It is not only possible to define and teach international culture, but international studies undergraduate majors already exist in numerous U.S. universities.  International studies signify the discipline of examining historical, political, social, artistic, religious, economic, and other intercultural relationships between nations.  Courses in history, politics, sociology, the arts (music, literature, painting, cinema), religion, etc. can and do take a world scope, or a continental scope, or a regional scope.  For six years I directed a Comparative Literature Program at the University of Connecticut, which regularly imparted courses comparing great literary works by authors from multiple nations. As to lack of uniformity in understanding international society, it seems to me that this is not especially desirable.  Different perspectives on international society should be encouraged to avoid dilettantism and superficiality, but also the inevitable bias implied in a utopian, internationalist viewpoint.

It is not only possible to define and teach international culture, but international studies undergraduate majors already exist in numerous U.S. universities.  International studies signify the discipline of examining historical, political, social, artistic, religious, economic, and other intercultural relationships between nations.  Courses in history, politics, sociology, the arts (music, literature, painting, cinema), religion, etc. can and do take a world scope, or a continental scope, or a regional scope.  For six years I directed a Comparative Literature Program at the University of Connecticut, which regularly imparted courses comparing great literary works by authors from multiple nations. As to lack of uniformity in understanding international society, it seems to me that this is not especially desirable.  Different perspectives on international society should be encouraged to avoid dilettantism and superficiality, but also the inevitable bias implied in a utopian, internationalist viewpoint.

The research i am doing measures the 'Hidden' Coping Mechanisms (value and belief system). While there are local or country cultural idiosyncrasies on a international level people using certain groups of coping mechanisms have more in common.  I use the research of Prof Clare W Graves as a bias of measure - However the coping mechanisms in use are those that allow an individual/community/organisation to survive in their given life conditions. So there will not be an 'international' culture but stratified series of global cultures.

Culture, individual or otherwise I posit is built from the individual outwards which then forms the collective culture - this can be measured and in fact I do this one line. This coping mechanism and change states approach avoids as Nelson suggests the "inevitable bias implied in a utopian, internationalist viewpoint".

Philadelphia, PA

Dear Marek & all, 

I send the following post as a contribution to another RG thread, but it strikes me that it may be of interest here. 

It may be helpful to take a look at Thomas Nagel's review of the Greene volume, which recently appeared in the New Republic:

http://www.newrepublic.com/article/115279/joshua-greenes-moral-tribes-reviewed-thomas-nagel

This is a fine review of the book which both explains and sketches an evaluation of Greene' theses. In particular, Nagel (a highly respected contemporary American philosopher), makes clear Greene's relationship to utilitarianism.

I am, myself, very sympathetic to Nagel's line of criticism. It seems clear to me that there is no short and concise answer to the question concerning "the emotional side of moral development." We want agencies of socialization (family, school, church, civic organization, etc.) strong enough to effectively transfer values between the generations; and yet we want to avoid the kind of rigidity which eliminates flexibility and growth--those so strong that our loyalty to "we", and the willingness to put "we" before "I," implies that "we" are always opposed to "them."

This is to say, in sympathy with Nagel's critical argument, that a universalized utilitarian calculus is no substitute for our "emotional" particularities of time and place--and our "local loyalties." Often we have little idea of how we might best produce a greater good for the world, except by attending to family, friends and more immediate associates in the first place. In consequence, discounting the more emotional side of moral intuition, as Greene seems to suggest, may be simply self-defeating and dis-empowering.

H.G. Callaway

Dear Sir,

According to my view it is difficult to teach or define International culture, for example in the case of consumer behavior, culture is having a great importance on their behavior pattern and perception. So it is difficult to come with a unified system, but in every culture people may come with some common behaviors but we can’t generalize this. But some what we can see an international culture in social media websites. I think we need to discuss more on it.

Best Regards,

Ajai Krishnan G

In may opinion the so-called "international culture" is undefinable and that's why it's difficult to teach it to students. best regards.

Janina

I agree with Janina an 'international culture' will never truly exist. On the other hand why would we want a 'common' culture. The richness is in the variety and diversity.

The first thing is to define what is meant by 'international culture'  I use the Clare W Graves' framework - there are 8 groups of cultural value systems (I call memeplexes) that developed over the last 100,000 years of human development. Graves reckoned the brain had the capacity and potential for 18.  

Each system always evolved from an 'I' to 'WE' system. Each of us wherever we live in whatever life conditions has some that are more dominant than other that allow us to survive and prosper in our given life conditions.

For example a tribal society (WE) is a place of safety and magic with healthy and unhealthy aspects. A success driven organisation/burliness (I)  is based on a meritocracy dealing with complexity 3 times great than a tribal society.  If we ignore survival system then 6 systems are currently dominant in the world with two that are emerging - systemic thinking and integral holistic thinking - these  have moved from 0.1% of the population in 1990s to around 15% today.

The point being a family has one set of dominant systems, a community another, a country yet another. An organization/business has yet another. Saudi Arabia is tribal, individualistic and success driven. Sweden is humanistic and suppresses individualism.

