Principles

The following are the principles that guide our work at the IIM :

• Pluralism of reality, i.e., the recognition that diversity and interconnectedness/relationality are inherent to human societies and to Nature.

• The notion of CULTURE is at the core of intercultural philosophy and practice. Culture is the matrix that gives meaning and form to all human activities (economic, political, social, religious and so on) of a people and of a community.

• Transforming the monocultural paradigm of modernity, which purports to be the universal model for human life to a pluralistic and intercultural horizon where diverse cultural cosmovisions and paradigms can co-exist and interact with each other.

• Acceptance of cultural identity and cultural affirmation is essential to effective interculturalism. Negation of cultural identity and differences render any intercultural theory flawed.

• Giving priority to the issue of our responsibility towards aboriginal and first peoples throughout the world by collaborating with them in their struggle and supporting their rights to follow their ancestral lifestyles in their contemporary dynamics.

• Intercultural philosophy and action are necessarily based on a local-global dynamic. This means deconstructing the paradigm of inequality inherent to North-South relations, thereby forging a new basis for dialogue between the cultures of the North and South.

• Framing the contemporary issues of our societies and of the world in intercultural terms, so as to seek cultural and intercultural alternative responses in practice.

• Contesting the hegemony of the dominant “scientific” knowledge and recovering the subjugated systems of knowledge of peoples and cultures, as they may offer alternative solutions to present-day problems.