AFTER FORTY YEARS……. Four decades of
innovation and action
Contextual challenges and the
shaping of an alternative interculturalism
Forty years have passed by and it seems to be an impressive accomplishment
in terms of the longevity of a grassroots organization. Each of
these four decades is marked by a new beginning. Such has been the
tradition at the IIM , a tradition of adapting and adjusting to
the changing trends and needs of the immediate socio-politico and
cultural environment as well as facing the challenges of global
forces , all the while sustained by the seminal intuitions on pluralism
of Reality and of the world, and the imperatives (inevitability
?) of interculturality .
The philosophy and practices of the Intercultural Institute of
Montreal are rooted in the non-institutional and community sector
and in the living situations and lived experiences of people. It
has been and it is our belief that societal transformation is possible
only through a synergic process that begins with people and extends
to communities and finally touches the fabric of a society as a
whole.
Drawing a portrait of the social, cultural, political environment
of each decade in which the IIM has evolved , will shed some light
on IIM’s vision of interculturlaity and its praxis. It all
began within the historical, socio-cultural, religious and political
context of Quebec and of Canada. In 1960s the role of Catholic Church
and its influence on Quebec society and on its people; the historical
conflictual relations between the English and the French (the Two
Solitudes as it was named by some); the subjugation of Aboriginal
Nations; different waves of European and non-European immigrants
which constituted the racially, culturally and religiously diverse
population of this country etc. made up the particular context in
which our thoughts and action have evolved.
From the late 1970s till today the greater involvement of the State
, its governments and its institutions in the field of cultural
diversity and intercultural relations induced a different dynamic
for our work. Government policies of multiculturalism (Canada) and
interculturalism (Quebec); the language Bill 101 of Quebec; policies
concerning aboriginal nations and the movements for their cultural
renaissance and their self-determination; increasing institutionalization
and politicisation of inter-ethnic and race relations etc. brought
us to articulate an alternative vision and practices of interculturality
at the IIM.
Although an international dimension was always present in our vision
and action, it is since the 1980s we explicitly took the international
context into account as a backdrop for the elaboration of a comprehensive
framework of intercultural philosophy and practices. Intercultural
issues involved in all international affairs seemed to us to be
crucial for any kind of theorization of interculturality. We realized
that it is of extreme importance to have a clear understanding of
the nature of cultural conflict and cultural distance as determining
factors in intercultural relations and intercultural studies. These
two factors are further complexified by the histroy of colonialism
and through the stratification of cultures of the North and those
of the South on the scale of modern/non-modern or civilzed/primitive
cultures. Moreover, the field of activities such as international
development and cooperation, human rights action, international
aid, globalization and so on needed to be investigated from the
persepective of interculturality in order to draw relevant lessons
for the formulation of an intercultrural philosophy and theory.
1990s were the years when we two parallel trends emerged. On the
one hand, governments , their institutions particularly in education
and health and social services as well as the different disciplines
in universities introduced their programs related to intercultural
or inter-ethnic, relations and immigration; and on the other hand,
many individuals introduced training programs in ‘ intercultural
communication and diversity management for institutions, businesses
and industries and so on. Thus creating a new market based on the
principles of the market such as competition and packaging. In the
process a very different history began to be written about the intercultural
field of studies and action where often the pioneering work of the
non-institutional or community sector (which was many years ahead
of the formal sector) found no place. At the IIM once again we had
to find new ways to continue with our work by combating these trends
for not to be recuperated into the dominant system and maintain
our self-identity. This is when we focused on articulating, in our
discourses and in our action, a community or grassroots pluralism
and interculturalism and took a different road.
As a result a clear distinction emerged between the approach to
interculturality within the framework of the State and the dominant
culture on the one hand, and the approach of the grassroots at local
and international levels on the other hand. Thus through the constant
adjustment to the challenges of time and widening of the scope of
our inquiry and quest we have articulated a vision, a theory, and
practices of interculturality that can claim to be alternative.