By using this framework it is possible to teach 'international culture' by showing the diversity and commonality - this leads to gap analysis - and each of the 6/8 systems has its own leadership. learning styles and motivations.

Hope this sparks some thoughts and ideas. 

In my opinion, International Culture, especially nowadays, does exisit. There are many things in common amongst people around the world; human rights, what is considered goodness and evil, beauty (despite it is a bit relative), to name but a few.. so, based on these common values, adding to this how the world became a small village which is attributed to the modern technonlogy. Accordingly, defining and teaching an interbational culture is definitely possible. Baring in mind that defining the concept "culture" itself is not easily attainable. Regards.

Read or listen to the lectures by Wolfgang Welsch about that topic. I.e.: http://www2.uni-jena.de/welsch/Papers/transcultSociety.html

http://www2.uni-jena.de/welsch/Papers/transcultSociety.html

Michael,

In my honest opinion of course an operational definition can be agreed upon for the purpose of a specific effort such as presenting information to students in a course. From a broader theoretical viewpoint, however, you will find many arguments against the possibility of developing a worldwide agreed upon definition for International culture. The reason for this can be understood within a framework of epistemology and also social identity theory. I heartily agree with Nelson and defer to his excellent experience and perspective in this domain.

I also appreciated the other references provided in this thread and will definitely listen to Thomas' reference for Welsch's lectures.

Interestingly, reading Paulo Freire and Eric Fromme, I found a thread similar to Nelson's perspective, that as individuals feel forced into a global culture their cultural identities become stronger in defense of the ego threat.

I advise that we all stand back, intellectually and ethically, and consider if we have the resources within our experience and understanding at hand before we attempt to project influences into the global arena that may inadvertently negatively impact or impinge on the rights of individuals to maintain an integrity based upon their local experience. Expecting others to change based upon research they have not done or to defer to agendas by more powerful, though well meaning groups, may reveal cultural insensitivity, and perhaps unintentionally, overlooking the importance of each individual's idiosyncratic process in identity development and consciousness.

In sum, i argue against an international definition of culture and for the process of developing a multicultural perspective and improved cognitive processing skills through self-reflection for personal biases.

Kind regards,

Janet Hanson

Janet - I agree with your thoughts and believe in diversity and improved cognitive processing skills.

Hi John, I am interested I your research on hidden coping mechanisms as I am looking at perceived impact of dyslexia on the student midwife/nurses' practice and the strategies they develop (as coping mechanisms) to help them overcome any possible difficulties they encounter. 

Hi Anna. My daughter and myself both have dyslexia so interesting - mine is mild and her's is severe. Each of Graves' coping mechanisms has learning and management styles attached to it. Using the the change states in may be possible to get a picture of core 'hidden' coping mechanisms and degree of contentment with today, sensing something is wrong, frustration with today, energy to change and the level of working towards a new today.

I did some research with nursing and social work tutors using this system - I can send you the paper that is under consideration for publication on this research - separately if you would like to read it as it is not very relevant to this discussion. Even though on 'Social and Cultural Influences on Organisational Change and the Practical Role of Memeplexes: A Case Study" the principles are relevant.

Liberal Arts courses such as Global Citizenship Education, Introduction to Sociology, Introduction to Anthropology and What Makes Us Human at College/University level can help students to have a  better knowledge of culture in international contexts. These courses look at cultural variations, multiculturalism, and cultural relativism. With these topics, students would understand that we as human beings share some things in common but we are not the same. They'll also be able to explain the factors responsible for the variations in our culture and hopefully, avoid being ethnocentric. At the elementary school, subjects like Social Studies and Civics can also help school pupils to understand and acknowledge the variations in our culture. From teachers perspective, I guess when you use examples from different international contexts to explain some issues, students would be able learn about different culture and understand that we have different ways of doing things. Using this approach, students are likely be more open to learning from others, show respects for other people's culture and also appreciate their own culture.

Simiyu Hi - while I agree that the subjects you cover are extremely useful and play a part. I believe that you have to understand the 'hidden' filters that each person views the world through. It is these filters which are subconsciously based on life conditions, education, in other words how we are brought up that embeds within us the 'hidden' values and belief systems. So if a 'what is in it for me' coping systems then their view of what is taught is different from the 'traditional way of doing things' and so on. The first will exploit culture to their own ends and the second will on follow the tradition and rules. This is simplistic as we are a mixture of these 'hidden' coping mechanisms but some are more dominant than others. It is the healthy aspects we need to teach and understand the unhealthy.

We need to understand what goes on under the iceberg whereas what is often taught is that which is visible above the water line. This is where human complex adaptive systems come into play. 

Yes,  it is possible to teach international culture. We can  contact international exchange organization  such as American Field Service ,AIESEC, Women International Club,Friendship Force etc.Those organization have the participants from many different countries.We can invite them to discuss and share about their culture in our class. Since I teach at Tourism College and every semester our institution sends students overseas to have internship at the hotel (where usually there are more than 7 nationalities ),this is the good way to learn international culture. After the students finish their internship we can ask them to have presentation about international culture  in general that they already experience and the specific ones for example about   work culture, junior-senior relationship,  cross culture management which later will be useful for supporting the students' career.