Intercultural praxis for ethical action : reflexive education and participatory citizenship for a respondent sociality

In an era when globalization no longer seems to simply mean the overcoming of national borders, but rather the increasing populist sentiment of isolationism, advocating for intercultural praxis becomes daring. The recognition that our very existence depends on our capacity to forge a different global paradigm has led the authors to identify in intercultural awareness one factor towards an ethical refoundation of cohabitation on the planet.

The book regards intercultural communication as a dialogue-centered pragmatics. It is an advocate of responsivity, a social action which evokes continual responsibility, ever aware of the cumulative effects of our actions on the lives of other places and future generations. Responsivity implies critical awareness of those discursive conditions of symbolic negation of the other that are the precursors of racism, intolerance, radicalization, and new forms of social invisibility. In terms of citizenship, responsivity means empowering individuals with the virtues necessary to responsibly and faithfully take their roles as social actors, professionals, and consumers. In educational terms, respondent action refers to emerging patterns in education, such as mobility, reflexive practice, informal learning, new media communication, all aimed towards the consolidation of intercultural sensitivity and an ecological ideal of education.

Intercultural awareness plays a key role in preparing global-ready professionals and finally in laying the foundation for an ethics of the future.