Values and Cultural Risk Management Through Transcultural Learning. The Cases of the EU, Chinese BRI and ASEAN

This chapter focuses on values and cultural risk management through transcultural learning. Values and cultural risk management are defined as relational risks related to cultural complexity. The values of the EU, the Chinese BRI, and ASEAN are presented and discussed as an example of values diversity, and how this diversity can affect cooperation both between the cases analyzed (e.g., EU-Asia projects) and within these cases (e.g,. projects within the EU, within the BRI or within ASEAN). It is argued that clashes of values in cooperation projects between culturally heterogeneous parts may be associated with a claim to universal values or with the intention to uphold one's own values in international cooperation projects. While different cultures and societies may share some universal, thin values, the clashes may concern the thick application of values in specific cultural contexts. Indeed, this chapter is based on the idea that the same “universal” value can have different meanings and applications in different cultural contexts. In this sense, this chapter is critical of the intention to universalize values without taking into account cultural complexity and the thin-thick dimensions of values. Against this background, the transcultural learning model is presented as a model for values and cultural risk management. It is a four-step learning model based on contact between heterogeneous actors, identification and development of existing and new commonalities, and rationalization of rationalities. It is a model that calls for non-normative exchange and considers the distinction between thin and thick values.