Diversity, Communication and Coexistence | VOL1 by Exedra Journal

Exedra Journal, Special issue 2011

Editorial Board Director Ana Maria Sarmento Coelho

Special issue editor Susana Gonçalves Scientific Council Pedro Balaus Custódio - Education Maria Cláudia Perdigão Andrade - Communication and Management Sciences Francisco Rúbio - Art & Humanities

Editorial Commitee José Pacheco (CIC/NDSIM) Margarida Paiva Oliveira (CDI) Carla Matos Dias (CDI)

Production online Edition - José Pacheco (CIC/NDSIM) - Carla Matos Dias (CDI) logo - Agostinho Franklim Carvalho/Pedro Coutinho graphic project - Agostinho Franklim Carvalho/José Pacheco EXEDRA: Revista Científica Electronic publication of the Politechnic Institute of Coimbra (Instituto Politécnico de Coimbra) / College of Education (Escola Superior de Educação) Periodicity: Semestral ISSN: 1646-9526 ISBN: 978-989-96927-2-5

Address for correspondence EXEDRA: Revista Científica Escola Superior de Educação de Coimbra Praça Heróis do Ultramar 3000-329 Coimbra - Portugal Tel: +351 239793120 - Fax: +351 239 401461 exedra@esec.pt | www.exedrajournal.com

Social Issues (Vol.1) Edited by Susana Gonรงalves Exedra Journal, Special issue 2011

TABLE OF CONTENTS VOLUME I: SOCIAL ISSUES 07 Foreword: diversity, communication and coexistence

Susana Gonçalves - Special Issue coordinator NARRATIVES OF COEXISTENCE 11-24 The two nationalistic narratives in danish compulsory education

Tore Bernt Sørensen 25-34 On a small mother tongue as a barrier to intercultural policies: the czech language

Jakub Zouhar 35-52 LexisPlanet®: a multicultural contemporary lexicon as an educational process based upon the process of indefinition

Eric Cattelain THE TURMOIL OF ILLEGAL IMMIGRATION 55-74 African Maghreb and Sub-Saharan immigration flows towards Spain

Virgílio Gonzalez 75-82 ‘This is not my country’- Illegal immigration through Patras towards the ‘Eldorado’ of Western Europe

Júlia A. Spinthourakis & P. Antonopoulou 83-88 Undocumented immigration in Arizona: a human quagmire

William Davey PSYCHOLOGICAL BORDERS OF COEXISTENCE 91-96 The traumatic experience of repressed persons as the psychological basis of forming the satiated values

Māra Vidnere

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97-116 Cultural diversity/transculturality: how to act in a setting of diverse rules

Wolfgang Berg 117 Authors

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Foreword: Diversity, Communication and Coexistence Susana Gonçalves

This special edition of the Exedra Journal is dedicated to diversity and issues of communication and coexistence in today’s societies. A number of international contributions has been collected, including research, essays, case studies and reports of school and community development projects. Authors from Cyprus, Czech Republic, Denmark, France, Germany, Greece, Latvia, Netherland, Spain, Sweden, United Kingdom and the USA provide us with a variety of thought-provoking reflections to contribute to the debate on diversity and help guide educational practices, both in formal and non-formal contexts, like school or social education. All together, the contributions gathered for this volume are also relevant reading for those interested in the policies of Education and social management. This special edition of the Exedra Journal on ‘Diversity, Communication and Coexistence’ is divided into two volumes, the first one dedicated to Social Issues and the second to Educational Issues. The first volume is divided in three parts. Part 1, Narratives of Coexistence, deals with educational, social and political processes that affect coexistence. Political approaches to diversity in society (and to immigrants and ethnic minorities) have a tremendous impact in school and education, as the example from Denmark (article by Tore Bernt Sørensen) shows. Linguistic differences are central to understanding issues of national identity and international cooperation. In his article, Jakub Zouhar speaks of the linguistic situation in the present Czech Republic and some of the attitudes behind government educational policy, so contributing an example of the problems faced by small language groups and countries which necessitates the population’s acquisition of other languages to further commerce, culture and mobility of its citizens. Would a common language based on a multicultural contemporary lexicon solve part of the problem? Learning languages promotes understanding and tolerance. This aspect is relevant for the development of basic skills regarding internationalization and promotion of plurilingualism in Europe. As societies become more multicultural, knowledge of other cultures is gradually more necessary, not only in teaching-learning processes but also in daily life. Would it be something to include in citizen’s and pupils’ education? The article by Eric Cattelain sustains that it is possible to construct an instrumental lexicon for the global citizen. Drawing upon the work of many distinguished linguists, the author outlines a unique approach called “Indefinition” that deals with semantics across linguistic and cultural

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lines; this approach with its application under LexisPlanet®, an intercultural lexicon for the world. Part 2, The turmoil of illegal immigration, includes three examples of undocumented massive immigrant flows still a burning (political and social) issue for receiving and sending countries. African Maghreb and sub-Saharan immigration to Europe (through Spain, namely Ceuta and Melilla), Asian and Middle East immigration through Patras in Greece and undocumented immigration (namely from Mexico) to Arizona are cases presented in the contributions by Virgílio Gonzalez, Julia Spinthourakis & P. Antonopoulou and William Davey, respectively. These cases are only a few examples of the massive tragedy of millions of peoples in those Asian, African and south American countries fustigated by poverty, tyranny, disease and misery. Together, these examples should take us to a more humanist view of the social and psychological aspects behind illegal immigration. Part 3, Psychological borders of coexistence, includes two articles. Focused on the tensions of coexistence, namely under the scope of imperial invasions, the paper contributed by Māra Vidnere tells us about a very hard historical situation: soviet imperialism and its effects on deported imperial Latvian citizens to forced labor camps in Siberia. The third article is an essay by Wolfgang Berg where the author deconstructs “culturalist” notions in favor of the complexities that exist in the citizens of modern society. He defines and explores the concepts of “diversity, culture and transculturality” in a systematic and reasoned way, giving examples of how these concepts actually work and manifest themselves among people in the real world. *** The second volume of this special edition on ‘Diversity, Communication and Coexistence’ is about Educational Issues. It corresponds to part 4 of the edition, including eight articles. Part 4, Fostering the intercultural agenda, is dedicated to the report of a number of examples of intercultural practices, both in formal and informal education, both face to face and virtual. This set of articles deals with different aspects of interculturalism in language, religion, national identity and cultural learning as a means to promote peaceful and enriching intercultural coexistence. First, Ulla Lundgren informs us about a Trans-Atlantic intercultural university project involving American and Swedish students, giving us a nice example of university cooperation at the level of curriculum teaching and learning. The article looks at the cognitive as well as the affective sides of intercultural competence (IC) through the joint study of fictional texts and the comments and reflections triggered by the participant’s encounter with different readings. 8

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Sebastián Fernández, Miguel Vigil and Maria del Mar Gómez devote their article to coexistence in schools and present a questionnaire for the evaluation of coexistence in educational contexts of cultural diversity. The questionnaire takes into consideration the complexity of converging factors that affect relations between members of the educational community. The research on which the questionnaire is based is summarized in this article, so contributing to better understanding of the issues in presence. Michalinos Zenbylas reports on experimental school integration between Greek and Turkish students on the Island of Cyprus. This case study reveals that alienation between the two groups runs along ethnic, religious, political and social lines, for these groups, cohabitation was a bold attempt that yielded some interesting results, focusing mainly on the types of concessions that need to be made by students and teachers alike. The articles by Ineke Braak–van Kasteel and by Danny Felsteiner & Koen Braak both report Dutch based project of international cooperation through art and music aiming to promote community welfare and education in the Middle East. These community based projects have proven to lessen tensions and foster understanding in conflictively diverse communities and to build bridges between school and culture, families and culture and the home and outside community. Clive Billighan and Peter Driver are both focused in school projects in the city of Leicester, UK. Clive Billigham reports an initiative taken in Northern England toward breaking down barriers not only in the schools, but in using the schools as centres of outreach, reconciliation and cohesion for the community at large. The procedure and activities that brought together diverse communities (students, parents and teachers) are outlined and detailed feedback is given. Peter Driver deals with a project of school “twinning” for the sake of intercultural learning and community cohesion. Here, activities were planned with a view to involving whole families in the educational process, stimulating more parental involvement with their children’s education and adult interest in life-long learning. Both cases are success stories in the search for activities to promote intercultural understanding and cohesion. Finally, the article by Maria José Molina Garcia is focused on the first levels of the education system and tells us about the importance of children’s literature in multicultural and plurilingual contexts. The article explores the many beneficial facets of how literature can be used for intercultural education providing us with a list of informative websites and publications. This set of research, essays and case studies present some aspects of the complex pursuit of harmonious coexistence in a context of social diversity. I hope this special issue, given its international facet and the multiple approaches taken by the authors

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will contribute to a better understanding of the phenomenon and also for the interested audience, namely those committed to Education be it for the purpose of research, project development, definition of policies or direct teaching, so that better educational strategies, measures and policies can be envisaged and put into practice.

NARRATIVES OF COEXISTENCE The two nationalistic narratives in danish compulsory education Tore Bernt Sørensen On a small mother tongue as a barrier to intercultural policies: the czech language Jakub Zouhar LexisPlanet®: a multicultural contemporary lexicon as an educational process based upon the process of indefinition Eric Cattelain THE TURMOIL OF ILLEGAL IMMIGRATION African Maghreb and Sub-Saharan immigration flows towards Spain Virgílio Gonzalez ‘This is not my country’- illegal immigration through Patras towards the ‘Eldorado’ of Western Europe Júlia A. Spinthourakis & P. Antonopoulou Undocumented immigration in Arizona: a human quagmire William Davey PSYCHOLOGICAL BORDERS OF COEXISTENCE Acculturation and the perception of success in life: muslim youth in Belgium Katrien Mertens The traumatic experience of repressed persons as the psychological basis of forming the satiated Values Māra Vidnere Cultural diversity/Transculturality: how to act in a setting of diverse rules Wolfgang Berg

NARRATIVES OF COEXISTENCE

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The two nationalistic narratives in Danish compulsory education Tore Bernt Sørensen

Danmarks Pædagogiske Universitetsskole - Aarhus Universitet of Copenhagen Danish School of Education - Aarhus University of Copenhagen

Abstract As in many other European countries one of the most prominent challenges to the Danish education system in the last twenty years has concerned how to cope with ethnic and cultural diversity. On the basis of existing research findings, this study discusses factors which sustain the educational inequalities facing ethnic minority pupils in the Danish context. The main argument is that two nationalistic narratives, adopted by policy-makers and education professionals respectively, continuously has impeded the development of intercultural education. The paper maintains that both narratives have drawn on national-liberal ideas popularly ascribed to Danish priest and scholar N.F.S. Grundtvig. Against this background, the paper points out two distinctive sets of effects. First, the nationalistic narrative adopted by policy-makers serves to legitimate neo-conservative education policies. Second, teachers and teacher trainers have for decades endorsed a ‘pedagogical nationalism’ which relies on implicit double standards. Vague ideas in the disguise of child-centred education have thus allowed a nationalistic framework to be taken more or less for granted while the backgrounds, resources and needs of ethnic minority pupils have generally been ignored. The paper concludes by discussing the prospects for intercultural education in Denmark in the light of the two nationalistic narratives and the impact of transnational policy trends related to market ideas and performativity. In that respect, it is argued that while certain initiatives and policies might improve educational equality for ethnic minority pupils in the longer term, the opportunities for substantial progress in the short term appear rather bleak.

Like in most other countries, policy-makers in Denmark have a major responsibility for the educational inequalities facing ethnic minority pupils due to neo-conservative education policies. In that respect, teachers and teacher trainers may be seen as key actors in confronting and opposing such policies which undermine the peaceful coexistence in the Danish multicultural society. However, on the basis of existing research 15

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findings this paper argues that there are actually two nationalistic narratives at work in Danish education since long established ideas and practices of education among teachers and teacher trainers also impede the development of intercultural education in Denmark. The notion of ‘pedagogical nationalism’ will be used to conceptualize this particular narrative. This argument adds new perspectives on the barriers for developing intercultural education in the Danish context.

The Danish context Public sector education has been strongly supported in Denmark since the beginning of the 20th century. Thus, currently 84 per cent of children attend the public sector comprehensive school, called the folkeskole (literally meaning “the people’s school”) (Hornbek 2009). Due to labour immigration, family reunifications and refugees the number of ethnic minority pupils in Danish compulsory education increased steadily from the 1960s to the mid-2000s. Today, the share of ethnic minority pupils is currently around ten percent, with the largest shares living in the major urban areas. In official terminology, ‘bilingual pupils’ has since the mid-1990s been the main term to denote the group of ethnic minority pupils in Denmark. Between 1996 and 2010, the Danish School Act defined the group as follows:

Bilingual children are children who speak another mother tongue than Danish, and who do not learn Danish until they come into contact with the surrounding society, e.g. through the school’s teaching.1 However, in the name of ‘deregulation’ the School Act was universalised in terms of language norms in 2010 when the section containing the group definition was repealed with uniform parliamentary support and instead integrated within pre-school legislation (Act 360, 2010). At first glance, the repeal may appear peculiar since one of the most prominent challenges to Danish education concerns how to cope with ethnic and cultural diversity (Winther-Jensen 2004). Research evidence has since the mid-1990s spelled out the educational inequalities facing ethnic minority pupils in Denmark. The issues often mentioned include national and local policy-makers’ lack of commitment, the repeal in 2002 of the municipal obligation to provide mother tongue tuition for pupils with origins outside the European Economic Area, lack of transparency concerning resource allocation, low levels of formal competences among teachers, and the absence of a ‘culture of evaluation’. The expansive Danish research evidence includes e.g. Kristjánsdóttir (2006), Kristjánsdóttir & Timm (2007), Gitz-Johansen (2006), Karrebæk (2006), Sørensen (2011), Saarup et al. (2004) and Danmarks Evalueringsinstitut (2007). Their findings are supported by the otherwise enormously influential PISA and TIMSS studies and the OECD peer review of Danish schooling (OECD, 2004). However, seen in 16

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the context of Danish education policy since the 1970s the recent step towards ‘languageblindness’ in the School Act is not particularly surprising. Rather, the repeal constitutes yet another manifestation of the profound lack of political will to recognize the cultural diversity in Danish society as a permanent condition.

Two nationalistic narratives Nationalism and globalizing processes often co-exist as phenomena shaping educational policy-making and practices (Rhea & Seddon 2005). This is also the case in the Danish education policy where the global generic policy ensemble of market, management and performativity (Ball 2008) has become increasingly evident during the 2000s. These trends have put the traditional sector-specific mindsets and practices of teachers and teacher trainers under pressure. On the other hand, educational policymaking as well as teacher professionalism in Danish education remain profoundly shaped by two distinctive yet related nationalistic narratives. According to Zambeta (2005), nationalistic narratives rely on claims concerning the distinctiveness, originality, nobility and supremacy of a national culture. This paper discusses the particular expressions and effects of the two nationalistic narratives at work in Danish education. Both nationalistic narratives legitimate themselves by referring to the heritage of the national icon, priest and universal-historian N.F.S. Grundtvig (1783 – 1872). Even though Korsgaard & Wiborg (2006) dispute the ubiquitous claims for Grundtvig’s profound influence on Danish education in the 19th and early 20th century, the legacy of Grundtvig is very often invoked by policy-makers and education professionals. Against this background, Grundtvig’s educational ideas, and not least how they have been kneaded for various purposes, provide a key to understand the educational inequalities facing ethnic minority pupils in Denmark. Winther-Jensen (2004) thus associates Grundtvig’s communitarian ideas of a ‘school for life’ with a distinctive Danish educational tradition since they remain highly evident in governance, curriculum and teaching methods (Winther-Jensen 2004). The ideas have for example contributed to the relatively low levels of tracking and assessment in the folkeskole, the relatively decentralized character of Danish compulsory education, and the freedom of method granted to teachers (Winther-Jensen 2007). At the same time, these apparently anti-elitist and liberal educational ideas have remained firmly embedded in essentialist conceptions of Danish national culture. According to Grundtvig’s spiritual ideal of ‘vertical enlightenment’ the Danes must thus share a common language, history, religion and tradition which he associated closely with the mythic roots of the Danish nation and the soil of its territory (Korsgaard 1997).

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Both nationalistic narratives have drawn on these national-liberal ideas and promoted lingual and cultural homogeneity as educational objectives. However, they also differ in some ways. First, the nationalistic narrative inherent to the neo-conservative policy discourses has especially during the 2000s invoked Grundtvig’s ideas to legitimate a more centrally defined school curriculum which puts emphasis on the reproduction of ‘Danish values’ through education in order to reinforce social cohesion. A crucial element in the restoration of an explicitly national curriculum has been the project of the ‘Danish Cultural Canon’ which was initiated by the Liberal-Conservative government in 2005 and one year later resulted in canons covering for example literature, history, film, music, architecture, design and, notably, children’s culture. The particular Canons of Literature and History have thus since the mid-2000s been increasingly integrated as prescribed knowledge areas in the national curriculum. In addition, a Canon of Democracy meant to serve as educational guidance in schools was published in 2008. This canon claims that the development of the liberal Danish democratic system has been profoundly shaped by Christian values (Sørensen 2011). The nationalistic narrative guiding policy-making is supplemented by the ‘pedagogical nationalism’ among teachers and teacher trainers. This second nationalistic narrative puts emphasis on other aspects of Grundtvig’s ideas, in particular the socialization of pupils into learning communities defined by consensus, solidarity and equality. In practice, these apparently good-natured principles have caused inertia in the educational system in terms of confronting the inequalities facing ethnic minority pupils. DahlerLarsen (2006) thus points out that teachers and teacher educators in Denmark idealize learning practices which consider life-long and life-wide development. The ambiguity and difficulties associated with evaluating such learning processes mean that the notion of ’soft competences’ has been widely applied to epitomize the incomprehensible and to articulate a disdain for assessment in general. Against this background, DahlerLarsen argues that Danish teacher professionalism for decades has sustained inertia in educational development due to the fundamental claim that the most important outcomes of education are not measurable and should indeed never be measured because if outcomes were to be measured, the individual pupil would become subject to instrumental views of learning which might fail to appreciate their personal development. In other words, the assumptions underlying Danish teacher professionalism have resulted in an opaque mysticism in the disguise of child-centred learning. In the light of the well-documented inertia among teachers and teacher educators in responding to the increasing cultural diversity in Danish society on any substantial level, this mysticism is also the key to understand the character and workings of pedagogic nationalism in Denmark. Pedagogic nationalism may be understood as being based on double standards, that is, hypocrisy, which in practice makes it remarkably compatible 18

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with the neo-conservative rationale of ‘vertical enlightenment’ promoted by policymakers. On the one hand, pedagogic nationalism thus acclaims the inviolability of the individual pupil, while it on the other hand entails the general neglect of the particular backgrounds, resources and needs of ethnic minority pupils. Pedagogic nationalism has therefore in a more or less implicit manner sustained the essentialist paradigm of one language/one religion/one people/one nation. Accordingly, deeper reflections on intercultural education and short-lived experiments have been sidelined by the usual educational practices, supplemented with the occasional celebration of cultural diversity (Kristjánsdóttir 2006). Furthermore, it should be mentioned that pedagogic nationalism is manifesting itself well beyond classroom activities, for example when teachers focus on the dichotomy of Danish versus non-Danish in their conversations with ethnic minority parents as well as indigenous parents (Lehmkuhl 2004), or in the case of ‘cultural evenings’ in schools where artifacts and practices of ethnic minority groups are celebrated. Altogether, these undoubtedly well-intentioned yet ignorant efforts serve to entrench the ‘othering’ of ethnic minority pupils and parents in educational practices and wider society (Gitz-Johansen 2006).

The prospects for intercultural education In Danish compulsory education, moving beyond the current precarious situation must involve reflections about how intercultural education can be developed in a context where policy-making as well as teacher professionalism are profoundly influenced by nationalistic narratives. As those most acutely aware of the fundamentally social character of education, teachers and teacher trainers remain key actors in the development of intercultural education. However, substantial development hinges on the explicit confrontation with both national narratives, that is, the pedagogical nationalism existing among colleagues and the general field of education as well as the neo-conservative policies imposed top-down. However, the fundamental impact of economic globalization and transnational policy-making on national and local education policy should be considered in that respect (Moutsios 2010). Since the 1990s the OECD and the European Union have successfully promoted a generic policy ensemble of market, management and performativity (Ball 2008). As a result, educational policy-making has in many countries been influenced by a particular form of neo-liberal economic determinism. Ball (2008) argues that the overall emergence of performativity signals the cultural refocusing of education as a regime of accountability which employs (often opaque) judgments, comparisons and displays as means of control and change. In the general discussion of the implications of such cultural refocusing and the prospects for intercultural education in that respect, 19

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it is useful to return to the crystalline work of Lyotard. Lyotard (1986) used the concept of performativity to address fundamental changes in the conception of knowledge in contemporary higher education. In particular, Lyotard anticipated that the emerging commodification of knowledge would lead to the reversal of the relationship between science and technology, that is, an subordination of the ‘truth criterion’ (Is it true?) by the ‘technical criterion’ (Is it efficient and salable?). In this way Lyotard pointed out that meticulous research based in robust ontological and epistemological arguments was likely to become replaced by ‘what works’ research aimed at fixing ‘system errors’ without questioning the fundamental ‘truth’ assumptions underlying the system in general as long as the system appears efficient and responsive to consumer demands. In other words, the shift towards performativity may entail that controversial and ‘inconvenient’ truths are silenced or ridiculed as being irresponsible according to the majority’s common sense assumptions about social reality. So, where does this leave intercultural education and the prospects for improving educational inequalities? Especially during the 2000s, Danish education has been clearly affected by transnational policy-making. Like elsewhere, this entails challenging the established ideas of teacher professionalism. Dahler-Larsen (2006) points out that the continuing invocation of Grundtvig by teaching professionals and the associated dismissal of systematic evaluation procedures have rendered the Danish folkeskole extremely vulnerable to such external pressures. Provided that a ‘culture of evaluation’ based on professional and pedagogical criteria had been developed it could have served to argue against the reductionist ‘one-size-fits-all’ policies now so eagerly adopted by Danish policy-makers (Dahler-Larsen 2006). Accordingly, Danish compulsory education have during the last decade been subject to the transnational rhetorics of ‘the knowledge economy’ and the associated pressures of performativity, with statutory ‘National Tests’, publication of school performances and freer school choice as some of the clearest manifestations of the efforts to introduce market ideas in the school system (Sørensen 2011). Against this background, the prospects of intercultural education in the Danish context may be understood as depending on the outcomes related to the tensions between global policy trends and the two nationalistic narratives of neo-conservative policy discourses and pedagogic nationalism. In that respect, it could be argued that scientific progress in educational sciences combined with the subordination of education to economic imperatives may indeed help to raise awareness of the obvious rationales for intercultural education in a long-term socio-economic perspective. However, Lyotard (1986) and Ball (2008) remind us that within the paradigm of performativity educational systems the consideration of ‘truth criteria’ are subordinated the endorsement of ‘technical criteria’. In other words, despite the pedagogical truth criteria which unambiguously tell us that 20

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the systematic recognition of ethnic minority pupils’ backgrounds, resources and needs would benefit their learning as well as widen the horizons of their classmates, the case for intercultural education may continue to be considered irrelevant in an anxious market place profoundly biased towards the consumer demands of the indigenous majority. In this perspective, the very term ‘National Tests’ perfectly epitomizes the ways ‘technical criteria’ at once may serve the ‘efficient’ accumulation of market information and the measurement-driven reinforcement of the conventional truth concerning power relations between ethnic majority and minority. Furthermore, performativity and the associated cultural refocusing of education result in stressful school environments. Dahler-Larsen (2006) argues that the ‘culture of evaluation’ promoted in Danish education is actually likely to lead to a ‘performance paradox’ where the adopted policy tools may prove to have damaging effects on school performance. In this process of adaptation to an educational market place, the prospects for intercultural education in Denmark appear rather bleak since the basic conditions for reflection and substantial critique are eroded by the new demands of performativity. An extremely dedicated math teacher epitomized the implications elegantly when he during an action learning project, in which the author was involved, stated ‘When I am stressed, I start thinking conservatively’. Another expression of the current lack of energy is the finding that in Danish schools with large shares of ethnic minority pupils the school heads assess resistance among staff to be the most prominent barrier for pedagogic development (Undervisningsministeriet 2007). Thus, while there also in Denmark may be a lot of action involved in the creation of the emerging educational market place, nothing really happens in terms of confronting the educational inequalities facing ethnic minority pupils. If anything, the bias of the market place is likely to deepen them in the years to come. Striking a note of optimism in the end, the strong political commitment to assimilation has on national and local level led to the funding of several R&D projects in which aspects of intercultural education are discernible. Thus, while Danish state authorities, in particular the three ministries of Education, Culture and Refugees, Immigrants and Integration, during the 2000s have put themselves firmly in the driving seat in the pursuit of swift assimilation (Kristjánsdóttir 2006, Sørensen 2011), especially R&D projects in relation to ‘language-across-the-curriculum’ have reflected more inclusive approaches to lingual and cultural diversity (such as Laursen et al. 2008 and Laursen 2010). The findings from these projects have been presented and discussed on numerous conferences and in-service teacher training courses (Sorensen 2008). Moreover, the Danish Ministry of Education in 2009 established a ‘task force’ to disseminate R&D findings and support local school development. Finally, the 2006 reform of teacher education may over the next decades nourish the development of 21

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intercultural education since it established ‘Danish as a second language’ as a permanent subject in teacher education. In addition, teacher students must now learn about the challenges bilingual pupils face in each subject (Act 579, 2006). While such projects and initiatives are not likely to lead to substantial changes in the short term they may in the longer term contribute to intercultural education being taken seriously among policymakers as well as teaching professionals and thereby influence the ‘truth’ and ‘technical criteria’ underpinning Danish education.

