Kultur als Waffe? Überlegungen zur Gleichzeitigkeit von Gewalt und Dialog

Abstract

Abstract

The incidents of September 11 have once again brought into conscious the simultaneity of violence and dialogue in intercultural relations. The problems and conflicts in intercultural dialogue in the context of asymmetric relations between societies and cultures are not a new issue to scholars of colonial and post-colonial settings. The idea of this contribution is, that September 11 has highlighted a recent qualitative shift in the configuration of post-colonial positions. The author maintains that the destructive, nihilistic and anti-human position of the terrorist perpetrators is nurtured by Western ambivalence and double-standards on dialogue and equality and does fit into a general contemporary pattern of strategic and cynical play with cultural identity. In order to move forward towards sincere dialogue the author does suggest not only to prevent an upcoming religious dividend for Non-Muslims by developing rules of intercultural dialogue and equal opportunity for political participation in a global context, but also to include the perspective of violence and inequality into the theory of intercultural practice.