Constructing Intercultural Selves: Bridging Cultural Conflict Through Dialectical Engagement

Abstract

This paper outlines a relational–dialectical approach to managing cultural diversity. Instead of looking at cultural diversity either through the lens of ethnocentrism or multiculturalism, the relational–dialectical view embraces the goal of creating intercultural selves and communities. The relational approach seeks ways to bridge cultural conflict through radical sociality and dialectical engagement. The process is organized around three principles: (a) engaging the humanity of the cultural other, (b) identifying culturally embedded needs, values and ideologies of conflicting individuals and groups, and (c) synthesizing novel forms of meaning and relating through the process of dialectical engagement. As a form of collaborative problem solving, dialectical engagement is the process of constructing novel ways of being and relating through the integration of opposites. We illustrate the process with the example of intercultural dialogue between a Bhutanese-American woman and her family.