References Act 579 (2006) [Lov nr 579 af 09/06/2006. Lov om uddannelsen til professionsbachelor som lærer i folkeskolen.]. Available at https://www.retsinformation.dk/Forms/R0710. aspx?id=25113 Act 360 (2010) [Lov nr 360 af 11/06/2010. Lov om ændring af lov om dag-, fritidsog klubtilbud m.v. til børn og unge (dagtilbudsloven) og lov om folkeskolen (Afbureaukratisering af reglerne om pædagogiske læreplaner, sprogvurderinger og børnemiljøvurderinger m.v.)]. Available at https://www.retsinformation.dk/ Forms/R0710.aspx?id=132412 Ball, S. J. (2008). The education debate. Bristol: Policy. Dahler-Larsen, P. (2006). Evalueringskultur: et begreb bliver til. Studies in history and social sciences, vol. 318. Odense: University of Southern Denmark. Danmarks Evalueringsinstitut [The Danish Evaluation Institute] (2007). Undervisning af tosprogede elever. Copenhagen: Danmarks Evalueringsinstitut. Gitz-Johansen, T. (2006). Den multikulturelle skole: Integration og sortering. Frederiksberg: Roskilde Universitet. Hornbek, A. M. B. (2009). Elevernes herkomst i grundskolen 2008/2009. UNI-C Statistik & Analyse. Available at http://www.uvm.dk/~/media/Files/Stat/Folkeskolen/ PDF09/090914%20herkomst.ashx Karrebæk, M. S. (2006). Tosprogede børn i det danske samfund. Copenhagen: Hans Reitzel. Korsgaard, O. (1997). Kampen om lyset. Copenhagen: Gyldendal. Korsgaard, O. & Wiborg, S. (2006). Grundtvig – the key to danish education. Scandinavian Journal of Educational Research, 50(3), 361-382. Kristjánsdóttir, B.S. (2006). Evas skjulte børn: diskurser om tosprogede elever i det danske nationalcurriculum. PhD dissertation. Copenhagen: School of Education, Aarhus University.

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Kristjánsdóttir, B. S. & Timm, L. (2007). Tvetunget uddannelsespolitik: dokumentation af etnisk ulighed i folkeskolen. Frederiksberg: Nyt fra Samfundsvidenskaberne. Laursen, H. P. (2010). Tegn på sprog: skrift og betydning i flersprogede klasserum. Copenhagen: UCC. Available at http://www.ucc.dk/public/dokumenter/Om%20UCC/ Forlaget%20UCC/Tegn%20p%E5%20sprog/Tegn_p%E5_sprog_web.pdf Laursen, H. P., Daugaard, L. M., Lundqvist, U., & Sørensen, T. (2008). Sproget med i alle fag. Andetsprog og didaktik i folkeskolen. Copenhagen: Danish Ministry of Education. Available at http://pub.uvm.dk/2008/sprogogfag/ Lehmkuhl, M. (2004). “Som har en anden hudfarve havde jeg nær sagt ik’ …”: en kvalitativ og kvantitativ analyse af positionering og dominans i skole-hjem-samtaler med etsprogede og tosprogede forældre. Copenhagen Studies in Bilingualism, vol. 38. Copenhagen: Faculty of Humanities, University of Copenhagen. Lyotard, J. F. (1986). The postmodern condition: a report on knowledge. Manchester: Manchester University. Moutsios, S. (2010). Power, politics and transnational policy-making in education. Globalisation, Societies and Education, 8(1), 121 - 141. OECD (2004). Special session of the education committee: pilot review of the quality and equity of schooling outcomes in Denmark. Available at http://pub.uvm.dk/2004/ oecd/final.pdf Rhea, Z. M. & Seddon, T. (2005). Negotiating nation: globalization and knowing. In D. Coulby, & E. Zambeta (eds. 2005). Globalization and nationalism in education. World yearbook of education 2005 (pp. 209-224). Oxon: RoutledgeFalmer. Saarup, J., Andersen, B., Luna, J., Schlamovitz & Timm, L. (2004). Evaluering af dansk som andetsprog i folkeskolen. Copenhagen: CVU København & Nordsjælland. Sørensen, T. B. (2008). Developing teacher competences in facilitating content and language learning among bilingual students in the danish mainstream classroom. In S. Goncalves (2008). Identity, diversity and intercultural dialogue. Proceedings 5th International Week. Coimbra: Instituto Politécnico de Coimbra, Escola Superior de Educação. Available at https://ndsim.esec.pt/pagina/si/docs/00livro_actas.pdf Sørensen, T. B. (2011). The bias of markets: a comparative study of the market form and identity politics in english and danish compulsory education. Copenhagen studies in Bilingualism, vol. 60. Copenhagen: Faculty of Humanities, University of Copenhagen. Undervisningsministeriet [Danish Ministry of Education] (2007). Sku’ det være noget særligt …? Ledelse på skoler med tosprogede elever. Dette virker på vores skole, delprojekt 3. Copenhagen: Ministry of Education. 23

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Winther-Jensen, T. (2004). Komparativ pædagogik: faglig tradition og global udfordring. Copenhagen: Akademisk Forlag. Winther-Jensen, T. (2007). Grundskolen i Danmark 1814-2005: reformer, politik og lovgivning. In K. Jensen, & N. R. Jensen (eds.). Staten og den institutionelle pædagogik (pp. 13-46). Copenhagen: Danish School of Education, Aarhus University. Zambeta, E. (2005). The survival of nationalism in a globalized system. In D. Coulby, & E. Zambeta (2005). Globalization and nationalism in education. World yearbook of education 2005 (pp. 59-88). Oxon: RoutledgeFalmer.

Notes 1 In Danish: ‘Ved tosprogede børn forstås børn, der har et andet modersmål end dansk, og som først ved kontakt med det omgivende samfund, eventuelt gennem skolens undervisning, lærer dansk.’

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On a small mother tongue as a barrier to intercultural policies: the Czech language Jakub Zouhar

University of Hradec KrĂĄlovĂŠ, Czech Republic

Abstract The essay will discuss the influence of a small language on intercultural policies in the Czech Republic. The Czech language as the only official language in the Czech Republic can definitely be ranked among small European languages since it numbers only over 11 million native speakers. There is no doubt that the fact must affect the way of thinking of the majority of Czech society. From any intercultural policyâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s point of view, the impact on the society might be considered as adverse. It will be argued that the Czech society might face an uphill struggle to become international more significantly than other societies that are historically connected with different cultures across the world. The language, needless to say, plays a key role here. Despite the fact, the Czech society has after all an advantage of all similarly small language groups, i.e. nearly everyone is motivated to become multilingual.

You live a new life for every new language you speak (Czech proverb) I It has already been said many times that globalisation is a complex and controversial concept. There is little agreement in the literature on what it is, whether it is or is not taking place, whether it is new or old, and if it is good or bad. The process of intensification of interconnectedness, however, does not come about without certain underlying socioeconomic conditions and policy mechanisms. Globalisation, thus, needs to be understood not merely in terms of greater interconnectedness or of creating a single global economic space but also in terms of the underlying context that has made it possible, as well as the institutional arrangements and policy instruments that serve as mechanisms for promoting it. Nonetheless, there is no doubt that it has just started and everyone must assume his 25

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attitude towards the new international political and economic situation. No matter where we live, or what we do for a living, we all are influenced by this concept. That is each individual member of our civilisation including various cultures, ethnic as well as racial groups. A government is a group arrangement with a wide range of tools available to accommodate itself to the changing conditions. This accommodation largely depends on the mindset of its members. Their class, educational and cultural background is arguably of great significance for their attitude to globalisation. It remains for governments to make decisions on heading towards more internationalisation, or against it. In a multi-party democracy the authorities naturally need to gain general acceptance for their policies by the vast majority of citizens. For that reason, politicians often tend to manipulate public opinion. In multilingual Europe, linguistic differences have always played a role. Languages typically were regarded as the core of national identity and therefore they were and are highly symbolic of developments in Europe. The impact of the development of the European Union on almost all aspects of language and thus language policy can hardly be overestimated.

II One of the tools available to every government is the educational policy. The policy should prepare students of all ages for life in the 21st century world preparing them to live outside the borders of their state if need be. Historically, if a ruling class is not willing to enable lower classes to live anywhere they want, it usually closes the borders. If it is, however, not possible, the governing elite is forced to come up with another solution. One possible solution is to make use of a small native language unique to a country. This is the deliberate intention of some parts of the Czech political and business elite which I believe to be scandalous. Czech is the official language of the Czech Republic (with over 10.2 million inhabitants), bordered by Austria, Germany, Poland, and Slovakia. As a West Slavic language (with Slovak, Sorbian, and Polish), the Czech language has a rich history and can be dated back to the Middle Ages (its written tradition goes back to the mid-13th century). In its medieval heyday, Czech was used not only in the Lands of the Czech Crown (Bohemia, Moravia, Silesia, and Lusatia) but also in parts of Poland and Hungary. Nonetheless, “under the control of the Habsburg dynasty, particularly after the 1620 defeat at White Mountain, use of German was enforced at the expense of Czech. Czech endured decline and disuse before reasserting itself as a literary and official language in the early 19th century.” (Janda, 2009). Yet there were two main languages in the Czech lands (since 1918 Czechoslovakia) until 1945: German and Czech. Most Czech-speaking inhabitants also had a good command of German; French was taught as 26

Jakub Zouhar • On a small mother tongue as a barrier to intercultural policies: the Czech language

a foreign language. Although the knowledge of Czech was poorer in the case of Germanspeaking citizens of Czechoslovakia, some of them were also able to use this language, to some extent. However, German inhabitants were transferred due to their behaviour in 1933-1945 from Czechoslovakia to Germany at the end of World War II, and that was the beginning of the end of Czech/German bilinguals. Older generations naturally kept their ability to speak German but younger ones were pressed to learn Russian as a new obligatory language in the all of Eastern Europe. Results soon followed. People started to hate the imposition of the Russian language and most people decided not to learn it. In fact, the knowledge of Russian was very poor. Having learnt no other foreign language, they were unable to speak any other language except Czech, or Slovak (the native language of some 5 million speakers). Nevertheless, citizens of Czechoslovakia understood each other very well since they were taught both languages in elementary schools and the languages are extremely similar. Moreover, they could hear both Czech and Slovak in the media every day, and the Slovaks commonly read Czech-language books and newspapers. However, their mutual intelligibility – once estimated at 90% – has decreased since the break-up of Czechoslovakia in 1993. Considering the facts, the Czechs and Slovaks lived not only behind the Iron Curtain but also in total ignorance of any foreign language from 1948-1989: a classic example of geographical isolation. People of the Czech and Slovak Republic are still facing the consequences.

III After the events of the Velvet revolution in November 1989, local conditions in Czechoslovakia started to change very quickly. After years of declining growth, economies slowly improved though Russia’s remained stagnant, partly due to corruption and organised crime. From the outset, the Czech lands and Slovakia had as many differences as similarities, and tensions between the two halves of the state would resurface throughout its lifetime and eventually contribute to its demise of the union in 1992. Since 1993 there have been the Czech and Slovak Republics. Initially, the new Czech state tilted westward, whereas Slovakia leaned toward Moscow, in part because its economy was still oriented in that direction. As the 1990s unfolded, both countries maintained proper ties with Moscow, but also joined NATO: the Czech Republic in 1999, Slovakia in 2002. They also joined the European Union in 2004. The Czech Republic got off to an auspicious start of teaching of foreign languages in the 1990s. Many young Czech teachers started to hone their language skills, some of them lived abroad for a couple of years, or, at least, they completed various training programmes, summer schools, and other scholarships. They were full of enthusiasm for 27

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learning as well as later teaching new techniques. However, they often paid for their courses themselves because there was no broad state support in this respect. On the other hand, there were many incompetent teachers, mostly those of the Russian language, who were caught off-guard by new political and social conditions. Owing to a lack of specialists, the former Russian teachers were suddenly compelled to teach English, or German. The quality of teaching was hence very poor in many schools (Golgo, 2008). Still, hundreds of foreign teachers or would-be teachers from the English-, German-, or Spanish-speaking world came to help their Czech colleagues in improving the language skills of the Czech society. They were often paid by international organisations, or simply tried their luck in different circumstances from their home countries. The problem existed at universities where there were working scholars (notably in the case of English) who had had no practical experience of the everyday language which they had specialised in. Also published textbooks of foreign languages were often of variable quality; particularly those issued in the Czech Republic were frequently poor. These problems, generally speaking, were successively resolved in the 1990s, and it seemed at that time that the Czechs were eager to learn foreign languages (Nekvapil, 2003). Unfortunately, many people mistakenly believed that learning a foreign language could be accomplished in a matter of several months. Naturally, that did not happen. Learning a foreign language takes time and dedication. Furthermore, they were unable to learn any language as fluently as they would have liked to. There was consequently widespread disillusionment among the young at the very end of the 1990s. And it should have been worrying for schools and teachers, but it was not. With the new millennium a different way of thinking should have come.

IV The more the Czech Republic became a part of a unified Europe the more apparent it became that there was a lack of detailed knowledge of foreign languages within the Czech society. The quality of life in the country improved dramatically notwithstanding, that the improvement of foreign language standards never became a top priority for the Czechs. Czech views, then, were mostly based on many prejudices and misconceptions. The people commonly believed, for example, that Czech is one of the most beautiful, albeit toughest languages in the world, with a very extensive vocabulary. These and similar attitudes are thought to have originated at the time of the “national rebirth” or the Czech National Revival (early 19th century) as Czechs call the movement for Czech cultural and economic independence in which the demand for equality for the two main languages in the region took first place. To the detriment of the Czechs, their leaders have ordinarily expressed the nationalistic 28

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sentiments, thereby persuading the public of their “language exceptionality.” Almost all films viewed on TV were dubbed into Czech, the Czechs have not benefitted by the advantages offered by subtitles. On the contrary, many people admire Czech dubbing skills unaware that they are losing the opportunity to improve their language skills in a natural, even enjoyable way. Viewed against this background, any changes in the thinking of population illustrate its dependence on these views. At the onset of the 21st century, the foreign teachers began to leave the country because the financial aid had been cut back. In addition, the Czech Republic ceased to be interesting for them as a source of adventure. The Czech government of that time including the Ministry of Education, Youth and Sports, which “is responsible for public administration in education, for developing educational, youth and sport policies and international cooperation in these fields,” as stated in its official website, did not recognise the need to take the problem seriously. Even though the government has repeatedly proclaimed education as a priority for the current and next administration, indeed, the opposite was often the case. The Czech educational system has suffered from perennial shortage of money. For that reason, many competent and ardent language teachers have left their jobs; a badly-paid profession is definitely not motivating. Nevertheless, money is not everything. The working conditions are surely more significant for most teachers. And that is the key problem. The state has not yet created optimum working conditions for (language) teachers who are not able to assure children a good schooling. The situation is so serious that the Ministry of Education had to openly acknowledge these troubles: but, bluntly speaking, it came too late. Besides, the authorities have not assumed responsibility; quite the contrary, they have blamed the teachers for the troubles. The Ministry of Education has repeatedly said that Czech teachers are deficient in modern teaching methods and need therefore to work under the guidance of supervisors. I cannot agree with these measures. The teachers should be better paid, since that would improve morale. Less lessons a week and less bureaucratic procedure would be more beneficial too. Many experts have drawn authorities’ attention to the issue but to no avail. Sad to say, power in Czech education still rests with people having the Cold War mentality. Meanwhile, the students’ language literacy has steadily been declining…. It is related to dumbing down, in general (Liessmann, 2006). Yet the poor language literacy is obviously more serious in the nations using a small native tongue. That is also the case of the Czech Republic. According to available public research (December, 2010), just 54% of the Czechs are able to speak a foreign language including university students. What is even worse, 23% of Czech university students are unable to speak any foreign language. But the statistics are often misleading; the situation is much worse, in my view. As a university teacher I basically cannot assign texts of English or German (let alone French, 29

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Italian, Spanish, Russian, or even Polish) literature to my students; only one, or maybe two of them would be able to cope with it. They have problems in understanding an English lecture, not to mention conversational English. I have also realised that many of them have never spoken to anyone of a different mother tongue. The patience, effort and negotiation inherent in this kind of communication is a kind of education in itself and is sadly not part of the experience of the vast majority of them. That is definitely not a characteristic of a new generation of people who would be keen on living in the unified Europe. Nonetheless, there are even more alarming phenomena. Because of a generally low level of foreign language knowledge in the Czech society, students have not been forced to improve their language skills because their teachers often do not have command of languages as well. It is also true of university teachers in the humanities. The teachers have often resisted English (or other foreign languages) as the language of instruction at universities; have not supported any international exchange programmes for university students and lecturers; and some of them even set a target: a drastic reduction in the number of foreign language lessons at their academic institutions. I would go so far to say that they could not have taken a more misguided path. “To remain monolingual is to stunt your educational development, to restrict your communication and thinking abilities, and to deny yourself the ability to fully appreciate and understand the world in which you live. If that can be said in the context of the English-speaking world, then it should be even more urgent for small-language speakers. Learning another language opens up new opportunities and gives you perspectives that you might never have encountered otherwise. Personal, professional, social, and economic considerations all point to the advantages of learning foreign languages. Regardless of the fact, multilingual speakers outnumber monolingual speakers in the world’s population nowadays (Tucker, 1999) since multilingualism is becoming a social phenomenon governed by the needs of globalisation and cultural openness. All the facts are arguably well known to the teachers; they are just unable to cope with the problem, hence they simply close their eyes to it. I find it profoundly sad.

V That is not just the case of English. For that matter, Graddol (2004) presents data on proficiency in English in the present EU showing that in Denmark, Sweden, and the Netherlands more than 75% of the people interviewed claim to be able to hold a conversation in English. In Luxembourg, Finland, Belgium, Germany, and Greece, 40 to 50% can hold a conversation in English, whereas fewer than 30% can do so in Italy, Portugal, and Spain. These figures show that the knowledge of English may not be as 30

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widespread as is sometimes assumed, and that its dominant position might not be as overwhelming as previously thought. As has already been mentioned, the majority of the Czechs, however, cannot speak any other language. The knowledge of the German language, the second most common foreign language in the Czech Republic, which is historically the most important language for the Czechs, is on the decline. And that has an adverse effect not only on the humanities– the study of Czech history without German is barely imaginable!–but also on the national economy. Germany is still the primary market for the Czech Republic (Prochazkova – Komarek, 2009). Needless to say, with approximately 100 million speakers, German ranks 10th among the languages of the world, and it is the most widely spoken language in the EU in terms of first-language speakers. Unfortunately, several German academic institutions have already been compelled to cancel their long-term contracts with Czech counterparts as well as to cut their grants due to the lack of Czech applicants who would have been able to meet the German language requirements. That went for both students and tutors. Fortunately, there are still study-residencies of younger scholars and scientists abroad, which assist them in breaking though the relative language barrier of the Czech lands. English and German are not the only languages being taught in the Czech Republic. Also French, which is the number-two second-language choice of students across the planet (Nadeau – Barlow, 2008), Russian, and lately trendy Spanish are widespread there. However, the public lose interest in them gradually. This in comparison to the Slovak Republic where English was installed as the only obligatory language for all pupils and students in 2010, there is not such a narrow conception of foreign language policy in the Czech Republic. Naturally, it has been argued many times that a conception of a single, obligatory second language could cause irreparable damage to other foreign language learning (in the Czech Republic mainly German), or simply, that it is not right to choose the only one language. Although there is some truth to this, I am inwardly convinced that only one language must be chosen in the EU as a general or second language for as many people as possible. With the enlargement of the EU this problem has became even more pressing, not only because of the number of languages and, accordingly, the number of their possible combinations has grown dramatically but also because it is very difficult to find sufficient numbers of translators and interpreters for all language combinations. In short, Europe needs a principal language of commerce and language of instruction in prestigious universities and schools; scholarly publications should predominantly be published in a few languages, too. Such programmes as “English for Academic Purposes”–almost unknown at Czech universities!–should become obligatory subjects 31

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in schools of all kinds. Failing that, (European) people will never come together which could presumably lead to the kinds of wars which history is littered with. The language issue is a very sensitive one, because giving up a language as one of the official languages is seen as a serious devaluation of and threat to the position of a language nationally and internationally. However it is true that one mother tongue tends to fade into another and languages continue to evolve. This is the case in India where ordinary villagers are sensitive to nuances of dialect that differentiate nearby localities showing that a lingua franca does not present any obstacle to developing other languages.

VI That brings us to the thought that people without any knowledge of a foreign language are much more manipulatable, and are often accused of being insular. Indeed, such people with language barriers can be insuperable obstacles in the path of a peace agreement, or any integration process. They tend to be fearful of everything they do not know having little self-confidence. The authoritative manner in which they speak usually conceals their ignorance. The citizens do not look with favour upon democracy as well as humanistic ideals. In addition, racism and xenophobia are not alien to such societies. Moreover, in a 1998 meeting of the EU ministers of education, a long list of intentions was presented aimed at the development of multilingualism in the EU. These intentions aimed to enable “all Europeans to communicate with speakers of other mother tongues, thereby developing open-mindedness, facilitating free movement of people and exchange of information and improving international cooperation” (Recommendation R [98] 6 of the European Council). Among the recommendations listed are the learning of more than one foreign language by all citizens, the use of foreign languages in the teaching of non-linguistic subjects (for example, history or mathematics), an early start for the teaching of foreign languages, the promotion of lifelong learning of foreign languages, and a focus on learner autonomy. The Czech Republic–along with some other members of the EU–has not yet started to live up to the European Council’s proposal. Even though every nation in the world has created its own distinctive culture according to its own rules of behaviour, only good citizens can make a worthwhile contribution to world culture. However innately good people may be, they cannot cope on their own; humanistic studies including languages are irreplaceable in that case.

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References Janda, L. A. (2009). Czech. In K. Brown & S. Ogilvie (Eds.) Concise encyclopedia of languages of the world (pp. 276-277). Oxford: Elsevier. Czech Ministry of Education, Youth and Sports Official website http://www.msmt.cz/ index.php?lang=2 Liessmann, K. P. (2006). Theorie der Unbildung: die Irrtümer der Wissensgesellschaft. Wien: Zsolnay (in Czech 2008). http://abicko.avcr.cz/miranda2/export/sites/abicko. avcr.cz/cs/aktuality/pdfka/Interview_Paul_K_Liessmann.pdf/ http://www.novinky.cz/domaci/219754-smutny-vysledek-pruzkumu-vetsina-cechu-senedomluvi-jinak-nez-materstinou.html. Retrieved on 22nd December, 2010, available at http://www.vistawide.com/languages/ why_languages.htm. Tucker, G. R. (1999). A global perspective on bilingualism and bilingual education. Carnegie Mellon University. Retrieved on 22nd December, 2010, available at http://www. cal.org/resources/Digest/digestglobal.html. Nadeau, J.-B. & Barlow, J. (2008). The story of French. The language that travelled the world. Canada: Knopf. Golgo, F. (2008). Cesti ucitele anglictiny casto nejsou schopni s nikym vubec hovorit anglicky [English teachers from the Czech Republic are often not able to speak English at all]. In Britske listy. Retrieved on 9th June, 2008, available at http://www.blisty. cz/art/41110.html. Prochazkova, B. & Komarek, M. (2009). Ceský Babel [Czech Babel]. In Respekt. Retrieved on 4th October, 2009, available at http://respekt.ihned.cz/c1-38494540-ceskybabel. Graddol, D. (2004). The future of language. Science Magazine, 303, 1329-1331. Nekvapil, J. (2003). ‘On the role of the languages of adjacent states and the languages of ethnic minorities in multilingual Europe: the case of the Czech Republic.’ In J. Besters-Dilger, R. Cillia, H.J. Krumm & R. Rindler-Schjerve (eds.) The future of european multilingualism in the enlarged European Union. Die Zukunft der europäischen Mehrsprachigkeit in einer erweiterten Europäischen Union. L’avenir du multilinguisme europe´en dans l’Union Europe´enne e´largie . Zusammenarbeit mit Gerald Rosskogler (pp. 76-94). Klagenfurt: Drava.

