The End of Multiculturalism

Multiculturalism is a widely used and debated term in our society nowadays. Every citizen has heard about it in the news. Some politicians use it to define a colourful society with multiple cultures living happily along side each other, other politicians denounce it, stating that other culture threaten the dominant national culture and should adapt to it. In the academical world it is also discussed with assimilation as its counterpart. I am not going to analyse the political debate about multiculturalism, nor will I discuss the scientific debate about it, I will however challenge its definition and try to introduce a new multicultural view that in my eyes could also be applied to our society and which could lead to new multicultural policies.

'Culture' is probably one of the most difficult terms to define. It can refer to the norms, habits and shared values of a certain group in a town, region, country, but also of a company, a generation etc. When we speak about multiculturalism, culture is seen as the norms, habits and values shared by a certain ethnic group in a certain country. In the classic situation there is always a dominant culture/ethnic group and other cultures/minorities. To solve tensions between these groups and problems in society governments choose to develop multicultural policies, acknowledging the presence of different cultures and adapt to that or an assimilation policy, not acknowledging this presence, seeing everyone as equal and only stimulating what is seen as the nation's culture. I think both ways don't work, as cultures need to respected, but also treated equally. I won't work out this point, but introduce another view on multiculturalism which creates a new way of looking at (inter)national political problems and society. 

In my life, whenever I had problems to communicate or to build a personal or professional relationship, culture (as in the ethnic definition) was just in a few cases the reason. I have a lot of friends from all over the world with whom I could spend a nice holiday, have great conversations and live together without our different cultural/ethnic backgrounds causing problems. There are however also Dutch people with whom I could never do that, despite our shared 'Dutch' culture. The reasons for failed communication were usually a different social-economical background, educational background or personality. Aspects I did share with my friends from different cultures. 

This brings me to the point I want to make. We should broaden the definition of multiculturalism. As mentioned above, nowadays the various definitions concern a variety of ethnic/national groups living together. I would like to add social-economic groups, subcultures and all other possible groups that are bound together by a shared background, interest, norms, practices and/or behaviour. This also broadens the definition of culture as a result.

There are several benefits that this new view on multiculturalism has. First of all it acknowledges the complexity of the reality. People of the same ethnicity often do not live together, do not have a community leader and/or form a 'real' group, so why are they treated as one? Individuals usually belong to multiple groups, have multiple identities or feel they do. Secondly, it offers and alternative for the ethincization of societal problems and what Rogers Brubaker coined 'Groupism'; Seeing ethnic groups as certain entities as if they act like a group, have a leader and live together. Instead of talking about Moroccan-Dutch youth being overrepresented in crime numbers, we should also consider education level and social-economic background and see youth criminality in this light. The problem of the current multicultural society is that most problems are ethnicized, strengethning often weak ethnic group identities by seeing all problems along ethnic lines and actually creating more diversion. It is a vicious circle, which only can be broken if we see the multicultural society in a radical new way.

If we would start seeing the multicultural society according to my new definition, a new word is also needed. Over the years the word 'multicultural' has gotten a rather negative connotation. Especially in the Netherlands the words 'multiculturele samenleving', along with terms such as 'allochtoon', describing an immigrant or someone with migrant roots, have become synonyms for the failed Dutch integration policy. My suggestion for a new term, using my definition, would be the 'diverse society'. This term encompasses not only the diversity of cultures, but also various subcultures, religious beliefs, sexual orientations, genders etc.   Every individual has their own unique identity and all these unique identities, together with common shared values, form the (Dutch) society. Everyone has the right to be seen as a unique individual, living their life in a wonderful diverse society, and not be defined by a certain ethnic group or culture they might be part of. Let's start talking about that. 

Cycling in India

After a month of rickshaw drivers ripping me off and a growing feeling of not being able to freely move around, I decided to follow my Dutch instinct and buy a bicycle. For some weeks I have been actively taking part in the Indian traffic. I cycle to the gym, to the supermarket, to the university, to friends and go on occasional sightseeing tours. The busy traffic, heat and pollution sometimes make it not so inviting to take the bike, but the feeling to move around fast in my area whenever and wherever I want to go, makes up for it!

