Mobilizing Essentialist Frameworks in Non-Essentialist Intercultural Training

Abstract

By and large, culture has been approached from two widely different perspectives in intercultural communication and training, generally known as essentialist and non-essentialist approaches. The chapter argues that a non-essentialist approach to training adopts a dynamic notion of culture and pays attention to the complex and multiple identities of the self and the other. This is realized (1) by considering all factors, in addition to culture, which might impact the interaction; (2) by including the full gamut of human interactions, not merely focusing on difference and problematic interactions; and (3) by putting personal experience at the center and aiming at raising self-awareness, instead of focusing mainly on “the other.” Taking the next step, the chapter argues how even cultural frameworks with origins in essentialist thinking can be applied in non-essentialist trainings as a heuristic device for articulating and jointly examining intercultural experiences. Two case studies of non-essentialist intercultural trainings conducted by the authors are discussed by way of illustration.