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Indefinition: LexisPlanet®, an intercultural lexicon for the world Eric Catellain

University of Bordeaux 3, Bordeaux, France

Abstract Multicultural education is based upon shared knowledge and knowledge is directly related to language acquisition. This is why a vast undertaking based upon a correspondence between our language resources within the educational environment is strongly required to prepare everyone to a mutual understanding. Considering this, we advocate for the last two decades the idea of implementing a process of indefinition (and no more definition) which consists in paying much attention to our differences or similarities in practice, knowledge, culture, opinion and history. By indefining concepts and notions, from “ocean” to “justice”, from “water” to “health”, from “housing” to “energy”, we therefore advocate such a multicultural communication at the crossroads of our languages, cultures and knowledge. Our contribution here relies upon a theoretical frame for the process of indefinition, as well as a strong recommendation to develop what we call a lexicon for the planet, LexisPlanet®, established from our multiple points of view. Our intention is not only linguistic or cultural but humanistic in the wider sense. Indeed, we should equally introduce the question of a responsible progress of the humanities. No one doubts today that the current crises open a large question about our ability to defend the world balance, be it environmental, social, political, economic or cultural. Here more than elsewhere, the words reflect our desire for progress. Far from consensual definitions, words are a reflection of our doubts, approximations, or difficulties to be. We suggest that LexisPlanet could be a core of a multicultural and collaborative project, a permanent conference of the humanities where indefinitions should awake to the other, and educate to a shared sense as a guarantee for peace.

The quality of intercultural communication is at the heart of global issues. Its performance does not only depend on signing contracts or avoiding misunderstandings but also on establishing a peaceful relationship between people and the societies they refer to. Regarding lexical concern, such a quality should alert us to the importance of each lexeme, each unit of meaning. Therefore, far from translations word for word (even 35

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when they are said to be accurate), far from an academic view frozen in marble of a socalled « universal definition », intercultural communication requires the very process of indefinition. This demands constant attention to various changes of worldviews, referring not only to cultures, opinions and knowledge, but also practices and history. This is why we suggest establishing a process of indefinition within any cultural exchange without ensuring its success so far but believing that it will draw material for exploring, learning and thinking rather than judging. We illustrate this approach with its application under LexisPlanet®, an intercultural lexicon for the world.

I. Indefinition I.1 The bases of indefinition I.1.1 All words are indefinite All words are indefinite : 1. The words are indefinite because of the diversity of our cultures. 2. The words are indefinite because of the diversity of our knowledge. 3. The words are indefinite because of the diversity of our opinions. 4. The words are indefinite because of the diversity of our practice. 5. The words are indefinite because of their history. Everyone can produce their own indefinition by answering the following five questions :

Given a word …

Do cultures influence its meaning?

Which knowledge may I link to it ?

Which personal opinions ?

I.1.2 Standards and gaps

Which practices ?

How history may affect it ?

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the

world

If we can easily agree with the variety of possible indefinitions, it is very likely that many will restrain it to a marginal even parasitic function. The academic sense being defined and guaranteed, every indefinition will appear to them in the guise of a differential gap to the standard calling for the correction of such differences, or at least their acknowledgment. We defend here a radically different position.

In granting a true interest to the game of indefinitions, the existence of so many possible variations and gaps may lead to a fruitful intercultural process, each of the five mentioned components providing a vehicle for a deep investigation. I.2 Indefinition and cultures We call culture « a complex set of values, beliefs, customs, practices, knowledge, techniques, systems, related to space and time, unique to a particular group, acquired by everyone in a long process (of enculturation), revealing a significant part of their identity (and their differences), and which may be transmitted ... » The interest for the cultural variety is of course a priority to indefinition as it relies on the multiplicity of standards and codes far from a universal definition available on any space. This fosters a continuous reconstruction of meaning. Furthermore, we support here with the poet Kenneth White that culture is not restricted to the transmission of heritage and values. It also relies on a permanent movement, an evolving set which anyone can contribute to. « For, if culture has a vision of man, a conception of what a human being is, it also stresses that man could be depending on a direction, an ideal to be achieved» In this sense indefinition appears to us as much as a place of commitment and consciousness of one’s own ethical values and a way to access those of others. I.3 Indéfinition, a domain of cognition We call knowledge « a process of acquisition and inquiry that could shape the basis

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of our relationship to the world and our ability to judge, a process which appears to be variously expanded and updated, and is marked by a personal print because of its own organization of content, type of transmission and its variable ability to be open to others... » I.3.1 Accessing knowledge Our ways to access and transmit knowledge are the most diverse. Engaged in the attempt to mention this diversity for the last twenty years, we propose here a general scheme to introduce it. In this sense, from meditative knowledge to empirical investigation, indefinition is again an area of plurality that contributes to lessen the idea of any unique standard.

I.3.2 Sharing knowledge The Talmud (which means « instruction, learning » in Hebrew) teaches us that one should never leave a friend without having taught something to him or learned something from him. The indefinition reminds us of this invitation. E.g. One of my friends, a carpenter, was explaining to me his relationship to tools and the importance attached to each of them. Among them, the hammer caught in his words an unexpected dimension. Far from restricting it to « drive nails » he reminded me of the importance of balance, and the precision needed to reach it. For example, with a handle of 31 cm and a mass of 270 grams - measures which I must confess I had never thought about, a part of indefinition follows :

Eric

Catellain

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Indefinition:

LexisPlanet®,

intercultural

lexicon

for

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world

Indefinition - Hammer - fr. marteau m. - chin.锤子: « A hammer is a tool consisting of a handle and a head covered by specific measures to ensure their balance, and whose functions were different across the age, for the mason, the carpenter, the miner, the shoemaker ... » I.3.3 Sciences do not cover the full significance Taking knowledge into account within the context of definition is often limited to an overview of science. « Water » will be defined as « A clear, colorless, odorless, and tasteless liquid, H2O, essential for most plant and animal life and the most widely used of all solvents. Freezing point 0°C (32°F); boiling point 100°C (212°F); specific gravity (4°C) 1.0000; weight per gallon (15°C) 8.338 pounds (3.782 kilograms) ». Indefinition does not escape these facts nor intends to. But it suggests we go beyond these limits. For instance, at the end of the day 34,000 people will have died from a lack of water or diseases related to it. The task of definition may be to put this « other » knowledge in a humanistic perspective. Indefinition - Water – fr. eau f. – chin.水: While international conferences try to establish whether access to water is a « right » or a « basic need », while the freshwater resources of the ice field are lost in the ocean, while deserts progress and threaten any form of life, while more than one billion people must rely on unsafe water, the weight of this vital element in the fragile global balance continues to grow □ But what exactly is water? ◊ Def. « Current name assigned to a clear, colorless, odorless, and tasteless liquid, H2O, … » ◊ Indef. … and foremost element, from which all life depends and stems □ Its rarity or absence are powerful reminders of the fragility of the life, of its uncertain balance, and of the need to think about its sharing. »

I.4 Indefinition and opinions

«When I learn the words « love » and « sea » without having experienced or seen, I attach to each of them a group of ideas, formed by speculation, which differs from reality. When then I felt love and saw the sea, I gathered a variety of real perceptions, but I am not at all sure they are exactly the same as those experienced by people who taught me these words, and finally neither I nor the very man who taught me the use of these words are sure that after a while they still awake the same perceptions, with the same accessories; or even more, we are quite sure that the age, circumstances and events have necessarily altered them... » Destutt de Tracy - Memory on the faculty of thinking -1796 We call opinion « any vision on a subject that can lead to discussion, heuristic

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exchange, conflict, quarrel ... » The variety of opinions strongly contributes to indefinitions. For instance, we can mention the linguistic Cafes that we organized for several years in various places. They consist in creating spaces for temporary exchanges on words with the desire to confront opinions in their extreme diversity. For example, what do we think about « exclusion » considering the great difficulty of defining this concept? Two extracts:

« On issues that seem socially or politically sensitive as « exclusion » or « poverty », researchers must first recognize that there can be no absolute definition. These are relative concepts, varying in time and space. It is unreasonable to suggest finding a scientific, fair and objective definition without falling into the trap of categorizing specific populations that are also well aware that the boundaries which distinguish them from other social groups are never clear and valid once and for all. » Serge Paugam

« All social life is based on determining legitimate membership of inclusions and exclusions. Religion, nation, family, property, company, association: many communities which exclude those who are not members, although this involves injustice or violence against them ». Jean Sévillia - The intellectual terrorism, 2004

Indefinition - Exclusion – fr. exclusion – chin.社会排斥 / 社会遗弃: Etym. The term exclusion (from lat. claudere « close », clavis « key ») is derived from the Greek context where the keys of the city were removed from a citizen while he was banned. Ostracism was practiced against him - banishment of ten years, which was named after the potsherd (ostrakon) where citizens eligible to vote, marked the name of the banned ◊ By its etymology, the exclusion therefore refers to the idea of taking the keys away, formerly of the city, today of the society, or more exactly of its estimated normal functions (housing, work, health...) ◊ By its opposition, exclusion refers to inclusion and borders that separate them: How do we cross them? In one direction, as in the other? How fast? How this can determine a policy of warning and solidarity?...

I.5 Indefinition and practices We call practice « any relationship to life characterized by the recurrence of an activity or phenomenon, which does not necessarily result from a rational approach. E.g. Having a practice of conversation, walking, cooking rice... »

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I.5.1 Reflecting on our practices The human being is central to diverse practices. Some are raised to the rank of mastery, qualified or not. Others, more numerous, are often carried out without any conscious knowledge. Indefinition pays attention to them all. E.g. What is our practice of « happiness » ? Marcine, a delightful grandmother, indefines it in the following way : « we really know what is happiness, the day we lose it. » The Tibetan practice extends this regard by ensuring that « happiness does not stand at the end of the road because it is the road itself ». E.g. What is our practice of « unemployment » ? While dictionaries define it as « a period of economic inactivity due to lack of work », do unemployed people themselves fully recognize it? Where is it in this concise definition, the evocation of violence which stems from this inactivity ? or the frequent loss of dignity that results from it ? etc. I.5.2 Everything stems from childhood Practices do not result from an artificial or late construct but from a process that is rooted in childhood. In truth, which parent has not mentioned the first language games of their children and been amazed by their ability to develop an initial corpus and by the creativity that goes with it? « The bee, she took flowers and gives honey on toast. » « An owl is a bird whose head’s like a heart. » « A tribe is not a herd, but it sure looks like ». These are excerpts from one of the most beautiful books produced in the dictionary fever of recent decades: Le Gros dico Tout Petits (Ed. Lattès). They illustrate with 3,000 words a decisive moment in the adventure of our language building corresponding to Kindergarten (3 to 6 years). This moment seems decisive to us in helping to realize the importance of indefinition through life.

I.6 Indefinition and history We call history « a series of benchmarks variously documented, updated and put into a system, constituting the reading of time on a long run including what we has been said and what we have been witnesses of (directly or not) ... » I.6.1 Etymology Etymology and its constant merits are there or should be there to remind us that words cross space and time changing their meaning or even their form. This dimension must be truly part of indefinition. E.g. In Chinese « pollution » refers to two characters : 污染. The first character污 designates « pollution of nature » but also « moral stain » while the second refers to 41

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the disease that « contaminates ». Both make use of the key « water 氵 » and therefore immediately attract our attention to one of the major victims of pollution. For example, the English word « money » or French « monnaie » are attached to the goddess Juno, said moneta (lat.) : « which warns » because it was in the temple of this goddess that money was coined. This may remind us the long adventure of money and its decisive role in our societies. I.6.2 About the influence of three The contribution of history to indefinition is of course beyond the scope of single words and look at how everyone develops their consideration of time in the long run. We will identify this under three different aspects to be involved in our relation to others, sometimes complementary, sometimes contradictory: •

At first, by our relation to a universal history made of big events, which differ from one society to another, and especially by one person to another, according to the education, investigations carried out ... and our memory,

•

Then a collective history, generally more detailed than the previous one, structuring our knowledge of a society (or group) by gathering many references on our geopolitical and cultural space.

•

Finally a personal history that each of us will stay the only one to collect and distribute within our heritage and life.

We could imagine how far the indefinition takes care of these three influences, which are fully engaged in relation to others.

II. LexisPlanet®: to create a responsible progress of mankind

« Unless we are able to translate our words into a language that can reach the minds and hearts of people young and old, we shall not be able to undertake the extensive social changes needed to correct the course of development … » Gro Harlem Brundtland – « Our common future » 1987 As we said earlier, indefinition should be at the core of a humanistic concern. That’s why we strongly believe in the importance and necessity of leading a broad humanities symposium, focusing on the variety of meanings, and based on convergence of indefinitions. This is the goal of LexisPlanet®, an intercultural glossary for the world. Designed in a calendar approach of 52 themes (one per week), such a symposium is a call for an active and heuristic indefinition of many words of our times, tracking the variety of significations related to our differences of culture, knowledge, opinion, practice and history. We shall present below the foundations of LexisPlanet®, its schedule and give 42

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some introductory examples.

III.1 Fundamentals of LexisPlanet One day, in the future, our children will open a dictionary from our times, and what will they find in it? What will they read below the heading « ice field », « environment », « transport », « starvation », « justice », « sea » or « solidarity »? Will they read in it the calling for our responsibility, which we should set up now? Or will they discover the scale of our amazing lack of concern, of our unbelievable inconsistencies? When will we become aware and brave enough to match « the large sheet of floating ice, larger than an ice floe », sentence which defines the ice field in our dictionary, with the threat upon it, upon every species on earth which depends on the ice field itself, and above all, upon us, human beings ? While our time has to cope with the topicality of all these notions, as well as a hundred others, how can the definitions we are given show our awareness about them, or at least, the awareness we should have? To what extend do the definitions tell us about the current world, its sufferings and its hopes? A glossary about the planet, which will be named LexisPlanet, has today a real place, when we are faced with the scale of the contemporary global changes, and with the necessity to call for a collective intelligence, which seems to appear as the only one able to succeed. But beware, this lexicon is not there to collect academic definitions that we would be expected to learn by heart in order to convince us. No, our times seem more conducive to what we call indefinition. Because all the quoted words, and those who could join them are indefinite, we must make mention of our convictions, doubts or approximations. If we want to take the right decisions to guide our common destiny, such a consideration of the diversity of our representations is today a major key. So a huge work about language has to be done. This work has to be led everywhere by anyone who wants to participate (such as schools, institutions, parents, friends…). This venture is based on diversity of languages, cultures, and of subjects, adding all dimensions to their global meanings in order to understand in a clearer way the diversity of the project, and to make some necessary summaries. Gro Harlem Brundtland stated it in her 1987 report on sustainable development when she invited us to use a « language that can reach the minds and hearts of people young and old »... From the indefinition of “disaster”, to this of “feel good”, LexisPlanet aims at pointing out some questions about the words, which refer to the contemporary crisis, but also some questions about our willingness to surpass them, in relation to “the responsible progress of mankind” and of course we suggest below a first indefinition of this notion. Let’s try together to point at the scale of our discrepancies to build the emergence of our agreements. While the world’s headmasters are devoting themselves to take essential 43

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and difficult decisions, and sometimes postponing them, let’s work for the setting up of this glossary at the crossroads of human kind, and let’s create together a worldwide platform for mutual thought and of bringing action. Aiming at asking questions about the meaning of words and the impact of our societies and of our cultures on the building of a definition, LexisPlanet is the opportunity to create a multilingualism platform, providing all the meanings to the function of “communication”, which means “put things in common”.

III.2 An indefinition of responsible progress of humanities Indefinition: Given the current crises, and the confusion that surrounds them, the responsible progress of humanities (RPH) calls for the emergence of a contemporary vision of the world. The RPH wishes to facilitate convergence of various forms of intelligence, whether of body, heart or mind. Questioning the nature of progress, linking it to the responsibility of the humanities, the RPH wishes to reconcile the legitimate research of welfare, be it for oneself or another, and the present and future balance of the world, be it economic, environmental, social or cultural. The RPH aims at better understanding and dealing with the complexity of our times, encouraging development of our transdisciplinary, transcultural and translinguistic skills. It refers to the plurality of our systems of thought, education and communication, and suggests thinking to their common evolution. While helping to raise awareness of the fragility of life, the RPH intends to clarify what changes must be essential to ensure a better respect for life, and to invite everyone to get lucidly involved in this. To contribute to that goal, and to promote it, the RPH calls for a standing conference of the humanities.

III.3 52 weeks and themes We selected these themes in order to cover the main areas concerned by RPH. But of course such a task will surely remain unfinished. We trust in the future to make up for the shortcomings of this first try. For the choice of words, we will begin here with a few necessary words like « health », « family », « economy », etc. But one will also find unusual inputs and suggestions of neologisms. In fact, this choice clearly aspires to be as wide as our worldviews and our perceptions of what is essential or not. Launched on the 22nd of April 2010, LexisPlanet will complete or sometimes renew its topics every year.

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Week 1st week

Title A glossary for the planet?

Words

Questions

2nd week

A crisis? But which crisis?

crisis

What does the word “crisis” mean? How do we fight against a crisis? How do people live with a crisis? And what about me?

3rd week

Our planet?

planet

What is “the planet”? What is the relationship between me and the planet?

4th week

Disasters time?

Natural disasters

What are the “natural disasters”? Why do they exist? Can we foresee them? Are they more numerous today than before?

5th week

World vision?

World vision globalization world

What is “a world vision”? Is it different for everyone? What is my world vision?

6th week

Us, here, now?

Who are we? Where does the “us/we ” begin? And where does it stop? Who are “they”?

7th week

What about becoming intelligent?

intelligence

8th week

Having enough to eat?

To eat starvation

Am I intelligent? Do human beings intelligent? Can animals be intelligent? How can we recognize intelligence? Is it useful? Why do so many people on Earth not have enough to eat? What does the verb “to eat” mean? Do we eat well? What does the expression “to eat junk food” mean?

9th week

The farmer, supplier of comfort?

agriculture farmer

What is the use of the agriculture? What is worth? What is its principle? What should be its principle? Why are they sometimes not put into practice?

10th week

Do you remember Minik*? *Minik was an Inuk child, who had been taken to New York at the end of the 19th century

Man Humanity Ice field

What is “a man”? What are his duties? And what are his rights? What is “humanity”?

What are the words from our time? Which of them are telling the best about the difficulties, the hopes of our time? Can we make a list of them?

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11st week

Toward a responsible progress of mankind?

progress

What is the meaning of progress? Have we progressed in human history? What progress do we still make?

12nd week

Do you make the sword responsible?

Responsibility Space goat

What is the meaning of being responsible? What will I be responsible for tomorrow?

13rd week

Happiness, at the end of the path?

Happiness Comfort

When can we talk of “comfort”? Am I happy?

14th week

Looking for comfort?

Need Comfort

What do I need? What does the other one need? Can I fulfill my needs? And Him/her? When can we talk about “comfort”?

15th week

The common house?

Economy

What is the role of the economy? Can economy be fair for all? Why isn’t the economy fair all the time?

16th week

Myths or growth credits?

Development Sustainable development growth

What is the meaning of “to develop”? What does his development bring? What are its consequences?

17th week

Can’t money be eaten?

Money Wealth Poverty

What is money? What is it for? What does « having money » mean? And what is the meaning of “having no money”? Why is there so much poverty? What is wealth?

18th week

To consume in a better way?

To consume To buy

What does “to buy” mean? Can we consume differently?

19th week

Choosing the sharing?

Can we share in a better way? What is generosity? Am I generous?

20th week

Starting fairly?

Solidarity Sharing Generosity Greediness Selfishness Company Commerce Fair trade

21st week

Does the environment exist in us?

Environment Pollution

What is the environment? Am I responsible for it? How? Why do people still pollute? Can they stop polluting?

22nd week

Two more degrees?

warming

What is global warming? Can we fight against it?

23rd week

For a water that doesn’t exist?

water

What is water? Why do so many people not have water? What is the meaning of having no water?

What is the goal of a company? What is the goal of commerce? Can trade be fair? Why isn’t it fair all the time?

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24th week

The hood which hides the forest?

25th week

More species?

26th week

Only by arms?

27th week

Foot in water?

28th week

A nails box?

29th week

A halo around the head of a well person?

30th week

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Forest Tree Hood Biodiversity Species

What is the forest? How do we exploit it? In which aims? And with what consequences?

Energy Oil Sustainable energies Transport Sea To fish

What are our needs for energy? Are our needs fulfilled? In which way? With what sources? Are new energy sources possible? Can we reduce our needs? Should we? Why?

Nail Thing Scrap Recycling Health Disease

What is a scrap? How do we produce them? How many? Do we produce them often? Can we reduce them? How? And what about me?

Exclusions, inclusions?

Society Exclusion

What is the society? How does it work? What is exclusion? How can we fight against it?

31st week

To help others?

To govern Political Citizen

What is the meaning of governing? What is the meaning of “having a political responsibility”? Would I one day want to govern?

32nd week

A bowl for your old age?

What is the meaning of being young? And being old? What is « a generation”? How do generations live together? Can they live better?

33rd week

By the sweat of your brow?

Youth Elderly Child Generation Activity Work Unemployed Leisure Slavery

34st week

A roof above our heads?

How can human beings be housed? Or not? To what extent? Can we improve the situation?

35st week

The hand under the hat?

To live in City Country side Handicap

What is biodiversity? How many species are on Earth? How many do we really know? What is the meaning of the disappearance of specie? How can we protect them in a more efficient way?

What is the sea? What are its roots? Is the sea threatened? How can we protect it in a better way?

What is health? How do we maintain it? What is disease? How do we fight against it? Why isn’t everyone equal in terms of effect of disease?

What is work? What is its importance? How do we choose it considering times and places? What is slavery? Does it still exist? What is the meaning of “having a job”? And what is the meaning of “losing a job”?

What is a handicap? By what is it defined? How do we live with a handicap? How can we live with a handicap in a better way?

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36st week

Richer by our diversity?

Culture Barbarism

What is the culture? How can we have it? How many cultures exist? How can we discover them? What is it for?

37st week

Where is the problem?

What is history? How do we learn it? Is it the same for all? How do we explain peace and war? Can I defend peace?

38st week

Everyone a stranger?

History Peace War Stranger Migrant Discriminate

39st week

The complex art of simplicity?

Complexity Simplicity

What is complex? Does a thing have to be complicated to be complex? Is the search for progress complicated? What is simple?

40th week

Purpose: languages?

Language To define

What is language? How many languages do we speak today in the world? Why are half of them threatened? What is the purpose of languages?

41st week

To educate, to lead?

To educate Illiteracy

42nd week

To communicate, to listen?

To communicate Media Internet

What is the meaning of educate? When does education begin? When does it stop? How can we make it change? What is illiteracy? How do we fight it? What is the meaning of communicating? Do we communicate in a better way than before? Does the Internet make us communicate in a better way? Who knows how to listen? Do I know how to listen?

43rd week

In praise of fragility?

Fragility Bee

What is fragility? What is fragile? What is not fragile? Am I fragile? Are the bees fragile?

44st week

In the name of the safety first principle?

What are the current risks in the world? Can we protect ourselves from them?

45st week

Transition?

Safety first principle Risk Security To change

46st week

Changing marks?

Mark

What are the most important marks? And the most important ones for the world? And for me? How do we get them? What are the marks for?

47st week

Get back to the number 1?

How do we measure things? And in space, in time?

48st week

To a better world?

Statistics To measure Utopia Pantopia Ideal

Who is a stranger? When do we become a stranger? How do we behave with a stranger, considering the country and people? Where do prejudices begin? How can we overcome them?

Do we need to change? What has to be changed? How? Can I change?

What is the meaning of a utopia? Do we make a utopia if we think about progress? If we thing about improving the world?

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LexisPlanet®,

49st week

Learning how to give up?

Moderation To give up

50th week

Man and woman?

Man Woman

51st week

Trust the future?

52nd week

Being successful in life?

Trust Future Time To succeed

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What can we give up to improve the world? And what about me? Can we restrain our consumption; our behaviors? What do we have to win? What are the main differences between man and woman? How can they change? How do we view the future? Can we trust the future? How can we build this trust? What is the meaning of succeeding in life? And what about not succeeding in life?

