scholarly journals Responsibility as the Welcoming of Difference: Thoughts on Levinas and a Teacher’s Experience

in education ◽  
2012 ◽  
Vol 18 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Tim Molnar
Keyword(s):  
Social Justice ◽  
Emmanuel Levinas ◽  
Cultural Context ◽  
Cross Cultural ◽  
The Other

This work interweaves a discussion of the philosophy of Emmanuel Levinas and the experience of an educator working in a cross-cultural context, to provide an opportunity for the reader to reconceive the idea of responsibility. Through this article, I develop the idea that responsibility can be understood as a welcoming of difference where a “language” of interruption, vulnerability, hospitality, and learning from the other exists. The notion of welcoming is offered as complimentary approach to other arguments advocating the necessity for educators to attend to anti-racist and social justice issues and perhaps offers another answer to doubts concerning the involvement of educators.Keywords: Levinas; responsibility; difference; social justice; anti-racism

Two Gambling Women

2012 ◽  
Vol 5 (1) ◽  
pp. 39-49
Author(s):  
Tzu-Hui Chen
Keyword(s):  
Lived Experiences ◽  
Personal Experience ◽  
Cultural Context ◽  
Cross Cultural ◽  
Immigrant Population ◽  
The Other ◽  
Mail Order ◽  
Foreign Brides ◽  
And Migration ◽  
The Relationship

This narrative aims to explore the meaning and lived experiences of marriage that a unique immigrant population—“foreign brides” in Taiwan—possesses. This convergence narrative illustrates the dynamics and complexity of mail-order marriage and women's perseverance in a cross-cultural context. The relationship between marriage, race, and migration is analyzed. This narrative is comprised of and intertwined by two story lines. One is the story of two “foreign brides” in Taiwan. The other is my story about my cross-cultural relationship. All the dialogues are generated by 25 interviews of “foreign brides” in Taiwan and my personal experience.

Tonality Induction: A Statistical Approach Applied Cross-Culturally

2000 ◽  
Vol 17 (4) ◽  
pp. 461-479 ◽  
Author(s):  
Carol L. Krumhansl
Keyword(s):  
Cultural Context ◽  
Statistical Approach ◽  
Higher Order ◽  
Cross Cultural ◽  
Order Transition ◽  
The Other ◽  
Strong Correlations ◽  
Musical Style ◽  
Transitional Probabilities

Sensitivity to tone distributions has been proposed as a mechanism underlying tonality induction. This sensitivity is considered in a cross-cultural context using two styles of music, Finnish spiritual folk hymns and North Sami yoiks. Previous research on melodic continuation judgments showed strong correlations with the statistics of the musical style, specifically, the tone distributions and two- and three-tone transitions. This article develops models using these three kinds of statistics to categorize short initial segments as coming from one style or the other. The model using tone distributions was found to make numerous categorization errors, which can be understood because the tone distributions for these styles are similar. However, categorization was better for the models that used two- and three-tone transitions. The major differences between the transitional probabilities in the styles were analyzed, and these differences were used to account for the cases that the models found difficult. These results point to listeners' sensitivity to higher order transition information and its utility for style identification.

Employer perceptions of self-initiated expatriate employability in China

2015 ◽  
Vol 3 (3) ◽  
pp. 303-330 ◽  
Author(s):  
Paula Makkonen
Keyword(s):  
Qualitative Study ◽  
Cultural Context ◽  
Design Methodology ◽  
Cross Cultural ◽  
The Other ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Employer Perceptions ◽  
Employer Perspective ◽  
Depth Interviews ◽  
Practical Implications

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to offer an employer perceptive on the employability of self-initiated expatriates (SIEs) by contrasting SIEs with other identified staffing groups available for the staffing of MNC subsidiaries in China. Design/methodology/approach – This qualitative study is based on in-depth interviews with 24 Westerners with direct staffing responsibilities in subsidiaries of western MNCs located in China. The employability of each identified staffing group was assessed using the person-to-environment fit approach from four-fit perspectives (person-to-job and to-group, organisation and cultural context). Findings – The study revealed how from the employer perspective SIEs do not form a heterogeneous group, but instead there are two groups with different fit profiles. The study illustrates how western SIEs are an uncommon and under-used staffing group in cross-cultural staffing settings in China due to their low employability in comparison to alternative staffing groups. The study also revealed the prevalent bipolarity (the Westerners vs the Chinese) and heterogeneity within the identified staffing groups. Research limitations/implications – The study recognises the lack of employer perspective in SIE literature and also that SIEs are an under-represented group in the staffing literature. Practical implications – The findings help explain how MNC staffing is culturally bound and how the staffing process should incorporate more than just an assessment of job-related qualifications. The findings also help explain the challenges SIEs can experience in cross-cultural career settings. Originality/value – The study is one of the first to provide an employer perspective on SIE careers and contrast SIEs to the other alternative staffing groups available to MNC subsidiaries in China.

scholarly journals Evolution and crisis of multiculturalism in light of the ideas of polyethnic (cross-cultural) justice

2021 ◽  
pp. 20-31
Author(s):  
Alexey Viktorovich Suslov
Keyword(s):  
Social Justice ◽  
Cross Cultural ◽  
The Other ◽  
Necessary Condition ◽  
Multicultural Society ◽  
Cultural Interaction ◽  
Fundamental Value ◽  
The One ◽  
Ethnic Norms ◽  
Cultural Justice

