Points of view, social positioning and intercultural relations

Abstract

Intergroup relations have become “perhaps the most challenging domain of human behavior, particularly because of the continued danger of destructive intergroup conflict” (Moghaddam, 2008, p. 16). As Tyler (2008) points out, at the root of this contemporary challenge is the capacity for humans “to tolerate views and lifestyles inconsistent with their own” (p. x). The problem of discrepant worldviews underlines the dark side of intercultural contact. Understanding the other requires an ability to view the world from the other’s perspective (Marková, 2003a). How can we empathise with another whose perspective we do not understand? Numerous theorists have pointed to this potential impasse. [Excerpt]