Honking

There is only one thing that can really bother and that is the constant honking. It is no secret that Indians love to use their horns. I am really considering installing one on my bicycle too, just to be a fully respected on the roads. But why am I bothered by it?

I have had many thoughts about honking, especially when I cycled peacefully and someone behind me was honking repeatedly. When one talks about (intercultural) communication, gestures, body language and signals are often forgotten, but of all communication between persons, 80% is non-verbal. Understanding honking in India is therefore important, as people don't refrain from it.

I am raised in a country where using your horn is a last resort. Its function is to tell another car, who usually makes a crazy move, to behave better in traffic or to alert someone who is not paying attention to the traffic lights. For me it has an aggressive connotation, Therefore I feel attacked or offended when someone honks behind me. What did I do wrong?! In India this happens regularly and my initial reaction and feeling is the same as in the Netherlands.

The meaning of honking in India is different however. It is more used as way to indicate your position. As a signal to let the other car or rickshaw know that he is passing. It has no aggressive connotation, unless the honking continues for multiple seconds or half a minute, for example that time when I was stuck in front of a bus when I wanted to cross a traffic jam. So every time I am confronted with someone who honks I have to quickly realise its different meaning, don't be bothered by it and happily continue my journey.

A lot of non-verbal communication is needed here

Who cycles in India!? 

Get a life, get a bike. That is the motto I promoted in Strasbourg with my fellow Euroculture student and Dutchman Gosse. I am a big fan of cycling and think everyone should opt for this healthy and green alternative of the car. My campaign in India is not really kicking off so far though. Like honking, cycling also has a different meaning. There are not many fellow cyclists and those who cycle are either to young to ride a motorcycle or car, they can't afford it or for them cycling is just a recreational thing and only done within the housing society or in nature. People are often surprised when I tell them I cycle here or when they see a tall Dutch guy waiting next to them before the traffic light.

It is my observation, but please prove me wrong, that if you can ride a car or motorcycle, you do it. Cycling is seen as something you do when you can't afford other means, something which is not practical and dangerous and also something that gives you a lower status in the hierarchical Indian society. It is generally spoken not connected with the environment or health. This is a pity. I would love to see all polluting motorcycles and cars being replaced by bikes, but I can also understand it is less practical because of the heat, the distances that need to be covered and the lack of cycling infrastructure.

There is hope though! There are organised bike rides, bike rentals and I have spotted a cycling lane!

An Indian cycling lane!

I will continue to promote riding a bike and make my way on the Indian roads. I know how to deal with the honking, how to drive left and how to claim my place. I was really missing the mobility at first and felt a bit claustrophobic. I would advice anyone who comes to India to get some vehicle to move around, preferably a bike, and start exploring.

A Month in India

It has been one month since I arrived in India and I have to say that I have not experienced the so-called culture shock (yet). I was secretly hoping that by going to India I would finally feel unsettled in some way and was forced to deal with it, but I guess my previous stays in Taiwan, France and the Czech Republic and a good preparation prevented that. Mentally, I was also prepared for the worst, but in the end all the scenarios I was playing in my head didn't become reality. I haven't been sick once, I found a great apartment close to the university and I discovered great shops in the area to fulfill my needs. 

It seems now as if I had no problems settling down at all, which is not the case. It is clear that there are many cultural, social and organisational aspects in the Indian society that are way different from the Dutch one. I had to adjust and learn to deal with these differences, which sometimes can be really frustrating if you resist to it and still want to do it the Western way. In my opinion it is better to accept these differences straight away and learn how to deal with them Indian style. There are also differences though that I find fascinating and not hard to accept at all. Below I have written different aspects from the Indian society that challenge(d) me or that I find interesting. 

Bureaucracy 

Apart from the biggest democracy in the world, India is in my eyes also a major contender for the biggest bureaucracy. I was already confronted by this while applying for my visa in the Netherlands. I needed to do an online application, submit many documents, bring a special size passport photo and leave fingerprints. In the end it all went pretty smoothly, compared to my fellow applicants, but this was just a taste of what I would experience here.  

