstrate that the attempts of the newly converted Muslims to explain their religious foundations does not make family’s or friends understanding better unless they express their desire to reshape their understanding of Islam. Respectively, authors call the converted to look at the event from the point of view of their relatives to build a mutual understanding of the event.
Taking into consideration all of the above, what is the best strategy we can extract to build an intercultural dialogue? While this issue is new in both research and practice, qualitative data has already been trying to provide practical solutions. Bakker (2017) identified interreligious marriages as a societal challenge. For instance, in the married couples where one is Muslim and another is Christian, Islamophobia is a dilemma in the relationship. Bakker (2017) introduced two strategies to deal with Islamophobia in marriages. First one is reshaping Islam as a contemporary approach to religion in terms of spiritual, intellectual and cultural aspects. The second strategy is distancing from the religious discourse in everyday life and creating a common language outside of the religious discourse.
In an attempt to apply the findings to the business reality, we see that using the second strategy is not always an option as many practices of the Arab world (and other cultures) are tightened to the religious content. Moreover, it is not clear what to do with the cultural differences which are not related to the religion.
Therefore, we propose and invite you to discuss the following: the interacting sides should attempt to reshape the understanding of their own culture and the culture they interact with rather than distancing themselves from cultural and religious discourse. We believe that this strategy has more potential to build trust and prosperous intercultural relationships. What do you think?
References
Bakker, B. 2017. One Bed Two Beliefs. Societal Influences in Everyday Life of Muslim- (post)Christian Couples in the Netherlands. MSc thesis, Faculty of Theology. Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam, Introduction and Chapter 1, 2 and 3.
Conte, W. (2001) British Media Portrayals of Muslims. In the Wake of the September 11 Attacks.
Li Y., Du J. & Bunt S. van de (2016). Social capital networking in China and the traditional values of Guanxi. In: The political economy of “Wasta”: use and abuse of social capital networking, Ramady, M. (Editor), Springer Publishers, Chapter 12, p.173-183.
Ramahi, D. & Suleiman, Y. (2017) Intimate strangers: perspectives on female converts to Islam in Britain, Contemporary Islam, 11: pp. 21-39.
Weir, D., Sultan, N., and Van de Bunt, S. (2016). Wasta: A Scourge or a Useful Management and Business Practice? In: The political economy of “Wasta”: use and abuse of social capital networking, Ramady, M. (editor), Springer Publishers, Chapter 2, pp. 23-31.
Hampden-Turner, C. and Trompenaars, F. with Cummings, T. (2015). Nine Visions of Capitalism, Infinite Idea Limited, Oxford. Chapter 2 Nothing to excess: can a once winning combination be overplayed?.
Team:
Elena Elli
Brechtje Kroes
Quinten Van As
Tatyana Varol
Serap Dalmizrak
Emily de Vries
Lilian Vijver (Contact person)
Gilat Rodrigues Garcia
LikeLike
Team 4:
Nowadays, there is a fear of a multicultural society (Marranci, 2004). The fear results from the potential integration of the Islam in Europe (Marranci, 2004). However, understanding the Arab world is of international importance (Weir, Sultan & van de Bunt, 2016). This corresponds to the prediction of multi-cultural diversity throughout the whole world (Sheth, 2006).
The creation of a multicultural society, requires space for the other, but also that one accepts that this common space includes close contact and interaction with other cultures, possibly leading to cultural transformations (Marranci, 2004). In this way, “you” as a citizen do not have to distance yourself from the discourse, but you just need to be aware that making space for another culture goes hand in hand with transformations. These transformations can be related to hybrid models for international organisations. It is suggested that international organisations may benefit from hybrid models when these organizations use both Western business practices and practices from the developing world . In this manner, the Westerners and Arabs may learn from each other (Weir et al., 2016). These hybrid models assume that both sides make room for each other , accepting thus the resulting transformation through this bilateral interaction. By using hybrid models, one prevents the self reference criterion (SRC) which means that one prefers one’s own values, perspectives and visions above the ones from other cultures (Sheth, 2006). This SRC can negatively impact a company, for example because this posture might lead to an insufficient use of the human capital in a company. Furthermore, it is important for businesses to accept that there can be multiple visions on phenomena and these can all be true (Sheth, 2006). This relates to the statement of team 3, as acknowledging that multiple visions can exist also means that there is space for other visions.