The features of IIM’s programs and its approach :
This being said the IIM consiously took the posture of proposing
instead of opposing the Statist and the institutional or mainstream
approach, and worked towards offering a different point of view
on the pluralistic societies of the world and providing a wide range
of programs and services in the field of inter-ethnic , inter-cultural
, inter-religious , inter-racial relations as well as in intercultural
studies. Over the last forty years its programs covered a variety
of fields , topics and issues related to pluralism and interculturalism
and it is impossible to enumerate all here.
Since its beignning in 1963 till today i.e. 2003, its programs
traversed a very long road of innovations starting with intercultrual
socialization of youth and adults from all walks of life and from
diverse cultural-religious backgrounds; experiencial culture learning
and interculutral/interreligious dialogue and encounter; intercultural
debates on social issues of the day; passing through intercultural
communication, education and training programs for professionals
and social actors both in institutional and community sectors of
our society; establishing an international network for intercultural
reflection and action in the field of international development,
human rights and social movements; conducting research-action projects
on specific issues concerning particular groups such as youth, elderly
, family of immigrant and ethnocultural communities , and most recently
on interculturality at the grassroots.
The method of our work is fundamentally based on a continual interaction
between reflection and action which are mutually stimulating .We
work towards developing an intercultural method which is experience
based , applied to different fields of reflection and action and
dialogical.
The following are some of the important features of our
approach :
a) ethnocultural and intercultural investigation into the realities
of specific groups, communities and societies and into the nature
of their interaction and co-existence;
b) interdisciplinary dialogue between social science disciplines,
community-based knowledge and the wisdom/knowledge systems of different
cultures;
c) balancing North – South relations in the area of knowledge
in order to avoid dominance or new types of crypto-colonialistic
theories regarding pluralism and interculturality;
d) making efforts to integrate different modes of knowledge and
epistemologies .
In short the philosophy and practices, the programs and services
of the IIM address the intercultural issues which go beyond the
majority-minority or race relations , the problem of diversity management
and equal opportunity . We attempt to deal with cultural diversity
and interculturality at the level of the transformative possibilities
they offer in order to meet the contemporary economic, ecological,
social, political and civilizational challenges of our time.
Today our efforts are focused on searching for grassroots-based
intercultural alternatives to these challenges. Moreover it should
be noted that our work is essentially oriented towards social/popular
education (learning) and social change rather than policy development
for governments and their institutions all the while engaging in
a dialogue whenever it is possible with them . The regeneration
of the commons (civil society) through an intercultural process
is one of our main goals.
Our accomplishments
Since 1965
• Creation of national program for dialogue between English
and French speaking Canadians.
• Programs for interreligious dialogue and co-founding of
the Canadian branch of the World Conference of Religions for Peace.
• Creating dialogue forums for diverse racial, cultural and
religious groups.
• Initiating a pilot project of intercultural education of
children 5–12.
Since 1972
• Programs on Native Peoples including establishing deep
contacts with the Mohawk, Montagnais, Algonquine, Ojibway, Dene
and Wabanaki Nations.
• Advocacy for cultural rights of minorities, locally and
internationally; cultural sensitization programs on all cultural
communities including the French and English communities.
• Intercultural training of professors, social workers, health
professionals, international development workers and those involved
in the defence of human rights.
Since 1983
• Establishment of an International Network for Cultural
Alternatives for Development (INCAD 1990).
• International action that includes seminars in:
Belgium: An intercultural approach to international cooperation
(1983)
Quebec: "Living with the Earth" Intercultural Perspective
on Sustainable Development: indigenous practices and alternatives
(1992).
India: Local Knowledge and Globalization: An intercultural dialogue
(2000).
Since 1994
• Completed research projects on the following themes:
• Mental Health and Cultures.
• Community Development in the context of religious, cultural
and racial diversity.
• Marginalized youth in the Afro-Caribbean Communities of
Montreal.
• Living conditions and mental headline of the aged in ethnocultural
communities of Montreal.
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