It already started with the large amount of information we had to write down at the hotels where we (me and the two other Euroculture students) stayed in Mumbai and Pune. With this information the hotel employee went to the local police to register us as foreigners and we received a so-called c-form. This was just a normal procedure for tourists however and foreigners staying temporarily. The big challenge is to register as a foreign resident in Pune, a process I still don't understand and I can't really recall. It went like this. An associate of our broker took some forms we filled in, including an authentic thumb print, and many photos to the local police. There he got a stamp. With these forms and a stamp he went to the city police who also put a stamp somewhere. After that we went to some local office, which looked like the chaotic archive of an obscure institute, where we would register as residents together with our landlord. This required giving some copies of documents again, making a picture with a webcam and signing some papers. 

When this was done we had to go online to a national website to make an appointment with the Foreign Police for the final registration. We had to fill out a form, with the same information as always, and upload the usual documents and a photo. The files however needed to be in pdf format and below 200kb in size, a big challenge that required many online tools. The photo also needed to be less than 200kb. I kind of enjoyed making the picture with the least quality possible. In the end we managed to make an appointment and also survived the whole process there which was exemplary. 

Another great bureaucratic example is getting a sim card in India. While you could purchase one straight away in the Netherlands and other European countries, India takes this to another level. It was already pretty hard to find a shop who sold sim cards, but in the end we found one. To get a sim card we needed to submit a copy of our passport, a copy of our visa, a copy of the aforementioned c-form, two photos and also mention someone who could verify us and our address. After all the forms were filled in, we left with good hopes and instructions on how to activate the sim cards. Since it was the weekend, we had to wait until the next workday. On Monday our cards were supposed to be activated, but it turned out we bought expired sim cards (3 month validity) and our reference, the hotel owner, did not want to verify us since we didn't stay in the Hotel anymore. We had to go back to the shop, got new sim cards and decided that I would verify the sim card with my other Indian number as Marc Johnson, my English alter-ego. This worked and I confirmed to the call center that I knew myself and my roommates. 

These are just two examples of bureaucracy, but it is everywhere and I think you get the idea now. I would advice everyone who comes here to bring loads of passport copies, visa copies and passport size photos. You will need them. To not get frustrated, the key is to accept the system, keep smiling to everyone who is helping you and you will see that is goes faster than expected. 

Punctuality

I really appreciate the Dutch punctuality. Everyone and everything is usually on time. The problem is however that anywhere I go, the society will be less punctual, which can be frustrating. This is certainly the case in India. A country where punctuality has yet to be included in the dictionary. If the internet will be installed on Thursday, you can count on browsing Google by Monday. If the landlord visits at 8, he doesn't show up or comes at 10.30. If you have to repair your phone and you can pick it up that night, better count on some extra days. 

I have already experienced many situations like this and adapted to it. Where I wouldn't leave the house if someone would come at 8, now I just leave and wait for them to call me. The Indian credo seems to be, don't let the clock control your life. Another factor that makes the society not so punctual is that Indians don't like to tell bad news and always offer the best case scenario. This makes all the estimated times unrealistic and deadlines are never met. It is again a question of accepting, adapting and enjoying being late occasionally without feeling bad. 

Assertiveness 

The assertive and pro-active Indian attitude goes hand in hand with the non-punctuality and bureaucracy. In order to make things happen in the bureaucratic jungle you have to stand up for yourself. This includes constantly reminding people that you want something and keep calling them to see what's up. Otherwise it is not likely to happen,, at least not soon. Being assertive also means that if you want a bottle of water, you better already get some money and give it to the shopkeeper. I haven't heard the line 'who's next?' here and I regularly see people jumping the line. In fact, I haven't seen any functioning line or queue in a store. 

An assertive attitude is also needed on the road. If you want to cross the road, you can wait until Christmas before a car/rickshaw/bike will stop to let you pass. It is survival of the fittest and if you don't claim your place on the road, you will never get it. In order to cross as the weakest species, the pedestrians have to observe possible traffic lights, bus stops and crossing cows which could affect the traffic in such a way that crossing is easier. If it is simply too busy and traffic won't slow down, it is smart to find a group of fellow pedestrians and form a human car and go for it. Another option would be buying a cow suit, but I haven't seen people doing that. 