III.4 Examples of indefinition Crisis - fr. crisis f. - chin.危机 : Etym. The term « crisis » comes from the Greek krisis, meaning « decision ». For Hippocrates, Greek physician (5th-BC), it designates a turning point: either we heal from a illness, or we die □ In Chinese, the first character危evokes a man who stands at the edge of a cliff, facing danger! The second character, formerly機, means « machine » but also « opportunity », « chance » ◊ Definitions : « Abrupt change of state in a disease ... » « sudden aggravation » « Decisive, dangerous moment », « serious economic shortage » ... ◊ Indef. « A crisis is a period during which situations seem confusing and even dangerous, causing anguish and suffering □ But a crisis can also be an opportunity, « leading to the port » (lat. opportunus) - It encourages us to raise issues and take appropriate decisions (gr. krisis : « decision ») □ A crisis is a turn, to be negotiated, questioning the direction to take. » Ice field – fr. banquise f. – chin. 大浮冰 : Indef. « Clusters of ice in polar seas where the cast is a boon for some (commercial, oil ...) ◊ This cast puts at risk an entire ecosystem and all species, populations and cultures that are attached , questioning the fate of humanity itself. » forest f. - fr. forêt f. - chin. 森林 : In Chinese, it takes no less than five « trees » 森林 for writing « forest » ◊ Because they are involved in the fight against desertification, but also against erosion, because they contribute to a better control of water, because they are major reservoirs of biodiversity, forests play a vital role on the global environmental chessboard ◊ Their mass-destruction, with e.g. the shameless exploitation of exotic woods, provide a good evaluation of human madness! ◊ Def. « Extensive field planted with wood ... » ◊ Indef. « ... To whom we owe much of our natural balance and the fate of all species. »

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References Austin, J. L. (1962). How to do things with words? Cambridge: Harvard University Press. Bacon, S. F. (1902). Novum Organum. Ed. Joseph Devey, M. A. (New York: P. F. Collier). Bombik, M. (1985). La définition en sémantique logique. Studia philosophiae christianae, 21(1), 129-142. Charaudeau, P. & Maingueneau D. (2002). Dictionnaire d’analyse du discours. Paris: Seuil. Collinot, A. & Mazière, F. (1997). Un prêt à parler: le dictionnaire. Paris: PUF. Cruse, D. A. (1986). Lexical Semantics. Cambridge: University Press Depecker, L. (2003). Entre signe et concept – eléments de terminologie générale. Paris: Presses Sorbonne nouvelle. Depecker, L., (Dir.) (2005). La terminologie: nature et enjeux. Langages. Destutt de Tracy, A. L. C. (1970). Eléments d’idéologie, 1801-1815. Paris: H. Gouhier. 2 Vol. Elissalde, Yvan. (2009). La culture créatrice. Lyon: Baudelaire. Foucault, M. (1966). Les mots et les choses. Paris: Gallimard. Gauker, C. (2003). Words without meaning. Cambridge, US: MIT Press. Granger, G. G. (1979). Langages et épistémologie. Paris: Klincksieck. Grice, P. (1989). Studies in the way of words. Cambridge: Harvard University Press. Lakoff, G. (1987). Women, fire, and dangerous things, what categories reveal about the mind. Chicago: The University of Chicago Press. Leibniz, G. W. (1966) [1765]. Nouveaux essais sur l’entendement humain. Paris: Garnier Flammarion. Locke, J. (1690). An essay concerning human understanding. Ogden, C. K. & Richards, I. A. (1923). The meaning of meaning. New York: Harcourt Brace & World. Petit, G. (2001). Pour une conception lexicologique de la dénomination. Cahiers de praxématique – Linguistique de la dénomination, 36, 93-115. Pottier, B. (1992). Sémantique générale. Paris: PUF. Rastier, F. (1991). Sémantique et recherches cognitives. Paris: PUF. Rey, A. (Dir.) (1992). Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, 2 vols. Paris: Le Robert. Rey, A. (1965). A propos de la définition lexicographique. Cahiers de lexicologie, 6, 8780. 50

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Rey, A. (1982). Encyclopédies et dictionnaires. Paris: PUF. Rey, A. (2008). De l’artisanat des dictionnaires à une science du mot. Paris: Armand Colin. Rey-Debove, J. (1998). La linguistique du signe, Une approche sémiotique du langage. Paris: Armand Colin. Savatovsky, D. C. D. (Dir.) (2007). Genèses de la terminologie contemporaine (sources et réception). Langages, 168. Paris: Larousse. Searle, J. (1969). Speech acts. Cambridge: University Press. Searle, J. (1979). Expression and meaning. Cambridge: University Press. Thibaudeau, V. (2006). Principes de logique. Définition, énonciation, raisonnement. Paris: PUF.

THE TURMOIL OF ILLEGAL IMMIGRATION

D i ve r s i t y ,

c o m m u n i c a t i o n

a n d

c o e x i s t e n c e

Maghreb and subsaharan migration to Spain Virgilio Gonzalez

University of Granada, Faculty of Education and Humanities of Melilla Melilla, Spain

Abstract The African continent finds the solution for its demographic stress by regularly and continuously expulsing a great amount of emigrants towards the south European frontiers. Because of geographic reason, Spain and Italy are common chosen destinies. Each year, thousands of African people cross the Mediterranean sea in search of a better life in Europe. The most common transportation are fable and dangerous boats called â&#x20AC;&#x153;paterasâ&#x20AC;?. When winter comes, and also during Spring and Autumn, the sea storms reduce this human traffic and then a land path is chosen. From subsaharian countries an immense flow of anonymous peoples march in the direction of Ceuta and Melilla, the Spanish enclaves in Morocco, a trampoline to Europe. This article presents and discusses these routes of clandestine immigration and the problematic and complex situation that it entails.

If we forget History, it is possible to think that the current migratory phenomenon is a product of globalization. One could think the same when looking at the large economic gap between the North and the South, together with the great movements of immigrants from the poor countries to the rich. But nothing could be further from the truth. Without wishing to stray too far from our main theme, it is sufficient to look back to the origins of humanity and confirm that the hunters and the gatherers sought their food by moving from place to place across long distances. The fact that over time they were able to develop an economic surplus meant that they could settle. Nonetheless they soon started to make expeditions across other unexplored territories in search of new settlements, products, land and wealth. 55

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In principle, it seems that the fundamental aim of all migration is to obtain some economic benefit. But throughout History, there have also been forced migrations as the result of wars, politics and religion etc. On the other hand, we need to be aware of the fact that distinct geographical areas around the globe have not always been as rich or poor as they are today. What is clear is that if we take a look at the current media, we can see that migrations often grab the headlines - as a result of hunger, poverty or war - all around the world, and they are a cause for concern for the largest international organizations, States, politicians and even for the man in the street. That said, the subject that concerns us here is immigration in Spain, and specifically, Maghreb and Subsaharan immigration. But, before fully entering into the subject, it would be helpful to clarify a few points. Spain has been a country of emigrants; sometimes forced and sometimes voluntary. Throughout Spain’s history, evidence of forced migration for political or religious reasons is manifest if we look back to the year 1492, in which the Catholic Kings expelled some 160,000 Jews from the country, and then the Moriscos, who were later followed by the Jesuits. At the start of the XIX Century, the “Frenchified” left, then the liberals, the defeated Carlists; and then the Republicans in 1874. In the XX Century, a migratory wave was caused by the coup d’état of Primo de Rivera; and then half a million Spaniards were exiled as a result of the civil war of 1936. All these migrations were for political or religious reasons. But, throughout the XIX Century and the start of the XX Century, there were also large migrations of Spaniards to America. Argentina, Uruguay, Cuba, Brazil and Venezuela, were, at that time, the receiving countries. Thousands of gallegos, asturianos, cantabrians, extramadurans, canary islanders, etc., fled the hunger and misery in Spain in search of a better future for them and their families. A new bloodbath arrived at the end of the 50s, as a result of the Stabilization Plan of the Francoist government, which would last until the end of the 60s. At that time, the destiny of migrants would not be America but Europe. Germany, Switzerland, Holland, France etc., would receive more than 2,500,000 Spaniards, who emigrated with only one objective in mind: to be able to save enough to return to their villages and to have a better quality of life than the one that they had left. As the decades of the 70s and 80s progressed, this Spanish emigration gradually ceased and the return began, roughly around the same time that foreign immigrants started to arrive on Spanish soil. Despite that, at the end of the 90s, there were more Spaniards settled abroad than there were foreigners in Spain, (Cachón, L., 2002). On the other hand, when one speaks of Spanish migration, as a general rule those who went to Africa are forgotten, perhaps because they are smaller in number; but I do 56

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not want to conclude this enumeration without mentioning the migration of more than 100,000 Spaniards to Africa at the end of the XIX Century to Algeria, to the zone of Oran. This migration persisted, at times for work reasons and at other times for commercial, until 1960. It is also worth remembering that Spaniards went to Morocco, before, during and after the Spanish Protectorate, and settled around the Moroccan Rif. Spain then passed from being a country of emigration to being a receiving country of a series of flows of immigrants. At the beginning, immigration was slow and only involved small contingents of Europeans, but this gave way to a more numerous and faster inflow of iberamericans and those of African origin, (Arango, J., 2002). It could be said that there are three big periods of exterior immigration: a first period up until 1985, where immigration was predominantly European. Additionally there also exists an emergent Latin-American immigration, as a consequence of the dictatorships of the Southern Cone and Cuba, as well as a very insignificant number of Africans and Asians. A second period can be identified, from 1986 to 1999, in which Moroccan immigration began to grow, together with immigration from South American countries. At first this migration was temporary, but later it consolidated as the result of family regrouping. At the same time the immigration of subsaharans began, due to racial, war and economic reasons. Lastly, a third period began at the start of 2000, in which the flow of Maghrebs (led by far by natives from Morocco) was greater in number than the sub Saharans and Asians.

Source: Own elaboration from INE data. (http://www.ine.es).

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At the same time Latin-American immigration grew significantly, but this time due more to economic than political factors. Perhaps what most characterizes this period, however, is the increase in ‘irregular’ immigration. Attracted by the flourishing Spanish economy and, in some cases, by geographic proximity, Spain was converted into ‘The gateway to Europe.’ During this period, Spain regularized the position of immigrants in the country, over a number of distinct phases, (Aja,E. y Arango J. 2006, and Aja,E. y Diez, L., 2005). The first phase took place in 1985-86 with the implementation of the Foreigner’s Law (Ley de Extranjería). At that time, 38,181 foreigners were regularized and 5,634 turned down. The second phase took place in 1991-92 and on this occasion 108,321 immigrants were regularized; while 22,090 were turned down. In May 1991 the first tragic sinking of a small boat (patera) occured. These initial regularizations all happened during a Socialist Party (PSOE) government. The Popular Party (Partido Popular) undertook a similar process in 1996, in which 25,128 immigrants were regularized, and less than 4.000 denied. At this time there was also an increase in the number of small boats arriving on Spanish coastlines. Afterwards in 2000, there was another regularization of 163,342 foreigners, and as on previous occasions there were immigrants who were denied; on this occasion amounting to 80,975. One year later, in 2001, there was a revision of case files and 36,013 people from various countries were regularized, plus 20,352 equatorians, for humanitarian reasons. But that same year, there was also an extraordinary process of regulation that accepted 239,174 immigrants. Again under a socialist government, in 2005, there was another regularization in which of the 700,000 applications, some 150,000 were not accepted because they did not fulfill the requirements. Despite this enormous quantity some media argue that there are a further 700,000 who remain in an irregular situation in Spain. As a general rule the largest part of these immigrants are young people, with low qualifications; and they are also predominantly men, with various nationalities and ethnic backgrounds. Except ibero-americans, these immigrants mostly do not know the language, and have very different cultures and religions. They come to Spain attracted by the ease of entry, and many come as tourists, in search of work in sectors such as farming and livestock, construction and domestic service.

Maghreb immigration in Spain The meaning of the Arab word Maghreb is ‘the place where the sunsets, that is, the West’. We have become accustomed to use this word to denominate the region of North Africa that includes the countries of Algeria, Morocco and Tunisia. Maghreb migration to Europe is not a new phenomenon, but began at the start of the XX Century. At that time it was a rural form of immigration, [almost exclusively – my 58

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suggested addition] male and by general rule, temporary. But, while Europe was recovering from the Second World War and the economy grew, the migratory flows increased. The destination of the migrants was France at first, given that the three aforementioned countries were French colonies; but later they spread to Germany, Belgium and Holland. Throughout the 70s, the European countries did not need foreign labor, and for this reason immigration to Europe slowed down and even fell. In Spain, this immigration was late in comparison to Europe; in fact it only started when the European frontiers were closed to Maghreb immigrants. That is not unusual because of the isolation that Spain suffered after the Second World War, and above all because of the self-sufficient economic model that governed the country, as well as its poor industrial development.

Moroccan immigrants The presence of Moroccans in Spain was practically inexistent until the 70s; though during the 60s many Spaniards (more than 2,500,000), found themselves working alongside Moroccans in European countries. But the tendency changed and, from the mid-70s onwards, the Spanish economy started to grow, and shortly afterwards, this was followed by developments in the political sphere. In some regions of Spain the economic boom was significant, particularly in Catalonia, the Basque Country and Madrid. All this coincided with a reduction in the flow of immigrants to European countries as a consequence of the oil crisis; as a result many Spaniards returned to their place of origin and started a new life in more prosperous regions. Moroccans also travelled from Germany, Holland and Belgium and crossed the Pyrenees with the intention of spending time in Spain while the economic situation in their host European countries improved; but what first appeared temporary, soon became permanent, (Gonzálvez Pérez, V., 1993 and 1996). Catalonia was at first the preferred region of settlement, which later included Madrid Andalusia, Murcia, Valencia, etc. These first groups of migrants were made up of young men, mostly single, whose exact number is difficult to confirm. It was only with the implementation of the Foreigner’s Law of 1985, and the process of regularization in 1986 as a consequence of the Law, that we were able to have an idea of the number of Moroccans who found themselves on Spanish soil. With this first regularization, around 11,200 immigrants were formally recognized. But it was only with the regularization of 1991 that we could estimate the true number of Moroccans in our country: the figure ascended to 48,600, with a further 10,000 applications unprocessed. From 1991 Moroccan immigration to Spain was increasing in a massive way, passing from more than 54.000 people in 1992, to 282,432 in 2002 and 717,416 in 2008, (Lopez Garcia, B. y Berrianes, M., 2005). These 59

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figures do not include those who obtained Spanish nationality, and as a consequence stopped being considered in the statistics as immigrants when they became nationalized. The evolution of Moroccan immigration to Spain is reflected in graph II.

Source: Own elaboration from INE data. (http://www.ine.es).

We have not so far spoken about ‘irregular’ immigration, that is the biggest part of immigration and that, as was previously mentioned, only becomes regular after a process of regularization. The biggest part of Moroccan immigration to Spain has been, is and will continue to be ‘irregular’. The first wave of migrants that came from Europe entered Spain by working in the construction and agricultural sectors in Catalonia. Later their form of entry has been more diverse: on some occasions they have come from the Spanish African cities of Ceuta and Melilla, coming to the Peninsula by crossing (hidden in lorries and cars, or simply hideaways) in the boats that do the Ceuta-Algeciras or Melilla-Malaga and Melilla-Almeria crossings. At other times they enter disguised as tourists and as a last resort, on small fishing boats en route to the coasts of the Canaries, Andalusia and Murcia, (Segrelles, J.A. y Gonzalvez, V., 1994). There are no reliable statistics available of the number of Moroccans who have entered Spain in this way. This is because at first the statistics were not collected; and then afterwards many migrants entered in a regular way (as tourists or temporary workers, etc.) and have become ‘irregulars’. In the same way many ‘irregulars’ - through the various processes of regularization - stopped being 60

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defined as such. It is during these regularization processes that it has been possible to check, although not in an irrefutable way, the scale of this immigration (for example, only between 1986 and 1991, more than 45,000 people who had entered Spain in an ‘irregular’ way were identified), (Izquierdo, A., 1996). At first, as we have already said, the larger part of the immigrants were young and single men; but progressively, women, also young and single, gradually joined then. The number of women increased as the years passed, until it was possible to speak, around the end of the 90s, of a ‘feminization’ of Moroccan immigration, (Lucas, J., 2003). The larger part of these women worked in domestic service and in agriculture; though it is also true to say that some arrived as part of family regrouping, where children also appeared. The children have caused serious problems for the Spanish government because the state has to act as guardian if the child comes ‘unaccompanied’ to Spain, according to the Children’s Law (La Ley del Menor, Ley 1/1995 de 27 de enero). The number of ‘unaccompanied children’ (MENA), has notoriously increased since the start of the decade. The majority of them entered in an ‘irregular’ way by crossing the frontiers of Ceuta and Melilla; but, from some years ago they have started to arrive in small boats on the coasts of Andalusia and the Canary Islands. With each passing year, the number of children who enter in an ‘irregular’ way on small boats continues to grow. Sometimes they seek to make the crossing from Morocco to Andalusia in nothing more than a toy dinghy. Another way of entry, that has emerged in 2008 and 2009, is that of entering Spain by air with an adult, generally the parents, who afterwards abandon the child before returning. Although this action appears to be a cruel deed, it might be argued that thanks to it, the children will be able to enjoy the protection of the state and the possibility of being able to study; it is believed that with time they will have a better future. Nevertheless, these presumptions are doubtful, because the child is suddenly left without a family, lacking knowledge of the language and culture of the host country and with a distinct religion. It is worth noting two further points: On the one hand the level of qualifications of the Moroccan immigrants in general is very low. Some of them barely have had any schooling and on occasion the men and women, like the children, are illiterate. Although as the years have passed this fact has diminished. On the other hand, it is important to note where the Moroccan immigrants come from. At the start, the majority of them came from the region of Rif morocco. However in recent years there has been a growing movement of people from the country to the city, and cities like Fez, Casablanca, Rabat, Marrakesh, Nador, etc., have seen their populations increase. As a consequence of this exodus, Moroccans from the Atlantic 61

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coast to the interior have also been forced to immigrate, due to the lack of growth in the Moroccan economy, (Pimentel, M. 2002). In sum, hundreds of thousands of nationals of Morocco have been obliged to leave their country from the 50s onwards. The first waves left for Europe, principally France. When the economic crisis overwhelmed them, some returned to their country of origin and others stayed in Spain with the hope that the economy would improve. Spain entered the European Union and its economy started to develop, a fact which - when linked to distance and the means of transport - would facilitate rapid access to the Peninsula. Spain is a country of immigrants, and it started to receive contingents of Moroccans; at first temporarily and then permanently. The entry of these groups has been in an irregular and massive way, perhaps due to the distinct processes of regularization there have been, which has forced the Spanish government to negotiate with the Moroccan government in order to contain and regulate the entry of their nationals into Spain, Marcu, S., 2007 and Palaudaris, J.M. y Serra, C., 2007).

The immigrants of Algeria While it is true that there are more than 700,000 Moroccans in Spain, which represent the largest number of immigrants from the Maghreb in the country, we also have to take into account other Maghrebs that are here as well. This is the case of the Algerian immigrants, although their weight is much less when compared with Moroccan natives. The immigration of Algerian natives to Spain has had three phases: The first, before 1990, was practically imperceptible, given that involved temporary workers who came and went, depending on the seasonal crops. These immigrants largely came from Oran, where there still remained a small colony of Spaniards. The second phase, starting at the beginning of the 90s, was generally due to the political upheavals that the country was experiencing. This situation resulted in more Algerians coming to Spain; at the start as a place of transit and then as a country to settle in, perhaps due to the regularizations of 1986 and 1991. A third period started in the first decade of 2000, where the attraction of Spain has been economic and not political; due in part to the restrictions of the other European countries, (Lopez, B.,1993, 1996). In the first period, the Algerian immigrants consisted of young men who worked as day workers, and for reasons of communication and distance they went to the plantations of Valencia, although some went on to Catalonia. Most were single young men with barely any qualifications. At the start of the second period and at the end of the first, the greatest part of the Algerians who came to Spain did so in order to continue their route towards Europe, but when faced with the established barriers in the industrialized 62

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European countries, they started to settle in Spain. In contrast to the previous period, these immigrants were qualified people who were fleeing from the socio-political conditions in their country and in search of political asylum. In general the immigration tends to be of young men who come from urban areas. From 2000 onwards, this type of immigration started to change and now the reasons to come to Spain are economic and among the migrants are a growing number of women, although the majority are still male. They neither have qualifications nor high levels of study. More than 40% of them work in agriculture and the remainder work in industry, construction, domestic service, etc. The Algerians usually settle in places like Catalonia, AragĂłn, Madrid, Navarra, the Balearic Islands and, above all, in the region of Valencia, perhaps because of the maritime link between Oran and Valencia. As regards their numbers, in the regularization of 1991, 2,500 Algerians were regularized. Throughout the 90s, the numbers of Algerian immigrants in Spain quadrupled; half-way through the first decade of 2000 they multiplied by 10, and in 2008, their number ascended to almost 50,000. The growth can be seen in graph III.

Source: Own elaboration from INE data. (http://www.ine.es).

On the other hand, there are a series of characteristics that are specifically related to Algerian immigration in contrast with other Maghreb. One of them is that Algerians do not usually arrive in small boats like Moroccan immigrants. As a general rule, among 63

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those that do make the trip, they tend to buy old boats, on many occasions fishing boats, to make the journey. Another characteristic of note would be that in the trip from Algeria to the coast of Murcia, the Valencian region or the Balearic islands, there were never, among those on board, people of sub-Saharan origin, as has occurred on boats that have come from Morocco. A third difference is the posture of the Algerian authorities towards the illegal emigration of their nationals. In this regard - and in complete contrast to Morocco - the Algerian authorities have not skimped on trying to halt this type of emigration from the moment that it had relevance, by creating special security brigades to ensure that immigrants do not disembark on Spanish soil. This determination is more to do with ideological questions than anything else, given that it is considered a national humiliation and a failure that some of their youth wish to emigrate and convert themselves into an ‘irregular’ immigrant, (López, A., 2002). There are diverse ways of leaving Algeria and arriving in Spain besides those previously mentioned. If the journey starts in a ‘regular’ way there are three possibilities: One, by obtaining a consulate visa as a tourist; another by getting an invitation letter on behalf of a legal resident of their country in Spain - although this system is time-limited - and a third, by applying for family regrouping. In these cases Algerian migrants usually use a boat or a plane. If they decide to enter in an ‘irregular’ way to Spain, the strategy changes and they can arrive, as has been previously said, in a boat acquired at a high price; but they also can do it by crossing the frontier with Tunisia or with Morocco, or enter via Ceuta or Melilla, with the risk of being extradited. Finally, Algerians can enter by travelling as tourists to third countries like Portugal, Italy etc., and afterwards moving onto and settling in Spain, (Losada, T., 1993).

Tunisian immigrants The immigration of Tunisians to Spain is insignificant. To give some idea, before the regularization of 1991, there were some 80 Tunisians in a regular situation in the country. Very possibly, these Tunisians were diplomats, businessman, etc. With the regularization that took place in 1991, some ‘irregular’ immigrants emerged, arriving in this way to a figure of a little over 200. Their number gradually fell throughout the 90s, but then suddenly increased in 1998, when just over 500 people were counted. From this date on, the numbers continued to increase, until they reached 1,740 in 2008, (Lopez, B., 1993, 1996). This evolution can be seen in graph IV.

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Source: Own elaboration from INE data. (http://www.ine.es).

These figures are so small, in comparison with the rest of the Maghreb immigration to Spain, that it must be due to the fact that Tunisians prefer other destinations, such as France and Italy, above the old colonial metropolis. Of those Tunisians who have arrived on Spanish soil some are women; but very low in numbers in proportion to the men. In contrast to what happened with the Moroccan and Algerian contingents very few Tunisian immigrants work in agriculture, given that they prefer trade, industry, restoration (and some women in domestic service). Lastly, Tunisians usually settle in Spain on the Mediterranean coast; provinces such as Valencia and Barcelona are favorites, although there are also a significant percentage in Madrid.

Sub-Saharan immigration Sub-Saharan immigration starts to become significant from 1997 onwards. In Spain the countries of origin are: Angola, Burkina Faso, Cabo Verde, Cameroon, Congo, Ivory Coast, Gambia, Ghana, Guinea, Guinea Bissau, Equatorial Guinea, Kenya, Liberia Mali, Nigeria, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Senegal and Sierra Leon (which, except for the odd country, are all from Western Africa). See map I. It is difficult to give a description of the situation of these countries that is flattering; given that in synthesis, they are territories with strong demographic growth in which migrations from country to city are very significant, and where movements of people produce large areas of poverty in the main urban centres. Poverty - despite the large potential stock of natural resources that many of the geographical areas contain- is almost everywhere, because these riches are very rarely in the hands of their inhabitants. To 65

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that one must add large epidemics such as AIDS, which affects a significant proportion of the population. Additionally, we cannot forget the wars and the conflicts, which are long and all-consuming. Of the 43 wars that there were in the world between 1969 and 1990, 17 took place in one of these countries (Biafra, Nigeria, Angola, Congo, etc.). On the other hand, environmental change has impacted in a negative way, by producing great droughts that - united with the contribution of menâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s actions - have caused deforestation, desertification and, above all for human life, the scarcity (or total lack) of water, the quality and accessibility of which is very poor.

