ABSTRACT
In an important policy text on intercultural dialogue (Council of Europe, 2008), it is stated that intercultural dialogue aims to ‘develop a deeper understanding of diverse world views and practices, to increase co-operation and participation …, to allow personal growth and transformation, and to promote tolerance and respect for the other’ (ibid.: 17). It also points to barriers to intercultural dialogue: ‘Some of these [barriers] are the result of the difficulty in communicating in several languages. But others concern power and politics: discrimination, poverty and exploitation.’ (ibid.: 21). One can say that the study programs and research dealt with in the present chapter share this view in very general terms. But it should be emphasised that the discourse and theoretical understanding of ‘intercultural dialogue’ and ‘barrriers’ are different from those of the Council of Europe, due to the institutional environment: institutions of higher education have the responsibility of developing critical thinking in education and research, and Roskilde University specifically was founded with a focus on problem-oriented critical studies of social realities.