Consequently, we agree with team 3 which states that the interacting sides should attempt to reshape the understanding of their own culture and the culture they interact with rather than distancing themselves from cultural and religious discourse. We think that, just as relatives from a family member ignore the conversion of their family member (Ramahi & Suleiman, 2017), businesses have also ignored the conversion of their company to a hybrid company. Sheth (2006) states: ‘’Just like the world at large, a fusion of cultures is more desirable, and therefore more likely to occur, than a clash of cultures’’ (p. 221). In line with Sheth (2006), we propose that businesses and people need to actively reshape their understanding of their cultures.
Team 4: Anna Denk, Femke Boersma, Kaeye Klein, Marin Lanting, Marilena Sartzis, Maxime Slaats and Nina Brennecke
References
Marranci, G. (2004). Multiculturalism, Islam and the clash of civilisations theory:
rethinking Islamophobia. Culture and Religion, 5(1), 105-117.
Ramahi, D. & Suleiman, Y. (2017).Intimate strangers: perspectives on female converts to
Islam in Britain, Contemporary Islam, 11: 21-39.
Sheth, J. (2006). Clash of cultures or fusion of cultures? Implications for international
business. Journal of International Management. (12): 218-221.
Weir, D., Sultan, N., and Van de Bunt, S. (2016). Wasta: A Scourge or a Useful
Management and Business Practice? In: The political economy of “Wasta”: use and abuse of social capital networking, Ramady, M. (editor), Springer Publishers, Chapter 2, pp. 23-31.
LikeLike
With the world becoming increasingly connected and through disruptive Internet innovations, like Facebook and Twitter, it has become easier than ever to engage in intercultural and interreligious dialogue. Unfortunately, those same innovations have resulted in a more accessible, and widespread distribution of negative stereotyping and false information reinforced by the media (Korhan, 2006). We believe that this misinformation, and the general fear of the unknown that people sense, further decreases the level of mutual understanding, resulting in often unsuccessful intercultural and interreligious relationships. Especially after the 9/11 attacks, the topic of terrorism is often falsely correlated to to Muslims and ‘Islamic violence’ this fuels ignorance and misunderstandings, and negatively influences people’s perceptions, making it difficult to engage in prosperous intercultural dialogue (Ramahi and Suleiman, 2017).
As said by Marranci (2004), people fear the ‘cultural other’ and simply allocating a space for the ‘other’ is not enough. Moreover, we need to understand and accept the transformations that the cultural contacts and cultural interchanges with the ‘other’ may cause (p. 116). Building on this, we believe that understanding, and accepting, each other’s culture will be a more beneficial strategy rather than ‘avoiding’ the differences by cultural and religious distancing, and therefore agree with the statement presented.
As an example of the weight misinformation and a lack of understanding has, although in a slightly different situation, we can look at the current Coronavirus pandemic. Discrimination and racism against people from Chinese (and other Asian) ascendance has seen a significant increase, largely practiced by people who do not understand the workings of the virus (Medford et al., 2020). As suggested by Bakker (2017), sharing positive discussions and debates on the matter could help create an understanding and tolerance of each other’s cultures, build mutual trust, and in turn result in more fruitful intercultural relationships.
Team 2:
Derk Kappelle (Contact person)
Lindsay Lynch
Renske Velthoven
Paul Engelbert
David Iflé
Quinta Baaijens
Jamil Kreugel
Norbert Narancsik
Maaike Gerkema
References:
Bakker, B. 2017. One Bed Two Beliefs. Societal Influences in Everyday Life of Muslim- (post)Christian Couples in the Netherlands. MSc thesis, Faculty of Theology. Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam, Introduction and Chapter 1, 2 and 3.
Marranci, G. (2004). Multiculturalism, Islam and the clash of civilisations theory: rethinking Islamophobia. Culture and Religion, 5(1), 105-117.
Medford, R. J., Saleh, S. N., Sumarsono, A., Perl, T. M., & Lehmann, C. U. (2020). An” Infodemic”: Leveraging High-Volume Twitter Data to Understand Public Sentiment for the COVID-19 Outbreak.
Li Y., Du J. & Bunt S. van de (2016). Social capital networking in China and the traditional values of Guanxi. In: The political economy of “Wasta”: use and abuse of social capital networking, Ramady, M. (Editor), Springer Publishers, Chapter 12, p.173-183.
Korhan, D. (2006). Islamaphobia in the West: Framing of Islam and Muslims in the western media.
Ramahi, D. & Suleiman, Y. (2017) Intimate strangers: perspectives on female converts to Islam in Britain, Contemporary Islam, 11: pp. 21-39.