Map I. Subsaharan countries

Nevertheless, despite the fact that at first it all seems homogenous; there is nothing further from the truth, given that heterogeneity reigns. These are countries with ethnic and resource problems, cultural differences, and a multitude of different

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languages (Arabic, English, French, Portuguese, Spanish, etc.). In addition to this they have a common link: They are countries whose structures were built politically but not economically from colonial powers; put another way they are victims of imperialist capitalism, first from Europe, and later by North America and china. This description would be incomplete, if we do not add the image that these people have of Europe: as a land where political stability reigns, alongside democracy, as great economic powers that enable you to find work quickly and earn salaries that are ten, twentyâ&#x20AC;Śtimes above that of their countries, where culture flows and in which education is for all and at times free; a land in which convenience, comfort, respect for other people, security, healthcare, modern transport systems, technology etc., is all part of daily life. These are images sometimes projected by the media, (specifically television), and on other occasions by friends and family - who, in reality, tell what they have seen but on many occasions have not lived. All these factors push men, women and children to begin a journey of migration towards Europe and specifically to Spain. But for those who want to get to Spain the path is not easy, given that independently of where their journey starts, they have to cross Mauritania, Morocco or Algeria and then, take a great leap to cross the ocean or the sea, which is their last chance of salvation. The route through Mauritania towards Morocco is very dangerous. The journey to Algeria goes to Maghnia, and then to Oujda in Morocco. Through Mauritania or Algeria, the trip can be made by foot or in jeeps, and when this is not possible in trucks or by other means of locomotion. Many migrants stop along the route to work and earn money to survive, pay the transport that they have to take or pay the mafias who they need to help them with the journey in some form. But there are also many others who start the journey, but who never finish it. They cover distances of 3,000, 4,000 or even 8,000 kilometers, which can represent a journey of up to three years. The most fortunate start out in a plane from their countries of origin and fly up to Casablanca. But in the end, they find the same hardships as their colleagues who enter Morocco by land, given that they do not know how much time they will have to wait to cross the sea or ocean, or to find their way around the police security of the Spanish cities of Ceuta or Melilla. In first place, the migrants have to search for and pay the people who possess the means to transport them to Spain. In second place, since the imposing new fences have been constructed, they have to find people who help them pass or jump over the barriers, with all the injuries that that might entail. Alternatively, they can spend some months or years in Morocco, with the possibility of being captured and sent back to their country of origin. Lastly, they can cross the sea - which is a very dangerous crossing and where the number of victims increases year after year - although in recent years in the majority of 67

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cases, they are discovered and by general rule, repatriated. Those that enter European territory by Ceuta or Melilla, if they are not expelled, can live badly in these cities during a year, two or even more, until it is decided to transfer them to the Peninsula or definitively deny them entry and expel them. However, there is a further option, which is for the immigrants to depart one of the sub-Saharan countries in a boat, (normally called canoes or dugouts) and make the cramped crossing to the Canary Islands, where they usually arrive dehydrated or with hypothermia, in the best of cases, and are then usually detained by the police; or wander around the islands until they are returned to their countries or transferred to Spain. The solution to travel to the Canary Islands from one of the sub-Saharan countries is taken because of the increased security in the Gibraltar Straits, (SIVE, Frontex, etc.) and the new height of the fence (nine meters), new systems of detection, and the construction of a three-dimensional toe-rope [sirga – Please check my translation] in the centre of Ceuta and Melilla’s fences; without forgetting the recent [suggest add: additional] collaboration of the Moroccan authorities. For information on the routes, see map II.

Map II. The routes

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These immigrants, ‘irregulars’ as a general rule, are usually male, although there are some females, aged between 24 and 26, with a very low level of education or training, who in their majority come from the countryside and from very numerous and poor families. But as time passes, more women have started to arrive, some of them pregnant and, above all, young. Their ages range from 15 or 16 to 42. Their level of education has got better, and some of them are even graduates. In proportion, around 2/5 have a very good level of education and are highly skilled, while 3/5 of them lack education or have a very low level. The evolution of the numbers who have managed to regularize their situation in Spain can be seen in table 1.

Table I. Subsaharans immigrants in Spain. 1998-2008 Country/Year

1998

1999

2000

2001

2002

2003

2004

2005

2006

2007

2008

Angola

700

703

801

928

990

1118

1168

1291

1328

1421

1603

Burkina F.

110

183

208

301

311

479

522

635

709

Cabo Verde

2691

2628

2052

2021

2051

2037

2143

2278

2350

2630

2962

Cameroon

442

714

784

843

1100

1288

1532

2358

2612

3025

3349

Congo

239

200

225

300

387

355

532

531

606

912

Ivory Coast

119

206

254

326

376

492

552

956

1042

1340

1551

Gambia

6969

8524

8840

9318

10384

11329

12834

15830

16177

18538

19866

Ghana

755

1325

1837

2641

3272

4312

4633

8715

8989

10336

10249

Guinea

680

890

1432

1802

2165

2734

3151

5069

5238

6404

6993

Guinea B.

943

1698

1907

1982

2094

2452

2424

3212

3228

3828

5298

Guinea E.

3158

3404

4507

4063

5489

6032

6721

7616

7797

8663

9278

Kenya

185

236

245

278

312

352

403

419

483

569

696

Liberia

487

495

484

335

317

326

315

301

309

1067

Mali

1189

2281

1863

2785

3196

3896

4465

10902

11187

12964

13737

Nigeria

1464

4214

3292

5111

6996

9721

11248

17338

19074

23524

22649

R. D. Congo

602

619

674

704

853

978

1149

1346

1530

1668

1565

Senegal

6657

7744

11051

11553

14765

16889

19343

27678

28560

33217

34013

Sierra Leon

337

521

577

553

549

590

575

618

600

626

1630

Source: Own elaboration from INE data. (http://www.ine.es).

The table collects together the main nationalities, but there are other African countries that maintain nationals in Spanish territory. As can be seen the largest number

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of sub Saharans come from Senegal, followed by Nigerians, natives from Gambia, Mali, Ghana and Equatorial Guinea. All have become regular immigrants, thanks to successive regularizations. As a rule, they try to pass unnoticed and work in agriculture; sometimes as permanent and at other times as temporary workers. We also find them in trade, restoration, construction and in other economic sectors. These immigrants usually settle near to the Mediterranean coast, in the large cities like Madrid or Barcelona, although it is not rare to find them in the interior of the country, where they work in seasonal agriculture: for example in Jaen and Cordoba in the collection of olives, La Mancha and Rioja during the grape harvest, Extremadura in the collection of tobacco leaves, etc. One last point to deal with is the fight against the entry of ‘irregular’ immigrants of Maghreb or sub-Saharan origin in Spain. It is worth making two points clear: the first is that, with exceptions, the immigrants who arrive in the country come from old anglophile or francophile colonies, which means that they have not had contact with Spanish culture and customs and, secondly, that in the fight against ‘irregular’ immigration, Spain continues to apply the guidelines and criteria of the European Union, as a member country that also relies on their support. From 2006 onwards, after the so-called ‘avalanches’ and ‘assaults’ of the fences of the autonomous cities of Ceuta and Melilla, the number of immigrants of sub-Saharan and Maghreb origin who have entered Spain in an ‘irregular’ way have gradually diminished. To that one has to add the experience of Frontex, who from 2006 to 2008 has doubled the amount of investment in Africa and the SIVE (or Integrated Exterior Security System) which has now appeared in Algeciras, Fuerteventura, Malaga, Ceuta, Granada and partially in Cadiz in 2004, and that in 2008 spread to Huelva, Murcia, the Canary Islands and finished in Cadiz. In 2009, the SIVE has grown to include Valencia, Alicante and the Balearic Islands. On the other hand, the European Union has financed, since 2006, through the AENEAS programme, SEAHORSE or the Network of Information Exchange, (that is a network of safety communication via satellite between Spain, Portugal, Mauritania, Senegal and Cabo Verde; in 2009 several new countries were added: Morocco, Gambia and Guinea Bissau). Along the same lines, the number of police on these frontiers has increased and the reinforcement of the collaboration between the Spanish police and the countries of origin of the immigrants has taken place.

Virgilio

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subsaharan

migration

Spain

Source: Own elaboration from Ministry of the Interior data. (http://www.mir.es).

The official data from the Spanish Ministry of the Interior appears to confirm the reduction in arrivals to our coasts of ‘irregular’ immigrants, using boats. As one can see in Graph V, the biggest figures correspond to 2006, after the events in Ceuta and Melilla the previous year. Since that date the tendency of the curves has been to fall, to a point in which between 2006 and 2008 entries to the Canary Islands reduced by 71%, and by 43.4% in the Peninsula and Balearic Islands. On the other hand, for the last year that we have data, that is, 2008, ‘irregular’ immigrants from 29 countries were repatriated. The repatriations to Mali, Nigeria, Mauritania and Guinea Conakry were particularly significant; but were less than those to Morocco and Senegal. By way of reflection, we quote from an article by Raquel Rodríguez , (2009), entitled “The reality of African immigration”:

“One only has to “lift up the rug” to see what multinationals are doing on the African continent. Lift the rug and see that France - a member of the EU and a proponent together with other countries of the fight against illegal immigration – has in Senegal a multinational that manufacturers dugout boats of “good quality” with wood exported from Gabon. Perhaps one can understand why the boats from Senegal are of good wood and not of fibre, like those that leave from Mauritania. The boats, say the Area of Security and Defense, have been adapted to increase the capacity and autonomy of the dugouts that come from Senegal. This is logically incompatible with the fight against the ‘illegals’ of the aforementioned country, but little can be done, or rather there is little that people want 71

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to do to put the breaks on this multinational incoherence. There is visible complicity and corruption on behalf of many sectors linked to immigration from sub-Saharan Africa. When one speaks of the illegal traffic of people through the mafias of immigration one cannot make a profound analysis of ‘why?’ or of who is behind these mafias. The mafias are sustained by power, and not only by the power of the countries of origin of the migrants, but rather by the power of the states of the first world, that ‘turn a blind eye’ to whatever is convenient to them, whenever it is about economic gain”.

References Aja, E. & Arango, J. (eds.) (2006). Veinte años de inmigración de España. Perspectivas jurídica y sociológica (1985-2004). Barcelona: Fundación CIDOB. Aja, E. & Díez, L. (coord.) (2005). La regulación de la inmigración en Europa. Barcelona: La Caixa. Aparicio, R., VanHam, C., Fernández, M., & Tornos, A. (2005). Marroquíes en España. Madrid: Universidad Pontificia de Comillas. Arango, J. (2002). La fisonomía de la inmigración en España. El campo de las ciencias y las artes, 139 («El nuevo orden demográfico»), Madrid: Servicio de Estudios BBVA. Cachón. L. (2002). La formación de la ‘España inmigrante’: mercado y ciudadanía. Revista Española de Investigaciones Sociológicas, 97, 95. Gozálvez Pérez, V. (1993). La inmigración magrebí en Europa. El caso de España. Polígonos. Revista de Geografía, León, 3, 59-88. Gozálvez Pérez, V. (1996). La inmigración africana hacia España: el acceso a través de la frontera sur. Investigaciones Geográficas. Alicante, 5, 5-18. Izquierdo, A. (1996). La inmigración inesperada. La población extranjera en España (1991-1995). Madrid: Trotta. López García, B. (Coord.) (1996). Atlas de la inmigración magrebí en España. Taller de Estudios Internacionales del Mediterráneo (UAM). Madrid: Ediciones UAM. López García, B. & Berrianes, M. (Coord.) (2005). Atlas de la inmigración marroquí en España 2004. Taller de Estudios Internacionales del Mediterráneo. Madrid: UAM. López, B. (1993). Inmigración magrebíes en España: el retorno de los moriscos. Madrid: Mapfre. López, S. A. (2002). Los retos políticos de la inmigración. Isegoría, 26, junio, 85-106.

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Losada, T. (1993). La inmigración magrebí en los últimos veinte años. In J. Montabes, B. López, & D. Del Pino, Explosión demográfica, empleo y trabajadores emigrantes en el mediterráneo occidental. Granada. Ed. UG. Lucas, J. (2003). Los inmigrantes como ciudadanos. Gaceta Sindical. Reflexión y debate, 3, 37-55. Marcu, S. (2007). España y la geopolítica de la inmigración en los albores del siglo XXI. Cuadernos Geográficos, 40(1), 31-51. Ministry of the Interior (2001-2009). Balance de la lucha contra la inmigración ilegal, http.//www.interior,gob.es/DGRIS/Balances/Balance_2002. National Statistics Institute (1990-2009). Demografía y población. Migraciones. Available at http://www.ine.es. Palaudàrias, J. M. & Serra, C. (Eds.) (2007). La migración extranjera en España: balance y perspectivas. Girona: CCG Ediciones. Pimentel, M. (coord.) (2002). Procesos migratorios, economía y personas. Almería: Instituto de Estudios Cajamar. Rodriguez Camejo, M. R. (2009). La realidad de la inmigración africana, available at http:// www.africafundacion.org/africaI+D2009/documentos/inmigracion_africana_ raquel-2.pdf Segrelles Serrano, J. A. & Gozálvez Pérez, V. (1994). La inmigración marroquí en España. Un flujo reciente, clandestino, de crecimiento rápido y con dificultades para su integración socio laboral. Cuadernos de Geografía, Valencia, 55, 91-107.

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‘This is not my country’: illegal immigration through Patras towards the ‘Eldorado’ of Western Europe Julia A. Spinthourakis P. Antonopoulou

University of Patras, Greece

Abstract This case study briefly chronicles the history of illegal immigration during the last two decades through the gateway to Western Europe via the port of Patras, Greece. It provides information about the city as a means of understanding its orientation and ability to deal with the consequences of increased illegal, albeit transient, immigration while focusing on the experiences of the illegal migrants and the conditions under which they have lived during their sojourn in the city.

Greece is a southern European country of approximately 11.5 million inhabitants (Hellenic Statistical Authority, 2001) at the tip of the Balkan Peninsula on the Mediterranean Sea. It is a country of extensive coastal borders, with nearly 3,000 islands surrounding the mainland. It has 15,000 kilometres (9,300 miles) of coastline, but only 494 kilometres bordering a European Union (EU) country, Bulgaria (The World Fact Book, Washington, DC: Online, 2008). Another 794 kilometers borders countries outside the EU: Albania, the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia (FYROM) and Turkey.

Patras: the gateway to the west Patras the geographic area of our case study is a city of between 170 and 180,000 permanent residents situated in a larger urban zone of over 300,000 inhabitants (Urban Audit, 2004). Patras is the largest city in the region, the country’s third largest port and second largest in terms of sea travel. Built in the foothills of Mount Panachaikon, 75

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overlooking the Gulf of Patras, it is the capital of the Achaia Prefecture on the northwestern tip of the Peloponnesian peninsula, the southernmost part of mainland Greece. It is an ancient city steeped in history (Human Resources and Development Planning on both sides of The Ionian Sea, 2007). Once a thriving economic hub, Patras was one of the major industrial centres of Greece, however, the deindustrialization of the city in the late 1980s and 1990s caused severe problems as factories and manufacturing centers closed, to relocate in other countries (Research Academic Computer Technology Institute, 2006). Patras is considered Greece’s sea gateway to the West with ships leaving its docks daily to travel across the Ionian Sea and the Adriatic Sea to find their way to various Italian ports, including Bari, Ancona, Brindisi, and Venice. When Greece was in actual fact a place people migrated from and not to, thousands of Greeks travelled to Patras to secure passage on the ships leaving for the West. The port contributed greatly to overseas immigration, especially during the end of the 19th and the beginning of the 20th century. The Greeks who left the country (Kasimis & Kassimi, 2004) migrated not only to Europe but also The United States (Wallner, 2003).

Up until the late 1960s,

the main means of transportation for the immigrants were the ocean liners that often docked in Patras.

Illegal immigration to Greece and Patras If Patras is Greece’s gateway to the West, then Greece can be seen as Europe’s eastern gateway (Kasimis & Kassimi, 2004), but not necessarily in a positive light since its become something of an open door for illegal immigration into the EU. There’s little question that Greece has become the frontline of immigration and easiest backdoor into the EU (Smith, 2009). The challenge of dealing with migration flows towards the EU through Greece (Papadopoulou, 2004) have increased over the last few years with, according to Frontex2, the biggest increase in illegal traffic coming through its land and sea borders with Turkey (Kitsantonis, 2007). According to European news reports, in 2008, over 150,000 known migrants mostly from Asia but also from Africa illegally entered Greece. Adding to the challenges of dealing with illegal migrants is the plight of minors and especially unattached minors, that is, persons 18 years of age or younger, who illegally migrate with or without a parent or legal guardian. In 2008, it was estimated that as many as 3,000, mostly Afghan, minors with some as young as six were unceremoniously cast off boats onto remote Greek islands by traffickers (Smith, 2009). The conditions under which these and the majority of illegal migrants make their way to Greece are extremely dangerous and quite awful. They are often cramped in small disreputable boats, second-hand cargo ships; 76

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they may traverse Greece’s mountainous northern borders on foot (O’Brien, 2003) or be hidden in trucks (lorries/tractor trailers) which cross borders either via road or by ferry and tend to travel in the dead of night to avoid detection. The illegal migrants or their families pay exorbitant amounts of money to smugglers or ‘slave traders’3, in many cases thousands of Euros’ and more oftentimes than not find themselves dumped onto some out-of-the-way Aegean island or even worse thrown into the sea (O’Brien, 2003, pp. 29-31). The lucky few who do make it into the country with or without being discovered tend to live under appalling conditions. If they have been discovered by the authorities they are placed in refugee camps on the larger islands or in northern prefectures. Being placed in one of these camps is no guarantee that the conditions will be better than the makeshift camps the undiscovered tend to live in (O’Brien, 2003, pp. 39-40). This latter group appears to find shelter in illegal migrant camps, halls, abandoned buildings (O’Brien, 2003, p. 6) and other places with their major concentration points being in Athens and Patras. The former is preferred since the capital has an increased presence of NGOs, access to government authorities which is needed if they want to try to acquire asylum status in Greece,4 whereas the latter offers a better chance to stow away on trucks boarding ferries going from Patras to Italy (Papadopoulou, 2004, p. 175; O’Brien, 2003, p. 12). Given the uncertainty, lack of organization and resources, most of these migrants don’t want to stay in Greece. What they want is to move on (Smith, 2009; Papadopoulou, 2004), thus, the irony loaded statement ‘This is not my country’ often heard from the illegal migrants.

Patras, one step shy of the promise of Eldorado Illegal migrants who have successfully manoeuvred through all the difficulties to make it to Greece and finally to Patras live in a state of ‘neither here nor there’ something similar to a state of ‘permanent temporariness’ (Papadopoulou, 2004, p. 176; Bailey, Wright, Mountz, & Miyares, 2002); for all intents and purposes--a state of limbo. Their goal was and is to leave, not to stay; they wanted and still want to make it across the Ionian and Adriatic Sea and land on Italian soil so that they might continue on to their final destinations which are not usually Southern European countries but rather those in the north of Europe. Illegal immigration through Patras is not a new phenomenon, it dates back at least to when Greece became a member of the EU (1981), however, the numbers then were low and virtually invisible. Perhaps due to the small numbers or tempered by the city’s experiences in dealing with the arrival of refugees from Asia Minor in 1922 or because nearly every Greek has at least one relative who has emigrated to another country, people 77

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were less apt to complain and appeared willing to contribute and assist in temporarily ensuring their welfare (O’Brien, 2003, p. 24). This in contrast to the way many reacted when Greek refugees from Asia Minor arrived 70 years earlier as part of the population exchanges between Greece and Turkey (Vergeti, 1991). However, when the illegal migrant numbers began to grow in 1997 with the arrival of the first 200 Iraqi Kurds, the challenges and problems also grew. This was and is exacerbated by the fact that Patras has neither a reception centre nor the infrastructure in place to deal with even small numbers of illegal migrants (O’Brien, 2003, p. 11). Consequently migrants appear to accept that, being ‘in transit’ is a period of harsh living conditions, constant uncertainty and marginalization” (Papadopoulou, 2004, p. 179). Furthermore, immigration issues are under the jurisdiction of the central government, not the local authorities. But who were they, what did they find, where did they end up and how did they proceed? They were illegal and they came to Patras to leave as quickly as possible for an Italian port, neither of which were necessarily chosen because that was their ultimate goal but rather because they were the first European countries they could reach on their trek to their final destination. At first they found no support systems and only over time did small volunteer groups and groups such as the Greek Red Cross and Doctors without Borders offer some assistance. Along the harbour, across from the passenger terminal of the Port of Patras, are old deserted railway buildings and abandoned railway cars resting on long unused railway tracks. It was here that the refugees set up one of their first illegal camps, those who could, claimed the spaces in the buildings and the railway cars. The rest set up makeshift tents, plastic sheeting attached in some way to the railway cars, or cardboard boxes, whatever they could find and when they couldn’t find anything, they slept under the railway cars. No running water, no toilet facilities BUT less than 30 meters from their gate to “Eldorado.” Starting with single digit numbers and increasing to triple digit figures, the illegal refugee numbers grew quickly, in later years running into several thousand. Running across the roadway in mass or darting in and out of oncoming traffic to try to get onto, into, under or on top of trucks that were entering the Port of Patras and the ferries on which they had booked passage to take them to Italy. Disruption of traffic, near fatal accidents, health and hygiene issues as well as other factors, ultimately forced the authorities to ‘move’ the illegal migrant squatters out of the railway yard. For a very short time, other facilities were found, but these were far from their view of their means to get to “Eldorado.” Around the same time another group lived in an old, multi-story, boarded up hotel that was scheduled for renovations that were never completed because of the owner’s financial difficulties; here too there was neither water 78

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nor electricity and obviously no working toilet facilities. After a spate of complaints from local residents about home robberies (the hotel’s balconies provided easy access to other adjoining apartment buildings), the illegal migrants were forcibly removed. The Africans and especially the Somali’s moved to the Old City high above the main city (Kanistra, 2008), other groups, usually the minors, settled into olive groves east of the port along the seaside road, some lived in parks and slept on benches, building open fires to cook what food they could find. The more organized would go to the local open air markets which take place almost every day at different locations in the city and wait until closing time to rummage through what was thrown away, dropped to the road side or given to them by the local farmers. In recent years the illegal migrants have ‘built’ various camps, the most recent and perhaps well known is the one razed by the authorities in 2009. Located about 1.5 kilometres east of the port, hidden behind tall cattails and bushes, the camp was made up of many makeshift structures. It had no direct water or electricity; to bathe they would cross the seaside road and use either the public beach showers installed for the beachgoers or simply bathe in the sea but for electricity, the refugees illegally accessed it through jerry-rigged splicing of power lines leading into the apartment buildings alongside the camp. The local residents regularly complained to the police, the mayor and regional authorities as well as the central government. Their complaints concerned sanitation conditions aggravated by the overcrowded nature of the camp which boasted a mosque and a hospital tent for when the Doctors without Borders would come by, and for their personal safety as well as that of their homes which were adjacent to the camp. After a fire broke out in the camp, the illegal migrants even managed to bring in fire extinguishers to combat it, but the locals were adamant about wanting them moved. Negotiations were started on building an illegal migrant reception camp but the initiative failed to materialize as no community was willing to sanction it. The ‘in transit’ migrant ethnicities also changed. From a predominance of Iraqis the mix began to change with the advent of Afghanis, Asian Muslims from former Soviet central and eastern republics as well as Sudanese, Somalis, Eritreans, Kurds, Iraqis and Palestinians. Along with the changing faces of the population came a rise in tensions between them. There have been instances of intergroup violence between the different ethnicities as they are in fact divided into small ethnic enclave groupings. This situation is especially true of tensions between the Afghanis and Somali’s as well as the Sudanese. The former group’s presence in Patras is older than the latter’s with the Afghanis resenting the later arrival of the Somalis and the added competition for their chances of making it onto the trucks and ferries. 79

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Until 2008, most of the illegal African migrants had lived in old abandoned buildings in the Old City of Patras, high above the newer city and overlooking the Gulf of Patras and the port but police raids forced them to move down to the seaside. In 2008, territorial claims as to who would be where along the seaside port resulted in violence erupting on the streets bordering the port, with police intervention; knives, chains and clubs were drawn and the situation at one point was extremely critical with at least one Somali being rushed to the regional medical centre. For the first time the two groups of enraged and belligerent illegal migrants had left the seaside area of the port and made their way to the centre of the city’s business district. The residents and shoppers were concerned and surprised that the violence had both fermented and escalated within their midst (Kanistra, 2008). The issue was solved when the two groups apparently divided the coastal road they inhabited at the juncture of the reconstructed Patras Lighthouse built on the seafront at the western border of the port across from the Greek Orthodox Cathedral of Saint Andreas, a Byzantine Basilica which is the seat of the Bishop of Patras and the site of the crucifixion of the Apostle Andrew. The Afghans continued to live in their shanty camp to the east of the port and the Somalis and other Africans lived in the area west of the port; bathing in the Gulf of Patras and cooking communal meals on open fires. Even the bulldozing of the Afghani camp which housed nearly 1500 migrants at the time it was demolished has not radically changed things. Their settlements are smaller, less visible, but they continue not to be near the port. Some Somali’s have taken to sitting around the parking lots of supermarkets waiting for customers to unload their shopping carts and to let them take the carts back to get the coins out of the slots. More respectable than begging, they eke out a living by collecting the coins ranging from 50 cents to 2 Euros and when they have enough, they enter the supermarket and buy bread and other food stuffs. However, the locals are often put off by their persistent presence and the local markets have taken to employing security guards. A number of the Afghans have started doing manual labor day jobs. But they have also taken to congregating along the national highway leading into the city, at junctures where trucks must either stop for a red light or slow down to turn onto the road leading to the port. Why? To jump onto the back of the truck and possibly find an door open, or crawl under the truck carriage hanging on in hopes that they will go undetected and make it onto the ferry and ultimately to Italy. But illegal migrants have died in their quest to make it onto a truck in this manner; and even making it onto or into a truck doesn’t guarantee they will live through the journey. In the end though, for most, the mantra is: ‘This is not my country’ and the goal is to make it out of Greece on their way to their personal “Eldorado.” The reasons vary 80

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and much can be said about the responsibility that the government has with respect to this situation. Finally, O’Brien’s (2003, section 3, p.8) transcription of questionnaire responses from a group of Iraqi migrants perhaps best summarizes the plight of the illegal migrant trying to make his way out of Greece through the port of Patras: “We are sleeping in the parks. There are no baths. There is no bread. Winter is coming. What will happen to us? It is very difficult and there isn’t any way out to leave the country. We are Miserable. The Greek government doesn’t do anything for us. They just want to forget about us. We are asking the Greek government to either open the way to Italy, or accept our asylum [applications]”.

