Intercultural dialogue is a concept and discourse that dates back to the 1980s. It is the major means for managing diversity and strengthening democracy within Europe and beyond. It has been adopted by the United Nations, UNESCO and the Council of Europe as the basis for interreligious and interfaith initiatives and has become increasingly associated with a liberal theory of modernity and internationalism that presupposes freedom, democracy, human rights and tolerance. It is now the dominant paradigm for cultural policy and the educational basis for the development of intercultural understanding. Governments have placed their hope in intercultural education as the way to avoid the worst excesses of globalization, especially exclusion and marginalization, and the problems of xenophobia and racism that afflict European societies. Interculturalism, Education and Dialogue is an international collection by renowned scholars who examine the ideological underpinnings of the European model and its global applications. It explores the historical, philosophical and educational dimensions of intercultural dialogue.

Contents: Tina Besley/Michael A. Peters: Introduction: Interculturalism, Education and Dialogue – Michael A. Peters: Western Models of Intercultural Philosophy – Driss Habti: Averroes Revisited: Intellectualism, Interculturalism and Dialogue in Medieval Spain – Peter Murphy: Winking at the State: Social Drama and Multicultural Claustrophobia – Tasos Kazepides: Education as Dialogue – Tina Besley: Narratives of Intercultural and International Education: Aspirational Values and Economic Imperatives – J. Gregory Keller: Intercultural Dialogue and the Dialogism of Life: Education for Transformation – Inna Semetsky: Toward Shared Values: Self-Other Dialogue and the Cultural Pedagogy of Concepts – Nina L. Dulabaum: A Pedagogy for Global Understanding Understanding - Intercultural Dialogue: From Theory to Practice – Naomi Hodgson: Seeking a Common Language: European Citizenship and the Governance of Dialogue – John Igbino: Intercultural Dialogue: Cultural Dialogues of Equals or Cultural Dialogues of Unequals? – Michalinos Zembylas/Vivienne Bozalek: The Council of Europe’s : An Analysis Using the Ethic of Care – James Arthur: Intercultural versus Interreligious Dialogue in a Pluralist Europe – Julie Allan: Teacher Competences for Diversity: Becoming Ethical and Responsible – Danielle Zay: A Cooperative School Model to Promote Intercultural Dialogue between Citizens-to-be – Francesca Gobbo: Intercultural Dialogue and Ethnography: On Learning about Diversity in Italian Multicultural Classrooms – Monica Mincu/Maurizio Allasia: Recognition, Interculturalism(s) and Schooling in Italy: A Critique from an Equity Perspective – Roxana Enache: Possible Orientations of the European Dimension in Romanian Educational Policy – Ineta Luka: Fostering Intercultural Dialogue in Tourism Studies: The Case of Latvia – Ulla Damber: Literacy and Empowerment: Swedish Children from Diverse Backgrounds Defeating the Statistical Trends – Xiaoping Jiang: Explorations of Intercultural Dialogue from a Chinese Perspective – David Waddington/Bruce Maxwell/Kevin McDonough/Andrée-Anne Cormier/Marina Schwimmer: Interculturalism in Practice: Québec’s New Ethics and Religious Culture Curriculum and the Bouchard-Taylor Report on Reasonable Accommodation – Peter Rule: Intercultural Dialogue, Education and Transformation: An African Perspective – Sammer Zehra: Intercultural Understanding and Social Activism Initiative in the Western Suburbs of Chicago – Shaireen Rasheed/Linda Welles: Reframing Globalism: Dialogue and Difference in the Classroom: Muslim Students in New York Schools – Robert K. Shaw: Intercultural Education Challenges Democracy – Evelin G. Lindner/Linda M. Hartling/Ulrich Spalthoff: Human Dignity and Humiliation Studies: A Global Network Advancing Dignity through Dialogue.