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Response group 5
Today, we cannot ignore the fact that we live in a multicultural society. This requires us to engage in intercultural and interreligious dialogue with various people, whether this is in our personal or professional life. However, this does not always happen as successfully as desired or claimed. People may coexist with some tolerance for other cultures and religions, but a true multicultural society may miss, as different backgrounds are not appreciated as equally (Ramahi & Suleiman, 2017). An example that prevents the success of a multicultural society and intercultural and interreligious dialogue is Islamophobia. This ungrounded fear of Islam has been increasingly visible in mass media and political life, especially after September 11 2001 (Marranci, 2004; Mustafa, 2002). It spreads through the misrepresentations of Muslims and their life styles as being barbaric and the total opposite of Western society (Marranci, 2004). This misrepresentation of the Islam and Muslim people emphasizes the need to reshape the understanding of different cultures and religions, rather than just coexisting with each other in fear or with negative associations.
Therefore, our team agrees with the statement that team 3 has proposed. People should attempt to reshape the understanding of their own culture and the culture they interact with, rather than distancing themselves from cultural and religious discourse. A great example of where this happens successfully is in marriages between Muslims and Non-Muslims. Couples consciously reject the social construct of Islam and distance themselves from the negative image of Islam and Muslim people as provided by public discourse. They stress that the existing social constructs are merely an oversimplified and inaccurate image of the religion and the lifestyle related to Islam. This example emphasizes the importance of “looking further than the label”, as it gives a more positive and in-depth definition of Islam, without the misinterpretations that are associated with the phenomenon (Bakker, 2017). Additionally, it shows how the understanding of a religion can be reshaped. Thus, in line with the argumentations of team 3, we believe that reshaping the understanding of cultures and religions will foster prosperous intercultural relationships. However, it should be highlighted that this requires businesses and people to “look further than the label” and engage in intercultural and interreligious dialogue.
Team members: Atakan Ertuğrul, Alexander Evatt, Bart Hessing, Christophe de Groot, Julia Bernardo da Silva Lourenço, Laura Jahnke, Maria Azizian, Marija Lugarić, Rumeysa Özalp, Shuyue Guan and Sarah Cameron.
Contact person: Atakan Ertuğrul
References:
Bakker, B. 2017. One Bed Two Beliefs. Societal Influences in Everyday Life of Muslim- (post)Christian Couples in the Netherlands. MSc thesis, Faculty of Theology. Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam, Introduction and Chapter 1, 2 and 3.
Marranci, G. (2004). Multiculturalism, Islam and the clash of civilisations theory:
rethinking Islamophobia. Culture and Religion, 5(1), 105-117
Mustafa, H. 2002. Islam and the west in an era of globalization: clash of civilizations or coexistence. In Muslim Europe or Euro-Islam, politics, culture, and citizenship in the age of globalization, ed. N. Alsayyad and M. Castells. New York: Lexington Books.
Ramahi, D. & Suleiman, Y. (2017). Intimate strangers: perspectives on female converts to
Islam in Britain, Contemporary Islam, 11: 21-39.
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The increasing globalization and technological developments has resulted in a modern day society in which a large amount of different cultures can or will need to interact with each other (e.g. Sheth, 2006). This leads to the need to understand and deal with these different cultures in order to thrive as a multicultural society. However, this (willingness of) understanding different cultures is not always observed among people from distinct backgrounds, which prevents common understanding (Ramahi & Suleiman, 2017).
For instance, as already mentioned by Group 3, the interaction between Western cultures and the Islam has led so several difficulties (Conte, 2001; Weir, Sultan & Van de Bunt, 2016; Bakker, 2017; Ramahi & Suleiman, 2017). We support their statement that the interacting sides should attempt to reshape the understanding of their own culture and the culture they interact with rather than distancing themselves from cultural and religious discourse.
Especially in the present-day world, in which the (social) media plays an important role, it is important to actually engage with people to get a better understanding of each other. Refraining from this can lead to misinterpretations, biases, and possible conflicts. This applies to both the personal and business environment. Interaction between different cultures and religions may sometimes lead to conflicts on the short term. For instance, interactions regarding this topic may lead to discussions between the two parties, since they do not fully understand each other’s perspective. However, further engagement will eventually result in common understanding and stronger relationships, forming a basis for a pleasant and thriving multicultural society.
Team members:
Emma Andersen, Previshka Bisnathsingh, Remi Golbach, Tom de Graaf, Floris Greuter, Mick Hoeben, Manish Jhinkoe-Rai, Rod Martinez Romero, Monique Mattos Xavier, Femke Reinders, Marie-Louise van Rooijen and Niels Ruitenberg.
Contact person team 6: Emma Andersen
References
Bakker, B. (2017). One Bed Two Beliefs. Societal Influences in Everyday Life of Muslim- (post)Christian Couples in the Netherlands. MSc thesis, Faculty of Theology. Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam, Introduction and Chapter 1, 2 and 3.