References Bailey, A., Wright, R., Mountz, A., & Miyares. (2002). (Re)producing Salvadoran transnational geographies. Annals of the Association of American Geographers , 92 (1), 125-144. EUbusiness Immigration, Greece. (2008, April 25). Immigration, Greece Greece under attack over asylum seekers . Retrieved on February 25, 2010, available at http:// www.eubusiness.com/news-eu/1209087123.46 Greeka.com. (n.d.). Patra history, Greece: information about the history of Patra Peloponnese. Retrieved on November 7, 2009, available at Greeka.com: http://www.greeka. com/peloponnese/patra/patra-history.htm#top Hellenic Statistical Authority. (2003, February). Population Cnesus 2001. Retrieved on April 12, 2010, available at Hellenic Statistical : http://www.statistics.gr/portal/ page/portal/ESYE Human Resources and Development Planning on both sides of Ionian Sea. (2007, September). HUREDEPIS. Retrieved on November 8, 2009, from Study for the evaluation of existing and planning regional capabilities and practices on the designing of culture sector policies, available at http://www.huredepis.eu/assets/ mymedia/1204294723_upfile.pdf Kanistra, E. (2008, October 14). symblokes between Afghans and Africans in Patras / Fear that the situation will escalate [in Greek]. Retrieved on February 28, 2010, available at indy.gr: http://indy.gr/other-press/symplokes-metaksy-afgann-kai-afrikannstin-patra Kasimis, C., & Kassimi, C. (2004). Greece: a history of migration. Retrieved on March 27, 2006, from Migration Policy Institute, available at http://www.migrationinformation. org/Profiles/display.cfm?ID=228 Kitsantonis, N. (2007, October 4). Greece struggles to curb influx of illegal immigrants. 81

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Retrieved on January 22, 2010, from New York Times, available at http://www. nytimes.com/2007/10/04/world/europe/04iht-migrate.4.7756077.html O’Brien, H. L. (2003). Landmine research report: the experience of asylum seekers entering Greece. Retrieved on February 5, 2010, available at www.migrants.gr/files/1/ migrants_files/RESOURCE_59.doc Papadopoulou, A. (2004). Transit migrants in Greece. Journal of Refugee Studies, 17(2), 167-184. Research Academic Computer Technology Institute. (2006). Service Innovation Policy Mapping Study Region of Western Greece. Retrieved on November 10, 2009, from INNOVATION POLICY PROJECT IN SERVICES – IPPS 2006-2007, available at http://akseli.tekes.fi/opencms/opencms/OhjelmaPortaali/ohjelmat/Serve/en/ Dokumenttiarkisto/Viestinta_ja_aktivointi/Muu_viestinta_ja_aktivointi/IPPS_ mapping_study_Greece_innovation_in_services.pdf Smith, H. (2009). Greece struggles to cope as immigration tensions soar. Retrieved on October 4, 2009, from guardian.co.uk. The Observer, available at http://www. guardian.co.uk/world/2009/sep/27/greek-islands-immigration-tensions-soar The World Fact Book (Washington, DC: Online). (2008). Retrieved on February 5, 2010, from Central Intelligence Agency, Publications: available at https://www.cia.gov/ library/publications/the-world-factbook/geos/gr.html Urban Audit. (2004). Regional Inforegio, Urban Audit City Profile. Retrieved on March 26, 2010, from urban audit for Directorate-General for Regional Policy at the European Commission: available at http://www.urbanaudit.org/CityProfiles. aspx Vergeti, M. (1991). Pontic Greeks from Asia Minor and the Soviet Union: problems of integration in modern Greece. Journal of Refugee Studies, 4(4), 382-394. Wallner, R. (2003). Greek immigrants 1890-1920. Mankato MI: Capstone Press.

Notes 1 Frontex is the European Union agency that oversees border security. 2 The Greek word for someone facilitating the movement of illegal migrants is ΔΟΥΛΕΜΠΟΡΟΣ and is made up of two words: ΔΟΥΛΟΣ or slave and ΕΜΠΟΡΟΣ or someone who is in trade. 4 Acquiring asylum status in Greece is very problematic. In 2007 Greece approved 0.04 % of its asylum requests, just eight cases out of 25,000 requests (EUbusiness Immigration, Greece, 2008).

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Undocumented immigration in Arizona: a human quagmire William G. Davey, PhD, Professor Emeritus

Arizona State University, USA

“Give me your tired, your poor, Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free, The wretched refuse of your teeming shore. Send these, the homeless, tempest-tossed to me. I lift my lamp beside the golden door.” Inscription on Statue of Liberty

“Good Fences Make Good Neighbors” Traditional Proverb

Abstract Illegal immigration is a significant worldwide phenomenon. In the Southwest United States, this migration has historically been tied to the migration of people who want to acquire a better life in the US. Recently, the issue of illegal immigration has taken on more complex social, political, economic, and national security dimensions. This case will focus on illegal immigration in Arizona and the impact on society. The Arizona frontier with Mexico approximately 265 miles (426 km) is a major corridor of undocumented migration and drug trafficking from Mexico. The volume of illegal immigration, the role of human smugglers, the Minute Men and National Guard, Sherrif Joe Arpaio, the wall, the impact on national security, ethic relations, civil rights, and economic impact will be discussed.

The topic of illegal immigration in the United States is one of great political, economic, and social significance. The Federation for American Immigration Reform (FAIR) a national, nonprofit organization estimated more than 13 million illegal immigrants reside in the United States (Fair 2008). Of particular significance is the human drama playing out along the 262 mile (422 km) Arizona frontier with Mexico. In times past, poor people searching for a better life in the United States travelled north largely for economic opportunities. Today, the issue of illegal immigration has taken on more 83

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complex social, political, economic, and national security dimensions. It is a case of human smuggling, drug trafficking, gun running, and organized crime. The Arizona frontier with Mexico is largely sparely inhabited and rugged desert terrain. 202 0f the 265 miles of the Arizona border with Mexico is fenced (Lamb 2009). The controversial fence was erected as a response to national security concerns and has changed the flow patterns north making Arizona a prime corridor. Governor Janet Napolitano in her International State of the State address estimated that between 3,000 and 4,000 attempt to cross the Arizona frontier daily (Napolitano, 2006). The social and financial impact on Arizona is significant. Fair estimates that some 500,000 illegal immigrants reside in Arizona and that in 2006 Arizonan taxpayers were burdened with annual costs of about $1.3 billion. (Fair 2006). While many are apprehended, many make their way the 160 miles to Phoenix. Some remain and others disappear throughout the country. Border security is a federal government responsibility. Without the implementation of the comprehensive immigration policy currently being proposed by the Obama administration, there has been long standing friction between state, federal, and citizen groups. At the heart of the debate are the issues of responsibility, cost, security, and humanitarian concerns. The status quo represents an unclear federal policy, the need for local enforcement, and the emergence citizen activism. Despite the need for reform, the federal government plays a significant role in border affairs. Having constructed 639 miles of fence along the 1993 mile border with Mexico, a system of sensors, providing more than 20,000 border agents, and testing a virtual fence, the federal government has slowed but not eliminated illegal crossings on the Arizona border. An outcome of the fence seems to have increased the numbers of people who use “coyotes” to smuggle them across the unfenced sections adjacent to rough desert terrain. This influx of human smuggling combined with drug trafficking and gun running has increased criminal activity on both sides of the border. The United States Border Patrol is the law enforcement arm of the U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) within the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and is the first line of defense in the detection, prevention and apprehension of terrorists, undocumented aliens and smugglers of aliens, drugs, guns, and money. Despite extraordinary work by the Border Patrol and the enhancement of technology, there remains concern not enough is being done to secure the border, limit illegal immigration, contraband and provide humanitarian assistance. Such concern led to the deployment of the National Guard troops in 2006 and the creation of citizen activist groups. Founded on October 1, 2004 by Jim Gilchrist, the Minuteman Project recruited civilians to patrol the Mexican border. Frustrated by the lack of federal enforcement of immigration laws, Gilchrist(2008), an ardent proponent of 84

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first amendment rights and rule of law, once described the southern border as “ a loosely guarded, lawless wasteland, an open invitation to enter at will for illegal aliens, fugitives, terrorists, and criminal cartel members who want to avoid detection.” Supporters are largely conservatives who favor strict enforcement of immigration laws and secure borders. Opponents are Latino groups and some government officials who favor more humane laws and question the validity of citizen groups performing government functions. Another citizen group, faith based Humane Borders was founded in 2000 in Tucson. Through a network of some 1500 volunteers and collaborations with more than 100 organizations Humane Borders sets up water stations in the desert along migrant corridors, promotes changes in US policy, amnesty, legal work opportunities for migrants, and economic relief for agencies helping migrants. These groups are representative of deeply acute and opposing views on immigration policy and reform that have intensified and polarized the debate. Perhaps the most polarizing and controversial figure in the border drama is Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio. The self-proclaimed “America’s Toughest Sheriff” has been the center of controversy over his “immigration sweeps”. The Arizona Republic reports that “Since March 2008, Arpaio has conducted 13 sweeps and deputies have arrested 669 people, about half of whom were held on immigration violations” (Gonzalez 2010). A 2005 Arizona law, known as the “coyote law”, enabled local police to enforce immigration laws and made it a felony to smuggle illegal aliens and labeled the persons being smuggled as co-conspirators and subject to prosecution under the law. In addition, ICE had granted local law enforcement agencies the ability to enforce federal law under what has been called a 287g agreement. In reaction to pressure from civil rights, pro-immigrant, and labor groups for fear of racial profiling , the Department of Justice began an investigation and notified Arpaio that the investigation will focus on “patterns or practices of discriminatory police practices and unconstitutional searches and seizures.”(Gonzalez 2009). It is argued that his enforcement methods may unfairly target Hispanics and Spanish-speaking people. The Department of Homeland Security withdrew this authority in Oct 2009. Adhering to his position of enforcing immigration laws, Sheriff Arpaio has vowed to pursue illegal immigrants under Arizona Law. An Arizona Republic ( October 2009) analysis of arrest records of ten of Arpaio’s sweeps indicated “more than half the illegal immigrants arrested during the sweeps were held on federal immigration violations and hadn’t committed another crime. Arpaio argued that the probe was politically motivated. Former Arizona Governor and now Secretary of Homeland Security, Janet Napolitano and the Sheriff have long standing disagreements over immigration policy. It is clear that the United States immigration policy must be reformed. The current situation is punctuated by polarizing positions and political rhetoric that must 85

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be overcome to develop a sustainable policy. Mark Krikorian (2008) suggests that policy must answer the following questions: “How do we control and reduce illegal immigration? How many, and which, legal immigrants do we admit? How do we handle temporary visitors? And how do we treat those immigrants we have admitted to live among us?” Napolitano(2009) has argued for a policy that strengthens enforcement, legalizes the current work force, and improves the legal flow of immigration. When the criminal element of human smuggling, drug trafficking and gun running are factored in, the solution becomes very complicated. Despite polarizing perspectives, there is bipartisan support for immigration reform in Congress. Current practices have made Arizona the main corridor for illegal immigration. What is needed is a carefully crafted comprehensive policy that reduces illegal immigration, secures the border against terrorism and contraband, and provides effective alternatives that remove the criminal elements from the border.

References The Federation for American Immigration Reform (FAIR).(2008). Immigration Facts: at

National

Data.

Retrieved

November

2009,

available

http://www.fairus.org/site/PageNavigator/facts/national_data.

The Federation for American Immigration Reform (FAIR).(2006). Immigration Facts: Arizona. Retrieved November 1, 2009, from http://www.fairus.org/site/ PageNavigator/facts/state_data_AZ. Gilchrist, J.(2008). An essay by Jim Gilchrist. Georgetown University School of Law. September 18, 2008. Gonzalez, D. (2009). Arpaio to be investigated over alleged violations: racial-profiling inquiry stems from immigration sweeps [electronic version]. The Arizona Republic. March 11, 2009. Retreived on December 9, 2009 available at http://www.azcentral.com/ arizonarepublic/news/articles/2009/03/11/20090311investigation0311.html Gonzalez, D. (2010). Advocate strikes back on Arpaio crime sweeps [electronic version]. The Arizona Republic. January 3, 2010. Retrieved on January 18, 2010, avalilable at http://www.azcentral.com/news/articles/2010/01/03/20100103immig-raid0103. html. Henley, J. (2009). Sheriff Arpaio may lose some immigrant authority[electronic version]. The Arizona Republic. October 3, 2009. Retrived on November 12, 2009 available at http://www.azcentral.com/arizonarepublic/news/articles/2009/10/03/20091003 arpaio-ice1003.html Krikorian, M. (2008). The new case against immigration: both legal and illegal. New York:

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Penguin. Lamb, J. (2009). Arizonaâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s border fence nears completion [electronic version]. Green Valley News and Sun. February 3, 2009. Retrived on December 22, 2009, available at http://www.gvnews.com/articles/2009/02/05/news/03%20border.txt. Napolitano, J. (2006). 3rd Annual State of the State Address. May 25, 2006. Phoenix: Phoenix Committee on Foreign Relations. Napolitano, J. (2009). 2010 agenda: immigration. The Arizona Republic, November 24, 2009, B11.

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The traumatic experience of repressed persons as the psychological basis of forming the satiated values Mara Vidnere

Riga Teacher Training and Educational Management Academy, Latvia

Abstract The work deals with the problems of repressed peopleâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s experience in psychology showing the experience and its understanding these falsely accused and convicted people as well as the highest values of life created as a result. The average length of confinement in the forced labor camps in Siberia was 15 years. This suffering experienced by our nation is a reality that influences also the social processes of the present life. Therefore it is necessary to comprehend the view of history, reflected in the testimonies of the repressed. Its goal is the widening of the human contiguity and multicultural information.

The experiences of the deportees in the various Soviet forced labor camps are now fairly well documented by eyewitness accounts(e.g., in Latvian: Latvian National Foundation, 1982; Vairogs, 1986; Vidnere, 1997). Human response to extreme stress has been studied (Goldberger & Breznitz, 1982, Van Der Kolk, Van Der Kolk, McFarlane & Weisaeth, 1996; Van der Kolk & Frankl, 1978, 1987; Wilson, 1989). Most of these studies deal with prisoners of war, Vietnam veterans, and survivors of the holocaust. Dreadful as these experiences were, their duration was shorter than those of the inmates of the Soviet forced labor camps. The average length of confinement in the Soviet forced labor camps in Siberia of Latvians who survived and eventually returned home, was 15 years, and the threat of persecutions spanned a period of 50 years.

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Method Participants At the time of data collection, tile ages of the ~ ranged from 60 to 95;the majority (75.5%) of the respondents were below tile age of 65. Respondents below the age of 60, in most cases, were persons whose mothers were either already pregnant when arrested, or they were born in Siberia. To analyse Traumatic emotional experience of political represed people was used ethnogenical approach. Findings: Reasons for Arrests, Imprisonment and Deportations. It appears that the Soviet authorities pursued deliberate genocidal policies by slating for persecution members of specific national and socio-economic groups. . On the basis of the compiled materials from the interviews and discussions the archive material was compounded (documents, testimonies,) and a questionnaire prepared to send out to respondents. The instrument was a three page mail questionnaire containing 16 questions (Vidnere 1997), and space was provided for additional comments. A total of 2500 questionnaires were distributed. By October 1995, 750 questionnaires were returned and analysed. Results As testified by the materials compounded by the conference “The Practice of the Communistic Totalitarianism and Genocide in Latvia”, Latvia had lost 564.800 of its citizens in the period from 1940 till 1953. According to another research the loss during this time was 720.000 or 36% of the total population of Latvia in 1940. If these figures could be proved by documents then Latvia would be in the first place in the world by the percentage of lost population. The processes of destructivity in society and in the mutual human relationships determine the peculiarities of the forming of especially negative, abnormal emotional experiences. In the research the essence, political motivation, and forms of repressions are revealed. Each form of repressions had its particularities in the organizational social and psychological aspect. It was essentially influenced by the characteristics of the concrete time when the deportation or incarceration took place. From the total number of the interviewed repressed persons more than a half have been deported. 35% have been in GULAG camps, 16.6% in settlements, 1.2% in filtration and concentration camps. The results of the interviews also let to speculate about the motivation of the incriminations such as “traitor of the country” according to law, and “enemy of the people” according to the attitude in the social environment. The responses to the questionnaires indicate that the status of legionnaire in German army or a former member of Latvian national army was seen on the following chart, more than 35% belong to the above. 92

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The social, economical, and moral discrimination against the repressed, executed by the communist regime, was universal. It was expressed in many different ways and nuances by all ranks of administration or other officials submissive to the regime. The degree of it depended on each individual’s activity, imagination, and releasing of primitive instincts, and it was supported by the official political position. The ways of repression and discrimination, compiled from the responses on the questionnaires, emerged as a complex in each individual case. It has to be understood that these ways can appear simultaneously as a chain of persecutions, closely related to each other. The spectrum of the forms of discrimination divulges first of all that the tyranny, unleashed the former politically incarcerated and deported, expresses the most widespread violations of human fights, completely ignoring the rights and duties of Soviet citizens as was written in the constitution of Soviet Union and of Latvian SSR. The experience in life threatening situations create heavy emotional traumas. As a result a human being often loses the emotional balance that has to be restored. The uniqueness of an emotional experience is revealed in the comprehension of the emotional experience. If this is achieved, it prepares the grounds for the psychological direction of the whole future life and the philosophical quests for the meaning of life situations. The search for a way out actually is the result of the quests for the meaning of life. At the same time a self-evaluation, screening of values and a possible change of one’s viewpoint takes place. To summarize the theoretical interpretation of an emotional experience we must emphasize that a LTS requires quite a different inner action; various reactions emerge as the ultimate activation of a personality’s inner resources in order to survive and later to find the opportunity to realize one’s life goals. The comprehension of an emotional experience is closely connected with the inner system of values in a personality. The stability or changes of the value system depends of the “satiation” of one’s life values. The level of satiation is determined by interaction - the objective and subjective attitude towards a value by a human being, as well as by the individual and social significance of a value. This situation can be reflected in the following process: dividing the values into instrumental (I) and terminal (T). Instrumental values are forming a terminal value ( I1 + I2 + ....In  T); this in turn, relating to a higher terminal value, becomes an instrumental value. This process of interaction determines the sation of values that can be depicted schematically as follows:

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Value O

I - OO

II - OS

III - SO

IV - SS

Person

S In this process of value satiation we distinguish four phases: I -OO - the phase of recognizing a value. A Value is something meaningful, sensible that does not yet exist but be, is worth striving for. In this phase the process of forming and recognizing a value takes place; a person is aware of the value being there. II - OS - the phase of values satiation that determines the symbolic significance of a value - a value is essential as an idea, a manifestation or a slogan. The reflection of a value in a human conscience as something meaningful, essential is connected not as much with the individual as with the society’s conviction or even a requirement. In the transition to the third phase the forming and recognizing the value in oneself takes place - a person has to work with oneself, recognizing the values as the means to fight the circumstances. III - SO - the subjective significance of values - touches the moral relationships in a society and is connected with a person’s choice and convictions. The value becomes a satiated idea to the individual. The stability or changes of one’s value system is determined by the objective value of a person’s subjective (intrapsychic) value system. In this phase the value system is open to certain changes - where the development of the existing personality structure is submitted to a continuous integration into a higher level. As the human being begins to recognize the direction one has to take, the seeming contradiction between the objective conditioning of one’s behaviour and one’s subjectively felt freedom of choice is erased.

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IV - SS - satiated value - is a value that has been materialized in the reality, formed in the process of value integration when our own conceived value (satiated idea) has gone through a series of real circumstances - remaining unchanged when tested in the life circumstances - becomes satiated, i.e. tested by a life experience. It depicts oneâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s positive action in any circumstances. This has been proved by people that have gone through the tortures of deportation and GULAG camps, crystallizing and preserving in themselves the principal life values.

This has been proved by people that have gone through the tortures of deportation and GULAG camps, crystallizing and preserving in themselves the principal life values, who was realizing Holy Pain in process of sublimation deep emotional experiences. Under such circumstances we come in contact with phenomena that are fundamental for the comprehension of a human being. It is the expression of its essence, individuality, determined by the consent of those values that attest the common sense, the ability of orientation in life and responsibility. It is the ability to find in oneself new opportunities after a break-down of oneâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s life, the ability to see the beauty and the testimony of life along with the violence and death, ability to forgive as a way of releasing oneself from the suffering, ability to search for the meaning and a creative significance in the ongoing injustice. In the synthesis of an emotional experience the creativity is assured as the basis of an unique empiric process, as the possibility of a creative process in a life experience where the highest principles of life come forth.

Conclusions Under such circumstances we come in contact with phenomena that are fundamental for the comprehension of a human being. It is the expression of its essence, individuality, determined by the consent of those values that attest the common sense, the ability of orientation in life and responsibility. In the synthesis of an emotional experience the creativity is assured as the basis of an unique empiric process, as the possibility of a creative process in a life experience where the highest principles of life come forth. A great mathematical processing of the empiric material and an analysis of results have been accomplished that allows to comprehend the essence of interrelations of the comprehension of the emotional experience and the forming of satiated values.

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References Arendt, H. (1974). The origins of totalitarianism. NewYork: Harcourt Brance. Eitinger, L. (1964). Concentration camp survivors in Norway and Israel. Oslo: Universitets for Laget. Frankl, V. E. (1978). Psychotherapy and existentialism: selected papers on logotherapy. NewYork: Simon Schuster. Goldberger, L. & Breznitz, S. (1982). Handbook of Stress: theoretical and clinical aspects. NewYork: Free Press. Latvian National Foundation (1982). These Names Accuse. Stockholm, Sweden: Latvian National Foundation in cooperation with the World Federation of Free Latvians. Rank, O. (1950). Will therapy and truth and reality. NewYork: Alfred A. Knopf. Sartoni, G. (1993). Totalitarism, model mania and learning from error. Journal of Theoretical Politics, 5(1), 5-22. Vairogs, D. (1940). Latvian departations. The world federation of free latvians. Van der Kolk, B. A. (1987). Psychological trauma. Washington, DC: American Psychiatric Press. Van Der Kolk, B. A., Bessel Van Der Kolk, A., McFarlane, A. C. & Weisaeth, L. (1996). Traumatic stress: the effects of overwhelming experience on mind, body, and society. New York: Guilford Press. Vidnere, M. ( 1997). Ar asarām tas nav pierādāms.... [You can not prove it with tears...]. LU: Rīga.

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Cultural diversity Wolfgang Berg

Hochschule Merseburg, Germany Abstract The article departs from Human Rights which, defined as equal rights and equal opportunities, do correspond with cultural diversity, ensuring all kinds of minorities or subcultures not to become disadvantaged. The author rejects all kinds of culturalism (as if groups or even nations are culturally homogenous or determine human action totally), but rather operationalize cultural diversity as a setting in which people act according to different rules- despite all commonalities. Education is insofar the growing of transcultural personalities who are able to cope with any situation in which different rules interfere. In order to exclude discrimination or disadvantages it is crucial, too, that – particularly in competitive settings, only those cultural items are under consideration which are important to fulfil a task.

