Multicultural and Intercultural Educational Models for Confronting New Populisms

In a time of globalization and interdependence, all over the world, many forms of new populist cultures are emerging (like “American first” politics in the USA, Brexit in the UK, immigrant and refugee hate, Islamophobia, and the rise of right-wing populist parties on a global scale). Therefore, it is urgently important to identify the various implications and the most appropriate and effective interventions in the fields of education, mediation, counseling, and psychotherapy. Over time, across countries and among disciplines a range of names and forms of interventions have been utilized. Today, the multicultural, transcultural, and intercultural approaches are considered as highly appropriate. However, a considerable level of confusion exists in meanings and interventions, which leads to misunderstanding. The aim of this chapter was to promote a shared terminology grounded in epistemology. I propose that the term “multicultural” should be used in descriptive terms (societies are multicultural) and the “multicultural approach” as an intervention to counteract exclusion and discrimination by improving knowledge about and respect for diversity. The word “transcultural” should be used for strategies aimed at the development of universal and common characteristics, values, and concepts. In contrast, the term “intercultural” describes interventions that consider both similarities and differences between cultures and that promote encounter, contact, dialog, interaction, and conflict management/resolution.