Curiosity & Hospitality

I enjoy the Indian pro-active attitude and I certainly enjoy their curiosity. I have a lot of small talk with random people on the street who are just interested in what I am doing here. Instead of wondering, they just ask. Also if I need something, help is immediately offered, I also get easily invited to dinners, to lunch, to have a drink and to hang out. I haven't experienced this curiosity and hospitality in any other country. Some people may respond to this as 'They just want something from you', but this is certainly not the case. I haven't encountered a situation like this and all the help and hospitality offered is genuine. I hope to experience more of it!

Gender & Traditional India

A difficult cultural aspect to accept in India is the gender inequality and the conservative values that are still present everywhere. Whereas a bureaucratic society and a not so punctual attitude are things you just have to deal with, gender inequality and limited individual freedom are things I cannot accept and I really feel the need to change this or protest against. Personally I have experienced this when neighbours complained about bachelors living together. Luckily they accept the fact that we are 'cousins'. I would like to face them and confront them with their complaints and discuss why three bachelors can't live together, but it would not be wise to do so. In another post I will write way more about this topic, how it affects me and the society. 

Four months to go

I can say that by now I am settled here. In the following months I will write more about the society and interesting cultural encounters and challenges, such as the gender aspect. It was a good choice to come here and India is one of the richest sociological fields to do research in. I will keep you updated! 

At the Czech Hairdresser

A couple of weeks ago I went to the Czech hairdresser for the last time. While in the Netherlands it is usually a challenge to keep the conversation going after the small talk about my education, the weather and my holiday plans, in the Czech Republic it is a challenge to have a conversation at all. The level of English of the hairdressers is very basic, so I usually state some Czech words about my hair while pointing at an old picture and thank her in Czech after the job is done. 

This is how all my visits to the hairdresser in the Czech republic went, but my last visit changed everything. I had heard before that the level of German in the Czech Republic is higher than the level of English. I never tested it, but after the usual start in Czech and English the word 'Deutsch?' escaped from my lips. The hairdresser smiled and with new energy we started the small talk phase in German. Why didn't I try this before? I realised that I missed a lot of opportunities for small talk with Czechs. 

The interesting thing is that when I switched back to English, I immediately faced the consequences of miscommunication. The Czech hairdresser asked if I wanted some wax or hair gel to style my freshly cut hair. I usually prefer to do this myself, so I answered with 'It's ok'. Between two native English speakers this would be understood as 'no', but for the hairdresser this was an affirmative answer. It is OK? Then I'll style your hair. With my waxed hair I walked out of the hair salon with a grin on my phase. I improved our communication by switching to another language, but then used an English expression which she would have never understood. 

The message of this story is that, although English is the lingua franca in our globalising world, it is worth trying to switch to other well-known languages such as German. Moreover, if you speak to a non-native speaker, be careful with expressions, as they can lead to miscommunication. 

Communication, Culture and Creativity

My blog is called communication, culture and creativity. I think that these three words shape and define humanity, are key to solving problems, whether they are personal or global and can create a better world.  In this post I will briefly explain how this works. I do not pretend that I found the egg of Columbus, as many people have wrote about this before, but I will describe my personal view, how I apply it and spread the word.

A world without communication is not possible. We are who we are because of the relation to others and communication establishes this. Communication, whether it is verbal or non-verbal, created our complex world on different levels. It is therefore also the key to solving problems, how simple this may sound. People can laugh about jokes, get offended by insults, fall in love, get angry and so on, all results of communication. Improving this can avoid many problems, but how to improve it? One could be more polite and keep talking with a slow pace, but what really matters is the content, what is the communication about, what does the other mean and why does he or she say that? Understanding your communication partner is therefore crucial.

In other words, it is not just the communication that cause problems, the way the message is delivered, but the thoughts and feelings that are expressed. This brings me to the second aspect, culture. To understand the thoughts and feelings expressed, understanding the culture of your communication partner is important. Culture in this sense is not just someone's ethnic, national or regional background, but also someone's social-economical and educational background. They all shape the individual and a misunderstanding of this could lead to problems. On top of that, personality, character and gender should also be taken into account. Often we blame problems on ethnic cultural aspects, while it could be caused by other factors, I will illustrate this with an example.