All human beings have equal rights and form one community, with plenty of common feelings, needs, ambitions and problems. Human rights are universal. It is a widespread, also official consensus that human rights are equal rights, i.e. are valid for everybody regardless which particular person is concerned. This verdict on discrimination is to be found in all documents in the context of United Nations, Council of Europe etc.

Discrimination Actually there are, however, differences; we do distinguish and thus “discriminate” people, for instance according to their age or sex. It seems to be universal that you address differently young or old people, girls and boys etc. Whereas these categories seem to be “natural”, the place of birth or the religious beliefs are not. They are based on particular, individual information. And of course, even the “natural” features are not relevant in many situations. Following a constructivist approach we understand all these categories as a product of a societal process which makes “differences”, i.e. counts the years since birth, perceives the gender or raises the question of where people come from.

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The German Basic Law (which has constitutional status) enumerates those categories which constitute differences, but must not justify privileges (Art. 3). This list includes gender, descent, mother tongue, home country, religious belief, political convictions and health status. The list also refers to “race” – a category which is not acceptable at all, as it – indirectly – gives support to any kind of “racism”. If the term makes any sense, then we must understand that human beings constitute one race. Actually, people have always been “discriminated” against, i.e. excluded, persecuted or underprivileged “because” of the colour of their skin, i.e. pretending that one colour of skin has more value than another. These categories are social ones, as the society has constructed them, defined them as relevant: relevant as to how to perceive and treat other persons or groups of persons. The human rights approach accepts and enhances the categories, in order to proclaim that they do not matter – as far as all people have equal opportunities. The access to positions in the economic or political system can be closed formally, by explicit restrictions. This had been the case, for instance, for a long time in the German Army, which did not accept (except in the medical services) female professionals. It is still open as to whether it is a kind of age discrimination that workers older than 65 are obliged to leave their workplace and enter the pension system. Mostly, discrimination is a process which “happens” naturally and can be evidenced only indirectly with regard to the relevant category, maybe gender or physical status or the percentages compared. E.g. does the percentage in society correspond with that in this institution or that position? Thus you can find out that there are more female students than male ones, but only 10% of all professors are female. Interestingly enough the categories of concern do change. So until recently the proportional presentation of religious denominations in the political system of Germany and other states was an import issue. The liberty of religion, however, includes the right of privacy; nobody has to indicate any more his/her religion. This is just one reason why the category of religion does not matter anymore. Another reason is that – for whatever position (outside the churches) – it is the individual qualification which counts. The religious beliefs are seen to contribute to professional competences only marginally. One way to solve the problem of underrepresentation is to introduce an institutional rule, the quota: Under the condition of equal competences members of the underprivileged group get the vacant position as long as the underrepresentation exists. This is fair, also according to the Supreme (Constitutional) Court in Germany or the European Court, because the qualification remains the most important factor. It would not be fair to prefer a person in spite of his/her lower qualification, as it was unfair before when a

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person was not accepted because of his/her gender or handicap. We remember times when, officially or practically, particular groups, maybe the noble class, the army offices or medical doctors, did their own recruiting, i.e. perpetuated the closed shop. Those who can present themselves as a member of a particular group, have better chances of being appointed for a position this group can decide upon. Of course, it is – beside the material resources available - the model of the parents, the attitude of the social class, and the ethics of the profession which enables the new generation to become an entrepreneur, a medical doctor or an artist like the parents. Corporate identities must not reproduce themselves over generations. There still remains the question whether personal competences can be judged with no regard to the person and the categories according which s/he can be characterized. And even more, the question is whether a person can achieve within the education system all the personal competences which are necessary. The cultural capital which learners also have to acquire has to fit the standards required by the labour market or employers. Hence the principle of equality (equal opportunity) has a cultural dimension. Among the categories, which may contribute to discrimination, there is language. Obviously, even more than religion, the mother tongue is an important part of the individual identity, and at the same time it is a category which is used to determine a group, by the group itself and/or by others. Again a strong cultural dimension comes into focus. Isn’t it a bold promise that nobody should have disadvantages due to his/ her language? Sociolinguists (among others Bernstein 1962), have given evidence to the fact that children from a lower social class may have to overcome a language barrier similar to learning a foreign language, i.e. the “elaborated” code of the upper middle class if they want to achieve good results in schools (which are institutions governed and executed by the upper middle class). This may also be true for children from rural areas or particular regions, whose mother language is a dialect with little similarities to the standard language. Under the auspices of multicultural, i.e. more or less multilingual societies, the problem is even more dramatic: Children who are raised in a family from Italy, Turkey or Iraq do not have equal opportunities in a German school or any other institutions where German is the only standard. A first summary: There seem to be various cultural aspects of human rights, which have to be clarified; particularly cultural diversity and monolingual/monocultural institutions and practices are two areas that do not fit to each other.

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We are witnessing situations like the following: some people are joining hands, others giving hugs, some are wearing turbans or veils, others hats, some are refraining from eating beef or pork or meat at all, some are dictating orders to their staff, but others are discussing the problem extensively. If we are part of those situations, be it as actor or observer, would we deem those situations “strange” – because we are not familiar with them: so it is the others who then are strange? No, they are not. We can explain the situation in terms of culture and thus it has lost its strangeness. We need not blame or despise the others though they behave – from our point of view – in a different or even deviant way; they are not crazy or sick or provocative - it is not their fault, it is their culture, which explains their behaviour. The same is true for attitudes, even values and norms, the system of perceiving the world, “Weltanschauung” and beliefs. Some keywords show the variety of orientations: authority, paradise, happiness, fate, self-realisation, success, fun. With regard to Hofstede (1993) we can distinguish cultures of individualism and collectivism, masculinism or feminism, with different grades of uncertainty avoidance etc. “Culture” has an explanatory power by which in any “critical situation” tension, rejection, hostility can be reduced or avoided. Cultural understanding can release interindividual communication from bad feelings and frustration once we realize that it is not because of him/her or me that we do not come together, but because of the fact that we “have” different cultures. Hence, as soon as we know more about the cultural differences, it even seems possible to avoid “critical incidents” – it is just necessary to take some intercultural training and learn the cultural standards and anticipate which “do’s and don’ts” are crucial, moreover to learn which standards my associates (!) follow. Thus well trained people can interact successfully with culturally different people, e.g. make good business abroad. This is the message professional trainers would like to sell us: Cultural diversity can be managed comfortably. Matter-of-factly things are not that easy. The first mistake is culturalism in a double sense.

Culturalism “People belong to a culture”, “individuals represent their culture”, “culture can explain why people behave the way they behave”, “in France we can learn French culture”.... This culturalist approach has, no doubt, some advantages. The disadvantages, however, predominate. There are two major problems:

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As soon as, let us say, people in France or from France are told to behave like this or not like that, a strong double claim is made: The territory of France and the people living on this territory build one culture, which is all the same inside the borders, but differs from everything outside. The explanatory power of “culture” disappears as soon as we understand that individuals can behave this or that way – free to decide within a wide range of options according to particular interests, objectives etc., including the option to leave the particular “cultural setting” (e.g. by migrating to another place). At least for modern, pluralist societies it is not possible to identify one culture – be it within societal or territorial borders. If you do so, it remains in the best case a brief, abstract display of fundamental values like individualism, liberty, achievement, social responsibility…. which is far from being particular and applicable to a concrete situation. And those cultural features are far from being exclusive in terms of territories or even national states either. Samuel Huntington delineated huge civilisations which are interacting, competing and even fighting each other (Huntington 1996). It is at least arguable that global politics can be described and predicted in those terms. However, for daily interaction of people this scheme has no explanatory power at all. Cultures cannot act. Only an individual or a group of individuals responsibly act. In a society like the German one, the attitudes and values/norms which underpin individual behaviour are so differentiated, that you can hardly subsume it to any overarching factor. Whenever identity policy is established, only culture in the sense of arts and folklore and tradition can be referred to, but not the values and norms which “rule” individual behaviour. “Culture” is a term which is not really useful as it is too compact, a catch-all word. On the other hand, people do not act just as they want, in an unstructured or unpredictable way. In order to operationalize “culture” we understand it as a set of rules. To define cultural diversity is a complex task, as a long and maybe never ending discussion about the term “culture” has to be taken into consideration. From an empirical point of view cultural differences have to do with people whose way of life is not the same. It is to be figured out that – pragmatically – cultural differences come about as rules or sets of rules which do not fit together. Interferences of different rules might lead to conflicts, misunderstandings, and a sort of difficult situation.

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Rules provide us with simple expectations. We expect people to say “good morning”, to apologize for being late, to complete a task they have agreed upon, to accept a hierarchy.... We can do this because there are (implicit or expressible) rules like “Whenever you meet a person whom you know/enter a social situation of a particular relevance, you greet this person/these persons”; “Whenever you have started a task, you do not quit unless you have good reasons to justify the break”... etc We like to apply rules as they reduce the complexity of any situation and transform it to one which is defined and brought to order in terms of expectable behaviour and reactions. If all people, who are involved in the situation, share the same rule(s), interaction seems to be easy and without any problem. Rules are the product of frequent interactions and serve to facilitate these interactions. People do follow rules, according to specific settings, situations, related to their position, etc… Rules are more than pieces of observable behaviour: rules can be violated, of course, but everybody knows that it is an offence. Rules are valid even counterfactually. Of course, rules can change and can be changed. In order to show the very nature of rules, their wide range, four examples will follow: • Time: If you have an appointment, you are expected to be at the place on time, i.e. a few minutes earlier. If you have a private invitation, you should not arrive on time, but a couple of minutes later. • Decision-making: Parents either accept proposals made by their children or argue against them. A longer process of bargaining can take place during which all stakeholders have to present good arguments. Parents might interdict or refuse that bargaining only, if the discussion does not lead to an agreement; in this case the parents can decide in terms of a verdict – but it has to remain an exception. • Money: In the middle and upper class you can talk about prices and tax saving strategies, but not about salaries and income. You do not lend money to your siblings, friends, neighbours or colleagues. If you do lend, you might be considered naïve. A proverb says: Money stops friendship. • Justice: You have to work hard and persevere in order to achieve your goals. But don’t worry, if you fail, it is bad luck (“it is not my day”), and some day there will be a type of compensation. Those who are just lucky or pretend to be (but do not merit it), cannot become happy.

These rules do concern different aspects of human life, how to perceive, how to behave, how to judge things. They are in force in many countries, but far from being of concern for everybody or being universally valid. Increasingly people have started to propagate corporate identities, the “culture of an enterprise” or of a university. Institutions tend to introduce sets of rules – and vice 102

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versa one set of rules constitutes an institution. Some rules are clearly formulated (in contracts, by legislation) and do legitimate negative sanctions. Others are informal, conforming more to a “spirit” or to expectations you have to be sensitive for. Currently, for instance, we can observe a process of changing the academic rules. On one hand educational institutions, namely the universities, are challenged by powerful attempts to impose economical rules, i.e. the rules of market economy on themselves. One subsystem claims to be the model for another one. At present we are also witnessing political decisions which aim to change the rules of social security. The recent legislation in Germany, copying the British model, seeks to diminish assistance to the unemployed people by offering only basic support (job seeker allowances) for those who have exhausted their resources and show utmost flexibility in order to become employed. In modern societies there are thousands of rules which might differ. We are experiencing an overwhelming variety of rules, not only “cultural differences” between immigrants and “host” society related to traditions, customs, ethnic origin etc., but a cultural diversity as a complexity of rules and set of rules across societies. The encounter of Turkish families or African asylum seekers with German “mainstream” people is just a subcase of rule divergence, and probably not the most important one. Maybe the “cultural difference” between immigrants and their target society is minor compared with others. Can one imagine a greater difference between the rules an entrepreneur has to follow and the rules an employee wants to see realized? Is there any sense of community between an old member of the trade unions in the city of Dortmund and a young Neo-Nazi in rural Brandenburg?

Transculturality As long as people are – within the culturalist approach – supposed to belong to distinct, distinguishable cultures, they can have exchange and learn from each other. Intercultural learning is – due to intercultural competences – highly valued in youth work, higher education, management trainings etc… We prefer, however, to define culture as an aspect of human actions. If there is a situation in which two persons interact according to different rules, it is an intercultural one. If an encounter of two persons starts with the problem whether they should shake hands or give two or three kisses (which cheek first?), this has to do with different rules of greeting they have learnt. It is a cultural difference, and it can be, but need not be congruent with the countries the protagonists come from (maybe France and Germany).

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It is just a situation in which one rule is not the same. Maybe there are even more rules that might differ. But there are, for sure, numerous rules which are in common. If, however, the attention is to be put on the facts of difference in a given situation, it remains an intercultural incident – and the persons involved have to find out how to deal with that. The term “transcultural” is important and helpful, though the definitions by Welsch (1995) are not precise enough. What is the subject of this adjective? It is easy to see that “trans” has to do with a movement from one point to another (trans-port, trans-lation) in general. A movement from Europe to the USA, for instance, which is particularly “transAtlantic”, indicates just the gap which has been bridged. Hence the term “transcultural” firstly highlights the connection between “cultures”. Whenever we consider sets of rules (cultures), we know that they are not necessarily restricted to one community or one nation (state), and, even more important, no rule has the same range as another one. To give evidence for that, we turn back to the four examples in the last paragraph: People in Germany do share the rules of a) (Time: If you have an appointment, you are expected to be at the place on time...) with many individuals in North and Central Europe, North America... b) (Decision-making: Parents either accept proposals made by their children or argue against….) with lots of upper middle class families in Western-Europe c) (Money: You do not lend money to your siblings, friends...) with almost nobody in Mediterranean countries d) (Justice: … if you fail, it is bad luck) with less than half of the people in Germany, because an estimated other half believes in destiny or God’s will.

These comments on the validity of rules have no statistical basis; they are just utilized in order to make clear that any person “belongs” to many different “cultures”. People may have commonalities with other people with a particular regard (e.g. time economy), but not share with all these people the same belief behind it: some “Calvinists” want to save time because it is a divine gift, whereas Hedonists won’t lose lifetime and life quality. Children have to learn and develop a sophisticated sensitivity for rules which are in force in the interaction with the parents, but not with the grandparents, at home, but not in school, in their neighbourhood, but not in the city centre, in reality, but not in fiction (TV, Video-Games) etc. Hence, if person A encounters person B, the situation obliges A and B to apply some rules they have in common, but it will also be the (so-called intercultural) case that some 104

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rules are not commonly shared, and may even contradict each other. The interaction of A and B, insofar, is a link between two sets of rules; the interaction goes somehow across these two sets, it transcends “cultures” (in a traditional definition). If at the same moment, at the same place, different sets of rules are in power, there is a coexistence between them, maybe even an exchange and transit from one culture to another culture; whenever different rules (for the same regard) are in force in a given situation, it is a transcultural area. As soon as A adopts or only reflects or even rejects a rule of B (accepts or refuses to act corresponding to this “new” rule), a transcultural process is starting. We have even introduced the term “transcultural personality” (Berg & Ni Eigeartaigh 2010). If a person, likely through intensive mobility (for instance living in exile) has to cope with a “new” set of rules, with strong influence on his/her life, because they represent an attractive way of life or promise lots of advantages or have to be learnt in any case in order to survive etc., then this person undergoes sooner or later a process which has some impact on his/her behaviour and even character. More and more the person alters his/her perception about what is “normal”. In order to focus on that process and change, the transition from one cultural system to another, the term “transcultural” is more than useful.

Diversity In order to describe contemporary societies in a productive way, we introduce the concept of cultural diversity and define it as •

the fact that we have learnt rules and seek to apply them properly, yet we have to act in situations in which different rules are in force.

•

a promise/programme which allows people to cope with a task better because they can make use of different rules which are applicable in that situation.

Hence diversity is a matter of fact which has to be faced. And at the same time it is a project which can be used to achieve better results. Modern management has already adopted this new concept. Managing diversity is proclaimed as a very systematic and pragmatic strategy to accept and benefit from the fact that “human resources”, employees and by the way, customers do have different capacities, attitudes, approaches which can be used or detected in order to find better solutions. Yet, mostly restricted to creative tasks like problem solving or project development, diversity managers want to make use of the different resources of male and female staff, employees of different national origin, people with different life styles. Cultural diversity is going to be promoted and propagated as an important resource. 105

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The same is true for the political discourse which highlights cultural diversity as a potential which might make life richer. The popular understanding of cultural diversity has, however, not overcome the culturalist categories. Instead of a “German culture” there are only smaller pieces like the “culture of the German-Turkish” people (as if this is a homogenous, distinct “thing”). We can imagine a community of human beings who are sharing a restricted number of rules, including also those rules which cope with rule breakers. The rules have to be in a stable order (hierarchy) and shall be cohesive, i.e. not contradict each other. The members of this (small?) community have neither individual needs nor power to fight against one rule. There is no technical development or influence from outside which makes a rule weak or irrelevant or counterproductive... Such a closed and one-dimensional society might have existed or not. Maybe in some former communities a century or more ago (villages, working class, monastery, far-trading merchants etc) it existed in part. Actually three factors have come into power and are overwhelmingly important today: •

People live in different relationships/communities and thus different systems of rules

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People are communicating with many other, yet unknown people, be it by media or personal contact (mobility)

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People have learnt a sort of individualism which demands and allows making individual decisions.

Modern societies have – by definition – built out different subsystems like family, economy, education and science, religion, law, art etc. which have established particular rules, including particular values (support, profit, wisdom, heaven, justice, beauty) and currencies (love, money, learning, belief, ...). Postmodern societies have – by definition – got rid of definite distinctions between communities, losing all kinds of certainties in the bargain. Although it is strenuous to learn diversity, it is fascinating and very reasonable: if other people are different, I am different, too. If diversity is a problem, I myself am part of it. Matter-of-factly we are living in a world where in any situation people might be involved which do not share the same rule(s) as the majority, or do not define the situation the same way (according to the same rule) as a meaningful minority does. Just an anecdote: Once I entered a bar (cafeteria) in Berlin and recognized a TVset in the background showing a formula 1 race. In order to start a conversation with

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the barkeeper, I asked him: Schumacher? He answered: Ferrari! It was an Italian bar. The same event (reported on TV) was perceived, described, defined differently – corresponding to the different (in this case national) points of view. Shortly after a new “tool” like the mobile phone (in Germany called “handy”) came into use, new rules were developed by different agencies: it is a must for peers, it is not allowed when driving a car or in school, it is ridiculous in the concert hall... Hence, whenever human beings meet, they have got a) a provision of rules which are common (and mostly unconscious) – otherwise communication and cooperation would not work so easily. b) a certain amount of rules which they do not share, but – as they are not relevant in this situation – do not disturb their communication and cooperation. c) a couple of rules which are extremely important in this situation, but differing from the ones other people do have; to “combine” them somehow is crucial in order to achieve the purpose or goal at last of one actor who is involved in this situation.

Category b) is quite interesting as many cases of “tolerance” are subsumed here: Of course I can “tolerate” a Voodoo performance or the church bells/muezzin shouting early in the morning - if I do not live in that area... But genuine tolerance is something else: It is about a type of behaviour, a sort of value, a particular attitude which I have to bear – as I do not like it, but I have to accept it as a legitimate expression of other people. Tolerance, however, is neither sufficient nor excuses practices against fundamental human rights or key values which I am convinced of. Case c) indicates also one of the most important practices in intercultural encounters (interference of rules): The actors try to exclude rules or reduce their importance when they might be disturbing. They define the situation as if only a small sector of rules is in relevance, e.g. business, no politics.

Rule bargaining Education can and must provide the new generation with those competences which are necessary to cope with diversity, to learn how to communicate and cooperate in a complex setting which entails actors who follow different rules. In a given society individuals and groups might cope with a situation of rule interference by applying strategies of avoidance (tolerance) or of power/dominance. In both cases the parties need not or do not want to change themselves. Of course, there are lots of rules which can be tolerated by others, since they are not directly touched by

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them. This is true for the private sphere (kitchen, music, education etc.) as long as public interest or basic values are not concerned. Insofar it is only “nice” to have lessons in schools which give the children the opportunity to illustrate how their family celebrates a religious festival; but it is crucial for daily life and cooperation to find a way to deal with different “tastes” when a common meal is to be prepared. Costumes are mostly “interesting”, but not any longer if, for instance, the techniques of slaughtering an animal are offensive to religious or ethnic convictions. Matter-of-factly people do (and must) interact though they follow different rules. In this case they are starting to “bargain” and develop a modus vivendi, agreeing on new rules. In pluralist, open, postmodern societies the rules might be individualized, as even “subcultures” are not homogenous and strictly distinguishable. Citizenship education, under these auspices, is the planned and systematic endeavour, to facilitate, exercise and strengthen “meta-rules”, which make us capable to cope with diversity (s. for instance Demorgon 1989). Hence, citizenship education has a double function for teaching diversity: •

To make people familiar with the fact that diversity exists and can be appreciated.

•

To enable people to “learn diversity”, i.e. to cope with it, find a modus vivendi, create new rules fairly.

Citizenship education What is the impact of these reflections on educational practice? The educational system has to cope with diversity on different levels and in various aspects. As far as intended and institutionalized learning processes are concerned, the subjects have to reflect diversity, too. Keywords might be: ambiguity, multi-perspectiveness, comparison and common ground, conflict. Even natural sciences, which appear to deal with unambiguous matters only, are familiar with ambiguity; physics has to accept that light can be “explained” as waves or particles – it depends on the question. To give some ideas for teaching history: •

Some history text books choose to refer to manifestations of militarism or colonialism (e.g. Germany, Italy in the late 19th century) as the response of “retarded nations”

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– maybe others had been too early? No, only if there is a “natural” law saying when nationalism “is on time”. •

Historical facts like the “foundation of the German Empire” 1870/71 used to be presented in our schools from a national perspective only. What is the view in French textbooks for instance?

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Celebrating the 200th anniversary of Schiller’s death, students can wonder why this German poet is part of the classical heritage, but was also (partly) revered by Nazis and in the GDR as well?

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Political processes like EU-“enlargement” have been described on behalf of the interests of old member states. What is the impact of this “access” on the new members?

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It is “une verité banale”: How things look depends on the point of view.

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Which rituals can be identified all over the world to mark the end of childhood? What are the similarities of Bar Mikwa, Christian confirmation and “Jugendweihe”?

These few examples show that there is a cognitive dimension of diversity. The educational system has to make sure that the “facts”, teachers are teaching and students are learning, are not “the truth”, but a particular piece of knowledge selected and presented from a particular background (interest). How to cope with a “variety of truths”? Education has to provide students with skills which enable them to deal, to act, to interact and communicate. A catalogue of intercultural competences has to be elaborated and implemented. Among the skills that should be included in these catalogues two examples will be illustrated: •

Cultural awareness: The protagonists are able to perceive themselves and other people as persons who act according to their individual and cultural standards.

•

Ambiguity tolerance: The protagonists accept or even appreciate the interference of different rules, the complexity of a situation.

We take these skills into consideration, since they oblige people to surpass the routine of daily life, to give up the security of tradition, to question habits. How much ambiguity and uncertainty people can stand is due to socialisation and enculturation, also a question of personal character. In fact, lots of people react or respond to uncertainty or ambiguity in a negative way, as they fear unmanageable complexity. People usually avoid or fight against these situations or settle for “simple resolutions”. Hostility against “foreigners” is just one option. Intercultural education has to address people’s feelings and values, and well educated and open minded people do appreciate cultural diversity – but it should be more than an intellectual aspiration. Actually, we may soon come to our limits when confronted with 109

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“traditional” or “old fashioned” manners or any other backwardness, not to mention dogmatism or fundamentalism. How often do we accept other views only because we cannot change them? Thus education has to achieve two objectives: •

Students should learn to accept and appreciate diversity emotionally.

•

Students should learn practically that diversity can be managed.

Beyond knowledge and skills, intercultural education has to influence, strengthen or change values. If diversity is not welcome, trainings or other educational efforts can be counterproductive. As we know from research about youth exchange, young people mostly enjoy the programs and value intercultural encounters, but the contact alone is not necessarily productive per se: the setting, the activities, the preparation and intervention, also the model given by the responsible team play an important role. Obviously intercultural education has to do with head (knowledge), hand (skills) and heart (values, attitudes). All three aspects of learning are challenged by cultural diversity. Finally, on a societal level and for institutions/corporations as well as on the personal level, diversity is an advantage. Organisations and communities, enterprises and groups, individuals can notice that diversity leads to better results. To fulfil a task today is not any more to add one force to others and pull/push all in the same direction, but to combine different forces from different directions (“synergy”).