Conte, W. (2001). British Media Portrayals of Muslims. In the Wake of the September 11 Attacks.
Hampden-Turner, C. and Trompenaars, F. with Cummings, T. (2015). Nine Visions of Capitalism, Infinite Idea Limited, Oxford. Chapter 2 Nothing to excess: can a once winning combination be overplayed?.
Ramahi, D. & Suleiman, Y. (2017). Intimate strangers: perspectives on female converts to Islam in Britain, Contemporary Islam, 11: pp. 21-39.
Sheth, J. (2006). Clash of cultures or fusion of cultures? Implications for international
business. Journal of International Management. (12): 218-221.
Weir, D., Sultan, N., & Van de Bunt, S. (2016). Wasta: A Scourge or a Useful Management and Business Practice? In: The political economy of “Wasta”: use and abuse of social capital networking, Ramady, M. (editor), Springer Publishers, Chapter 2, pp. 23-31.
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A lot of people these days think they live in a multicultural society. However, what we see often these days is that although we live next to each other, we do not understand what the other culture or religion is about or what drives them. We see this for example in the research done by Marranci (2004). He tries to show that Islamophobia is a real thing in the western world due to not knowing what the Islam really is about. Not understanding each other becomes a problem when people with two different cultures or religions clash, while they do not have to. We see this happen, for example, with female converts to the Islam (Ramahi & Suleiman, 2017). According to research these females that convert to the Islam get neglected or even ignored by their family because they feel betrayed. The main concern is why this is happening. One of the reasons according to research is the lack of interest in the new religion by the family (Ramahi & Suleiman, 2017). They refuse to learn about the new way of life even if this means little change. One of the interviewees even gave her father a Quran, but he did not even read one page of it, meanwhile drifting further away from his daughter. This is not only happening for female converts but all over the world for people with different religions or cultures. These two concepts are sometimes considered as one, which is not the case in most situations.
Another related research shows that three out of four mixed marriages fail in the first seven years of their marriage. A mixed marriage does not solely entail religion, as mentioned before, but also nationality, ethnicity, gender and many more. So, this construct of a mixed marriage is quite broad, which is one of the reasons why it is hard to investigate which characteristics collide with each other. Moreover, also the societal perception of what is ‘normal’ affects how people view mixed marriages (Bakker, 2017). Most couples of mixed marriages try to find a balance between the different practices and beliefs they hold (Arweck & Nesbitt, 2010). This way of acting corresponds to The Trompenaars Hampden-Turner Dilemma Reconciliation Process (DRP). Although the DRP is developed for business organizations, both try to fix the tension that exists between two opposing value propositions (Trompenaars & Hampden-Turner, 2020). An example of two opposing values in the business context is the role Guanxi plays in the Chinese culture, while in the western culture more objective criteria for reward, recruitment et cetera, are being used (Li, Du & Bunt, 2016).
To come back to your main statement, we agree that both cultures should understand their own culture and the culture of the people with whom they interact. We would like to add that the DRP can help with creating a shared understanding of both cultures and fixing the tension that might exist between the cultures. This would then lead to more potential to build trust and prosperous intercultural relationships.
Team 1: Anthony Allen, Anouk de Jong, Dennis Leicher, Nikki van der Pijl, David Quella, Jasper van der Sman, Jeanne Verheyden
References:
Arweck, E., & Nesbitt, E. (2010). Close encounters? The intersection of faith and ethnicity in mixed‐faith families. Journal of Beliefs & Values, 31(1), 39-52.
Bakker, B. (2017). One Bed Two Beliefs. Societal Influences in Everyday Life of Muslim-(post)Christian Couples in the Netherlands. MSc thesis, Faculty of Theology. Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam, Introduction and Chapter 1, 2 and 3.
Li Y., Du J. & Bunt S. van de (2016). Social capital networking in China and the traditional values of Guanxi. In: The political economy of “Wasta”: use and abuse of social capital networking, Ramady, M. (Editor), Springer Publishers, Chapter 12, pp.173-183.
Trompenaars, F., & Hampden-Turner, C. (2020). Riding the waves of culture: Understanding diversity in global business.
Marranci, G. (2004). Multiculturalism, Islam and the clash of civilisations theory: rethinking Islamophobia. Culture and Religion, 5(1), 105-117.
Ramahi, D. & Suleiman, Y. (2017). Intimate strangers: perspectives on female converts to Islam in Britain, Contemporary Islam, 11: 21-39.
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