The goal of this research lies in analyzing the essence and problems of the genesis of multiculturalism and its varieties, factors of crisis in its development, and overcoming the crisis situation in a broad ethical-philosophical context. The author demonstrates that the construction of multicultural society should be based not on a limited understanding of culture as a set of religious statutes, ethnic norms, customs and traditions, but on the philosophical conceptualization of culture as a system that forms profound values, the crucial of which is justice. Special attention is given to substantiation of the categories of “social justice” and “law”, which manifest as the essential grounds of a modern multicultural society. It is demonstrated that social justice is the determining basis for the development of modern multicultural societies, i.e. the necessary condition for harmonious coexistence of individuals, groups and society as a whole. The conclusion is made that on the one hand, the globalization processes strengthen the integration, forming a single sociocultural space, while on the other hand, complicate the adaptation of ethnic cultures and their representatives, which generates tension in cross-cultural interaction, as well as inclusion and positive reliance on social justice as the fundamental value of any society allows finding the ethical measure in regulation of issues emerging in modern multicultural societies.

scholarly journals REFLECTIONS ON AN AMERICAN’S JOURNEY TO ISLAM: A SOCIO-CULTURAL ANALYSIS OF DA’WAH METHODOLOGY

Jurnal MD ◽  
2017 ◽  
Vol 3 (2) ◽  
pp. 125-140
Author(s):  
Sawyer M. French
Keyword(s):  
Social Justice ◽  
Cultural Context ◽  
Cultural Analysis ◽  
Political Context ◽  
Cross Cultural ◽  
Value Systems ◽  
Short Term ◽  
Personal Journey ◽  
The Social ◽  
Universal Values

Da’wah among non-Muslims as a practice necessitates the development of cross-cultural understanding. Attempts to draw non-Muslims towards Islam will be largely fruitless without taking into account strategic concerns regarding the dominant rhetorical and interpersonal traits of the unique cultures in which they live. In this paper, I present a narrative on my personal journey to Islam and discuss the implications it holds for da’wah strategies among non-Muslims in an American context, while acknowledging the vast diversity within this sphere. I make an analytical distinction between values particular to Islam, like the ṣhalāt prayers and the ḥajj pilgrimage, and universal values, like kindness and social justice. Based on my experience, I argue that an emphasis on Islam’s universal values will create far more appeal among non-Muslims, as their existing value systems place no importance on rituals such as ṣhalāt. In the American cultural and political context, I insist that overt da’wah will be counter-productive and drive non-Muslims away, whereas da’wah given by good example will - although less effective in the short term - be more fruitful overall. The best da‘is are those who live out and pursue the social ideals of Islam, regardless of whether or not they even intend to conduct da’wah. While the specific conclusions which provided in this paper in an American context, I argue that da’wah in any unique cultural context requires socio cultural analysis in order to maximize da’wah efficiency.

Emmanuel Levinas

2018 ◽  
pp. 79-87
Author(s):  
Richard A. Cohen
Keyword(s):  
Mental Health ◽  
Social Justice ◽  
Moral Responsibility ◽  
Emmanuel Levinas ◽  
The Other ◽  
New Approach ◽  
Phenomenological Studies ◽  
Human Sensibility ◽  
Political Philosopher ◽  
Moral Capacity

Emmanuel Levinas, twentieth-century French phenomenologist and ethical/political philosopher, critically reappraises the meaning, grounds, and significance of intelligibility in relation to the irreducible transcendence and alterity of the other person conceived as my moral responsibility for you, rather than in ontology, epistemology, or aesthetics. Based in original phenomenological studies of human sensibility as vulnerable and mortal, as both suffering and moral capacity to alleviate suffering, Levinas finds in ethics the ultimate guidance for achieving mental health and a new approach to psychopathology beyond such standards as integral coherence or conformity to conventions. Human dignity is attained or regained through the obligations of moral responsibility to and for the other person, and ultimately, based thereupon, in responsibility to and for all others by contributing to the attainment of social justice.

The Structure of Wiggins' Interpersonal Circumplex: Cross-Cultural Studies

1999 ◽  
Vol 15 (3) ◽  
pp. 196-205 ◽  
Author(s):  
Rosario Martínez-Arias ◽  
Fernando Silva ◽  
Ma Teresa Díaz-Hidalgo ◽  
Generós Ortet ◽  
Micaela Moro
Keyword(s):  
Cultural Studies ◽  
Cross Cultural ◽  
The Other ◽  
Spanish Version ◽  
Interpersonal Circumplex ◽  
Research Groups ◽  
Independent Research ◽  
Research Results ◽  
Cross Cultural Studies

Summary: This paper presents the results obtained in Spain with The Interpersonal Adjective Scales of J.S. Wiggins (1995) concerning the variables' structure. There are two Spanish versions of IAS, developed by two independent research groups who were not aware of each other's work. One of these versions was published as an assessment test in 1996. Results from the other group have remained unpublished to date. The set of results presented here compares three sources of data: the original American manual (from Wiggins and collaborators), the Spanish manual (already published), and the new IAS (our own research). Results can be considered satisfactory since, broadly speaking, the inner structure of the original instrument is well replicated in the Spanish version.

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