Synergy There is some evidence that different approaches to one problem, differing rules about how to manage a situation can lead to better solutions in a technical sense. When management schools claim the efficiency of an organisation (including all types of enterprises) due to its particular “culture”, proclaim a particular culture of the enterprise, the so-called Corporate Identity, it means: monoculture! Theoretically and empirically the opposite is true: the more diversity an organisation includes, the more diversity it can cope with. Some examples: •

Matter-of-factly people approach tasks in different ways. Some prefer a more structured approach with time schedules, and detailed, clear output; others give preference to communication, creativity and multi-faceted results. To combine output orientation and process-orientation appears to be the best way, at least in different stages of the work, to proceed if not rapidly, at least continuously. At the end, it is

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not the good climate or the rigid schedule which makes a team successful, but the combination or equilibrium of both elements. •

The good guy-bad guy-game in detective novels is more than a running gag: a witness or suspect will tell more if the team of detectives utilizes a double approach: friendly and understanding talks as well as rude questioning.

•

In so many fields of modern technology problem solving and innovation come from inter-disciplinary approaches. Technology has more than just one facet. Marketing is an effort to understand and respond to the different needs and customs of a heterogeneous audience.

Power There are good reasons for structures and rules in the class-room in order to enhance the learning process. But to view the class-room as learning opportunity for each child includes the openness for individual learning, in terms of time for instance, but also with regard to the instruments/media. One child prefers to work with visual material, in a deductive way and rapidly, another one needs more time and enjoys an inductive approach with oral guidance… Usually it is the institutional power, the teacher, who can arrange such a setting. There should be much more opportunities for children to benefit from these arrangements. What an important experience for young people to accept different ways and be accepted individually! What an extraordinary opportunity teachers have got then to facilitate the learning processes by managing diversity! If youth facilities have to be open for everybody, how can we find a fair arrangement which gives girls, young Kurds, techno-fans and chess-players access to it? In most cases the best solution will be to launch a fair and non-violent debate with deliberation until new rules can be created. Any solution dictated by one interest group, be it the mainstream, be it a minority, will be sub-optimal. The goal is satisfaction and equity. Often enough the administrative staff, with the best of intentions, tries to anticipate conflicts like that by establishing particular “home”-rules or, if a conflict becomes manifest nevertheless, tries to find a solution immediately. The (indirect) message is clear: Diversity disturbs – we should exclude or minimize it; if it is inevitable, than there must be an authority which imposes rules. Again, an important learning opportunity has been missed. Of course the fair deliberation and creation of new rules does not come about with ease. There are protagonists who exercise power, others who may suffer from that. In educational fields there is no need for bosses who decide instead of the students 111

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or members or visitors, but a need for arbiters who deal in fairness and non-violence. Actually, children practice this type of deliberation and negotiation very often and with engagement, not only for their own interests. It is, however, necessary to realize that “diversity” can be more than just a difference of opinion or life style, but a dramatic conflict of interests and beliefs. And quite similar to political issues, diversity management can involve obvious or hidden oppression or discrimination of minorities (or majorities by minorities). Thus the educational concept of diversity and its management has to include a particular awareness. People have to be(come) aware not only of cultural diversity, but also how various actors deal with that diversity, which power relation is underpinned. Diversity must be a promise of equal opportunities and fair play. Only under these auspices its advantages can be achieved: to cope with a complex situation, to create a good solution for a new problem, to bring together different approaches for a holistic success.

Equal opportunities It is progress whenever national states acknowledge ethnic and/or linguistic minorities and support preschool education in their mother tongue or organize public services on a bilingual basis. To some extent, at least with regard to language, this has to do with cultural diversity, too. It is standard now, after a long process, supported by the EU, that all EU-member states have elaborated broad legislation against any kind of discrimination. No one is to be discriminated against due to his age, gender, religion, sexual orientation, physical status. But, whenever people act and interact, there are not necessarily differences because of the ethnical background or age/gender. It might depend on the situation and type of interaction. The rules of fairness or solidarity, for instance, people might share even if they differ in terms of age or physical status. Whether people understand a problem as a challenge and to what extent they want to avoid uncertainty..., whether they like to save money or spend, even waste it... - those attitudes may somehow be related to age, mother tongue, sexual orientation or gender, but need not necessarily. There are women and men who are sure that they differ in terms of feeling, thinking and behaving, and these differences might be relevant in many situations. There might be, however, also situations in which those differences are not important at all; those differences might be(come) small with regard to age or religion or other “cultural 112

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aspects”. Often enough there is a confusion between the category or groups people are supposed to belong to and their “real” behaviour. Sometimes it might be called “typical” – which includes the evidence for the opposite. Collective identity, the belonging to a category of people, is a process of self-identification and/or the result of an attribution by (meaningful, sometimes powerful) others. Any member of the group or category (collective) can expect that all activities and actions, performed by another member, will be counted as something all members have performed, be it good or bad. All these attributions draw a picture which used to be called (auto- or hetero-) stereotype. Until the 1990s, the fact of immigration had not been acknowledged by the major part of the political elites; also parts of the immigrants themselves have deemed their “sojourn” in Germany to last just a particular period of time; they have wanted to keep the option to “return home”. Today “integration” is dominating the political discourse among the political elites in Germany (and other countries). Because immigrants whose forefathers had moved from German countries to the Tsarist Empire some centuries ago, are Germans by legal definition, also because immigrants can become German citizens by various means (e.g. marriage with a German citizen), the societal discourse in Germany refers to people “with migration background”, no longer to foreigners or non-nationals. Those persons with “migration background” are, according to polls, about 19 % of German society, in the age group below 20 years about 30 %. Again, the culturalist paradigm works if people with migration background are - in daily and public, professional and scientific discourses – treated as one group in distinction to the native population. Beside the fact (by definition) that these persons or at least one parent has been born outside Germany, the communalities are scarce, however. If, for instance, the parents who have been socialised or educated in Kazakhstan or Turkey or Iraq will have a tendency to raise their children as they were raised, the cultural “backgrounds” of these children are pretty diverse. Background is a context, not a script. Each person is more than just the product of his/her country of origin. It should be easy, for instance, to imagine a person in exile who has left her/his country just because s/he no longer felt comfortable with the (political) “culture” there. Migration should be viewed as a process an individual is working on, from initial impulse to move and continuing even after the arrival in their new “world”. In European countries (young) people with migration background appear to be 113

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underprivileged, not to have the same access to (formal) education like their peers. Compared by age group, fewer children with migration background achieve higher education, e.g. complete vocational training or acquire a university degree. The first explanation points to the fact that these children have had fewer opportunities as they entered the educational system later. Secondly, however, this educational system has not been prepared to support these children sufficiently to compensate their “backwardness”. Schools are not “multicultural”, but display the mainstream culture and thus “challenge” cultural minorities, if not put them at a disadvantage. Usually this societal fact is, however, attributed to individuals and groups: Those children who have not been socialised in the domestic educational system from the very beginning (e.g. Kindergarten), whose parents do not have the same “culture”, for instance techniques, skills or attitudes and values (ambitions!), are said to not perform well or have to work harder to succeed. This type of argument is hardly new. It used to work also for native born children from the working class (who are extremely underrepresented in German Universities). It is them who have to cope with the challenge to adjust and assimilate, i.e. overcome their “social handicap”. Interestingly, there are growing numbers of migration children who are doing better scholastically than their native born peers. In the US the “Asians” are getting awarded as the best graduates at almost every highschool. In the German state of Brandenburg Vietnamese children have achieved the top positions in the final examination before university entrance. This is not because they attend a better or “multicultural school”, but due to their ambition and family support. Furthermore, these children preserve their “culture”, as far as food or religious beliefs are concerned. The strong family ties are not only cultural traditions, but explain to some extent their success in schools.

Transcultural processes People from the extreme right wing or neo-Nazis rarely speak in terms of culture which appears to be a modern or even postmodern term and cannot be as easily handled as “peoples”, “nations” or “races”. Racism is claiming hierarchies, it is determining higher and lower ranks of people; but cultures can be diverse and equal at the same time. Even German nationalists have to admit that pizza, kebab, Peking-duck and sushi do enrich their kitchen. Beside food and beverages people can enjoy folk dances and music as part of different 114

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cultures. The multicultural class-room cannot be ignored any longer. Most curricula/ teachers give children the opportunity to present their traditional celebrations like Bayram, Ramadan etc. Altogether a culture of recognition seems to be established: people know and accept that there is a remarkable number of citizens who live in different traditions. Actually this type of multiculturalism is selective, superficial, and restricted. Culture is reduced to folklore. Fot the mainstream it is fun to watch people in their “traditional outfit” or to taste (!) their food. But nevertheless, these people have “to integrate”. The mainstream is understanding “integration” as a learning process which has only one side, the immigrants have to undergo it. Still to often multiculturalism in schools counts in terms of cultures. Children are recognised as representatives of their culture, only. The country of origin ics claimed to determine what culture they represent, as if – unlike Germany! – all people from abroad or from one country share the same religious beliefs or practice the same rituals on the same holidays. Concerning values and norms, cultural diversity cannot be observed or visited as a show – in real situations people have to communicate and interact. Of course, there cannot be any cultural relativism with regard to physical violence, psychical oppression, inequality etc… But it is daily work for everybody to cope with situations in which the actors have common as well as different rules. This transcultural reality can result from all types of mobility and migration, from globalisation, the media etc. This transcultural reality, promoted in postmodern societies, but not restricted to them, is a reality everybody has to cope with. It is better not only to bear it, but to take benefit from cultural diversity.

References Bernstein, B. (1962). Linguistic codes, hesitation phenomena and intelligence. Language and Speech, 55, 31-46. Berg, W. (2001). Identitätspolitik. Aachen: Shaker. Berg, W. & Ni Eigeartaigh, A. (Ed.) (2010). Exploring transculturalism. A biographical approach. Wiesbaden: Verlag für Sozialwissenschaften. Demorgon, J. (1989). L’exploration interculturelle. Paris: Armand Colin. Hofstede, G. (1993). Interkulturelle zusammenarbeit. Wiesbaden: Gabler. Huntington, S. (1996). The clash of civilisations. New York: Simon&Schuster.

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Authors Volume 1: Social Issues

Eric Cattelain University of Bordeaux 3 Bordeaux, France

Jakub Zouhar University of Hradec Kralové, Czech Republic

Julia Athena Spinthourakis University of Patras, Department of Elementary Education Patras, Grece

Eric Cattelain is an intercultural expert for several organizations and associated Master of Conference at the IUT Michel de Montaigne – University of Bordeaux 3. He has a PhD in Linguistics. For the last 25 years, he has been creating linguistic and cultural models based on sharing cultures and knowledge, including the elaboration of UNIDEO system: a transdisciplinary, transcultural and translinguistic metalanguage which aims at representing every concept or notion by ideographic means. His research covers different fields from multicultural education, European tools for managing intercultural projects, to Internet cultural backgrounds. He has coordinated many international projects through years. He is also the author of novels for young adults. Jakub Zouhar is an historian. He teaches early modern history and medieval history at the Department of Auxiliary Historical Sciences and Archive Science, at the University of Hradec Kralové, in the Czech Republic. He was committed to the international relations at the office and one of his research interests are about language, communication and minority languages in Europe. Julia Athena Spinthourakis is a Tenured Assistant Professor of Multilingual and Multicultural Education in the Department of Elementary Education at the University of Patras, Greece. She is also Course Design and Evaluation Module Coordinator for the Masters Program in EFL at the Hellenic Open University, Greece. She is on the Post-graduate teaching faculty of the University of Western Macedonia’s Department of Nursery School Education in Florina Greece. She has taught at the primary, secondary and tertiary level of education in the United States and Greece as well as working in the government and nongovernmental sector. Among her research interests are culture/language/communication, identity and teacher education. She has authored and co-authored articles and book chapters on topics related to her research interests in Europe and the United States.

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Māra Vidnere Riga Teacher Training and Educational Management Academy

Māra Vidnere is Doctor habil. Of Psychology (Dr. habil. Psych.). She is a profesor at the Riga Teacher Training and Educational Management Academy, in Latvia. Her research interests are about Social Psychology, Psychology of Management, Extreme Stress, Stress Management and one of her major publications is the book ‘Latvian Survivors of Deportations’ (co-authored with A. Nucho).

Riga, Latvia Patroula Antonopoulou University of Patras, Department of Elementary Education Patras, Grece Tore Bernt Sørensen Danmarks Pædagogiske Universitetsskole, Aarhus Universitet/ Danish School of Education, Aarhus University

Patroula Antonopoulou is a post graduate student at the Department of Elementary Education studying Intercultural Education and Greek as a Second Language. An elementary school teacher with many years experience, Mrs. Antonopoulou is the Headmistress/Principal of the historic Stroumbio Elementary School in Patras and former elementary school consultant at the regional Institute for Omogenia and Intercultural Education. Her research interests are aligned with minority language and culture rights and their integration. Tore Bernt Sørensen completed the Master of Arts (Education) in Educational Sociology, Danish School of Education, Aarhus University, in 2011. He taught young immigrant students in Copenhagen before becoming engaged in 2003 with in-service teacher training and education R&D activities in the Centre for Bilingualism and Interculturality (UC2), University College Capital, Copenhagen. He stayed in this post until autumn 2009 when he chose to focus on his MA studies. Tore Bernt Sørensen is the author of numerous publications concerning issues related to education policy, intercultural education and school development in Europe and Denmark.

Copenhagen, Denmark Virgílio Gonzalez University of Granada, Faculty of Education and

Virgílio Gonzalez is a professor of Political Sciences and administration at the University of Granada (Campus of Melilla). He is involved in several international projects, namely with Portuguese organizations and universities.

Humanities of Melilla Melilla, Spain

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William G Davey Professor Emeritus Arizona State University Chair, AIEA Professional Development Committee 2009-10 European Union Erasmus Mundus Scholar

Issue

Diversity,

Communication

and

Coexistence

William G. Davey, Ph.D. Education. B.A. (1968) Communication (Penn State University); M.A. (1971) Communication and Linguistics (Columbia University); Ph.D. (1974) Communication (Indiana University). Bill Davey joined the faculty of Arizona State University in 1976 as part of a team to develop the Ph.D. in Intercultural Communication within the Hugh Downs School of Human Communication. As a faculty member, Dr. Davey taught a variety of courses in language and culture, international communication, intercultural communication, and research methods. He served as Director of Graduate Studies, Director of the Communication Internship Program, and acting chair of the department. Administratively, Dr. Davey has served as Associate Director of International Programs, Director of the American Language and Culture Program, Director of ASU-Japan, and as Director of International Programs in the Office of the Executive Vice President and Provost. Bill retired from ASU in August 2007, and served as Vice President for Academic Affairs for Cultural Experiences Abroad in Tempe from August 2007-December 2008. He has consulted for several universities and fortune 500 companies including American Express, Intel, and Honeywell. As an active participant in community affairs and faculty governance, Bill serves on the Board of Directors of the Arizona World Affairs Council and the Phoenix Sister Cities Commission. He has served on the Governing Council of the Society for Intercultural Education, Training and Research. Bill has served the university as President of the Academic Senate and Faculty Assembly, as Chair of the Arizona Faculties Council, and as a member of several Arizona Board of Regents committees. He served on the Combined Support Team for the Governorâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Taskforce on Higher Education and the ABOR Learner Centered Education Team. Bill is active in NASFA, AIEA, EIEA, the Forum on Education Abroad and Sister City activities. He is currently Chair of the AIEA Professional Development Committee and serves on the AIEA Executive Committee. Bill is a 2009-2010 European Union Erasmus Mundus Scholar. Bill has travelled extensively and has served as a visiting scholar in Canada, Finland, Wales, Japan and the Soviet Union.

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Wolfgang Berg Hochschule Merseburg Merseburg, Germany

Wolfgang Berg, born 1949 in Rosenheim, has studied Political Sciences, German Literature, Linguistics and History in Munich. After teacher’s examination and PhD in Linguistics, due to a long period of volunteering in youth work, he started to work as director of the international department of Bavarian Youth Council in 1979. 1994 he moved to the University of Applied Sciences in Merseburg as professor for European Studies. Within study programmes for social workers and media/culture educators he is teaching culture and social policy, political education, intercultural learning and cultural exchange. Recent publications deal with transcultural personalities and culture policy.

VOLUME 2: EDUCATIONAL ISSUES Clive Billighan Children & Young People’s Service, Leicester City Council Leicester, United Kingdom

Clive Billingham is a Consultant for Equality, Diversity & Cohesion in Leicester City Council’s Learning Services. Clive has worked as a teacher of social studies and English as an Additional Language in secondary schools in Dudley, London, Bradford and Nottingham. He has an MA in Education and has worked as an education lecturer at De Montfort University, Leicester. He now works with schools on issues to do with cultural diversity, tackling racism and promoting community cohesion in Leicester, Britain’s most diverse city. He has worked in multicultural education/race equality for 30 years and has published teaching materials, such as ‘Throwing Stones: an anti-racist teaching guide & video’ and guidance/ advice for schools, including the self-evaluation tool ‘Young, Gifted & Equal: race equality standards for schools’. He has also written articles/chapters for the National Association of Headteachers, Institute for Citizenship, Race Equality Teaching and Runnymede Trust and helped write the Get-in Manual for International School Projects. He has spoken and led workshops at national and international conferences. He has been involved EU projects, including the Print (to produce collaborative learning materials), and was UK Coordinator of Get-in! network (to increase minority ethnic participation in EU projects) and runs Lifelong Learning study visits to Leicester.

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Danny Felsteiner Music in Me Foundation Amsterdam, The Netherlands Ineke Braak – van Kasteel Music in Me Foundation Amsterdam, The Netherlands

Issue

Diversity,

Communication

and

Coexistence

Danny Felsteiner is born in Haifa, Israel in 1977. He has studied double bass at the Royal Conservatory in The Hague, the Netherlands between 2004 and 2007. At this moment he’s living in Jerusalem and working for the Madaa Community Center in Silwan. Ineke Braak – van Kasteel (born 1948 in Amsterdam, The Netherlands) was, until 2008, head mistress of the primary school division of the Berger Scholen Vereniging. The BSV caters for pupils from 4 – 18 years old and has traditionally offered art courses at all levels. From 2003 – 2008 Ineke was employed by the Conservatoire of the University InHolland where she taught didactics, pedagogy, and developmental psychology. She also co-ordinated both intra-mural and extra-mural activities of the Conservatoire’s Music-Teacher Training College. Ineke also contributed her expertise in the development and implementation of the competency-geared curriculum of the InHolland School of Communication, Media and Music. She developed the minor “Community Arts”. From 2008 she has been active as the Education Manager of the Music in Me Foundation in the Netherlands and has also set up her consultancy “Ontwikkelwijs”, through which she offers her services as counsellor-coach and as an independent consultant and project manager in the field of education. Since 11 March of 2010 she is a member of the local council of Bergen NH, specialised in education, culture and social affairs.

Koen Braak Music in Me Foundation Amsterdam, The Netherlands

Koen Braak, born in Egmond aan Zee, the Netherlands in 1976, he studied jazz and popular music, ethnomusicology and cultural management and he is currently working as a programme manager for the Music in Me Foundation in the Netherlands.

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María del Mar Ortiz Gomez University of Granada, Campus of Melilla Melilla, Spain

Maria José Molina Garcia University of Granada, Faculty of Education and Humanities of Melilla Granada, Spain

María del Mar Ortiz Gomez is a lecturer and researcher from the Evolutional and Educational Psychology Department of the University of Granada at the Faculty of Education and Humanities in Melilla. Since 2000 she is a member of the research group “Curricular Innovation in Multicultural Contexts”. She teaches on special education in Education undergrade. She is currently the coordinator at the Campus of Melilla the undergrade in Social Education. Her main research interest is in the coexistence and cultural diversity, early dropouts, special education, and psychological implications in the Internet use. She has publised several articles and books in those areas. Maria Jose Molina Garcia is a Doctor in Philology Spanish by the University of Granada. Was awarded a diploma in Teachers GBS (specialty Philology French) in the year 1988 and received his bachelor’s degree in Spanish Philology by UNED in 1998. Officer of Career since 1990, has exercised as a teacher for eight years in a state Center for Child Education in Melilla with students multicultural and has also been monitora literacy, for people with mother tongue into Spanish, in the Pilot Plan for the comprehensive Training Citizen of adults (1988-91) and in the Plan for Continuing Education for Adults (1992), which was appointed coordinator in Melilla by the Ministry of Education and Science. Since the year 2000 taught their teaching within the department of teaching the Language and Literature at the Faculty of Education and Humanities of Melilla (University of Granada, first as associate professor at the department and, since the 2007, as a teacher partner dr. with permanent link to the University. Belongs to the Group of Research HUM457 called Teaching the Language and Literature, and has taught at the doctorate program that Faculty Trends and applications of the Educational Research with the course “Educational research in languages within contexts of interaction multilingual and multicultural”. It is also Coordinator at Headquarters in Melilla of Permanent Classroom Training Open at the University of Granada directed persons with more tan 50 years of age. Account with numerous publications related to the skills and language skills necessary for the reading comprehension as well as on resources for the animation of the reading both for mother tongue, as for Spanish as a second language or foreign language. It has also training courses in these areas.

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Michalinos Zenbylas Open University of Chiprus, School of Humanities and Social Sciences Nicósia, Cyprus

Miguel Ángel Gallardo Vigil University of Granada, Campus of Melilla Melilla, Spain

Issue

Diversity,

Communication

and

Coexistence

Michalinos Zembylas is Assistant Professor of Education at the Open University of Cyprus. His research interests are in the areas educational philosophy and curriculum theory, and his work focuses on exploring the role of emotion and affect in curriculum and pedagogy. He is particularly interested in how affective politics intersect with issues of social justice pedagogies, intercultural and peace education, and citizenship education. Zembylas is the author of the books, Teaching With Emotion: A Postmodern Enactment (Information Age Publishing, 2005), Five Pedagogies, a Thousand Possibilities: Struggling for Hope and Transformation (Rotterdam, The Netherlands: SensePublishers, 2007), and The Politics of Trauma in Education (New York, Macmillan Palgrave, 2008). He is also co-editor of Peace education in conflict and postconflict societies: comparative perspectives (with C. McGlynn, Z. Bekerman, & T. Gallagher, New York: Palgrave, MacMillan, 2009), ICT for education, development, and social justice (with C. Vrasidas and G. Glass, Greenwich, CT: Information Age Publishing, 2009), and Advances in Teacher Emotion Research (with Paul Schutz, Springer, 2009). Miguel Ángel Gallardo Vigil, EdD. in Psychopedagogy from the University of Granada (Spain), is a lecturer and researcher from the Educational Research and Diagnosis Methods Department of the University of Granada at the Faculty of Education and Humanities in Melilla. He teaches on educational research in various undergraduate and postgraduate degrees at differente national universities. He is currently the coordinator at the Campus of Melilla of the Master in Secondary Education Teacher Training. His main research interest is in the improvement of quality in Education, particularly, within the fields of employability, school coexistence and cultural diversity, early dropouts, and the use of ICTs, among others. He has published several national and international articles and books on this area. He is a member of the research group “Curricular Innovation in Multicultural Contexts”. He has also coordinated different projects on teaching innovation and HE tutoring systems.

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Peter Driver Bridge Junior School Leicester, United

Peter Driver is the Headteacher of the Bridge Junior School in Leicester, a school committed to a wide range of intercultural initiatives and well-known for the diversity of its school community.

Kingdom Sebastián Sánchez Fernández University of Granada, Campus

PhD. Sebastián Sánchez Fernández. PhD. in Philosophy and Educational Sciences (Section of Educational Sciences), University of Valencia, Spain. Professor at the Faculty of Education and Humanities of Melilla, University of Granada. Member of the Department of Didactics and School Organization.

of Melilla Melilla, Spain

Researcher of the Peace and Conflict Research Institute of Granada University since it was set up in 1990. He has directed the collection of books EIRENE and has been Deputy Director between 2005 and 2008. Currently he is a member of the Management and Research Committees. Director of the research group “Curricular Innovation in Multicultural Contexts” of the Andalusian Research Plan since its inception in 1988. He has directed and participated in several research projects funded by different institutions. He currently directs two, one on ‘school coexistence and cultural diversity “and another on” the causes and implications of early dropouts. His teaching and research activity is mainly focused on Education for a Culture of Peace and Intercultural Education, themes on which he has written several books and articles. He also teaches these areas in undergraduate, doctoral and master’s degree in several universities. He has also given numerous lectures related to these issues. He is currently Representative of University of Granada Chancellor for the Campus of Melilla.

Ulla Lundgren Jonkoping University, School of Education and Communication Jonkoping, Sweden

Ulla Lundgren, assistant professor of Education at School of Education and Communication, Jönköping University, Sweden. Her research interest is in the intercultural dimension of foreign language education and global citizenship education. She has taught in teacher education for many years where she among other things has developed and worked in various interdisciplinary international courses of Intercultural Encounters.

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