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A young woman from Tunisia starts to work at a new company.After a while it becomes apparent that she is not integrating very well in the company and that her relationship with the other colleagues is weak, just some small talk every day. She also does not come to the Friday afternoon drink and a team building event in the weekend. Her colleagues start to guess that this is because of her Muslim background, how women are oppressed and that she is not allowed to drink alcohol. The manager decides to talk to her and mentions these things. It turns out that she is not a Muslim and does drink alcohol, but that she has just broke up with her boyfriend and is going through a hard time. Due to this and her introvert personality, she finds it hard to make friends on the work floor with her colleagues who form a strong collective.

This example shows how easily we draw conclusions and put people in certain boxes. The problem of the woman not integrating in the company was immediately related to her presumed Muslim background. This was not the case and her problems with becoming part of the team were all related to her private life. This example shows the importance of the third C, creativity. We must consider different possibilities and keep other options open at all times in order to solve communication problems. One could assume that a problem is related to ethnicity, but it could also be a different personality, or assume that someone does not fit well in the company due to a lack of assertiveness, but maybe this a different cultural attitude towards authority and only wanting to follow orders. In other words, always be open minded and be creative in order to figure out what the (communication) problem really is.

I hope  my concept of the 3 C's is clear now. In my opinion, communication makes our world, different cultures (whether ethnic, social-economical, regional, personal) influence this and can cause problems and creative thinking is the way to solve these problems and improve each situation. Personally, it helped me a lot to always take different cultures into account and consider multiple possibilities and solutions to solve communication problems that occurred. Furthermore, always keeping this mindset will change your daily life and world view. In the end we are all the same, we are looking for a job, for someone to love and for a great life.

How are you? I'm fine.

About: The taboo on admitting mental problems and seeking help

One day after the terrible plane crash in the French Alps it was announced that technical problems were not the reason for the accident. The co-pilot deliberately let the aircraft crash, while the other pilot could not enter the cockpit. This successful suicide attempt also resulted in the death of 150 other individuals with bright futures ahead. A bright future that Andreas Lubitz probably did not see anymore. Questions how this could be prevented are raised, with a probable answer stating that this can not prevent this. There will always be persons with mental issues suddenly deciding to commit a devastating act.  I agree with this statement, they will always be there, but I think however that their number could be reduced through better and more meaningful communication, something that is lacking in our society nowadays.

First of all, there seems to be a taboo on speaking about problems, admitting them and seeking professional help, Speaking about mental problems, depressions and negative emotions feels as showing weakness, where society expects you to keep your back straight. This is especially true for men. (I don't think it's a coincidence that most of the so called 'lone wolfs' are men). Communication fails on multiple levels, even with the persons most close to you, your friends and family. Who doesn't remember answering questions like 'How are you?' with 'I'm fine', while in fact you feel very bad. Most parents and close friends accept these answer and don't dig for the real problems. It would be very hard to change these interpersonal relations and I don't have a direct solution for it, except from trying to ask further. However, a place where a lot of progress can be made with on the one hand discovering problems and on the other hand giving tools for preventing problems and better personal communication is our education system.

Discovering mental problems could be done with school psychologists. The psychological guidance that pupils receive now, at least in the Netherlands, is a biannual talk with your mentor/tutor with your grades as main topic. This is by far not enough to give the right guidance and help. A biannual session with the school psychologist, trained for discovering problems, would work better with extra sessions on request or if the psychologist sees the need for this. This could also help in the fight against bullying, which will sadly always exist on schools.

While the school psychologist tries to let students speak about their problems, classes should be organised to let pupils handle problems better themselves and train them to communicate better about them. Apart from teaching children math, geography and German, schools should also classes about personal development. Basic psychological knowledge, presentation skills, how to set personal goals etc. Considering mental problems classes about the technology of thought would be great. How to deal with problems? How to think in a positive way? How to deal with loss and rejection? These things are usually learned through life experience and personal interest, while they could be life changing if taught in an earlier stage. If we teach kids how to deal better with 'life', teaching them that they fully control it, admitting problems and seeking help would be natural responses.

In other words, schools should focus more on personal development and not only on knowledge in order to create fully equipped graduates ready to conquer the world. Hopefully, through this new way of education, we could prevent more accident such as the one in the French Alps. Maybe it is wishful thinking, but teaching kids better how to take on (mental) problems will only be beneficial.