cAIR10 7-10 April 2010 Graz, Austria

Welcome!Richard ParncuttMartina Koegeler

Old news: Skin color and poverty

One billion people are hungry. They are mostly black.A child dies due to hunger or poverty every 5 s.

International Conference on Financing for Development Monterrey, Mexico, 2002

• world’s 22 richest countries • pledge: 0.7% of national income in ODA

(official developmental assistance) ~$200 billion/year (cf. Iraq war: ~$100 bn/year)~could eliminate extreme poverty (Sachs, 2005)

Average current level of ODA ~0.33%USA~ 0.22%

~

Official Developmental Assistance in 2006as % of gross national income – by country

UN target: 0.7%

U

SA

Sweden

Why is only Sweden paying 1% GNI?Is Sweden special?Better education?Less sexism and racism?

Official Developmental Assistance

Skin color, culture, violence

Genocides and politicides 1955-2001 Sudan, South Vietnam, India, Punjab China,

Iraq, Algeria, Rwanda, Congo-K, Burundi, Indonesia, China, Guatemala, Pakistan,

Uganda, Philippines, Pakistan, Chile, Mexico, Angola, Cambodia, Indonesia,

Argentina, Ethiopia, Congo-K, Afghanistan, Burma, El. Salvador, Uganda, Syria, Iran,

Sudan, Iraq, Somalia, Bosnia, Burundi, Rwanda, Serbia

Barbara Harff (2003). No lessons learned from the holocaust? Assessing risks of genocide and political mass murder since 1955, American

Political Science Review, 97, 57-73.

Skin color and child soldiers

Skin color and life expectancy

AIDSArea of country on map is proportional to

number of AIDS deaths per year

Female genital mutilation (FGM)

Infant mortalitydeaths per 1000 live births

Death penalty in the USAmore likely if killer black or victim white

Drug dealers in Austria2000-2007: Austrian media reports suggest• most drug dealers are black• most blacks are drug dealers

2006 national police report on drugs:No. of arrests of suspected drug dealers• 61% Austrian• 8% Nigerian (~15% black)

The media did not publish this.There was no apology. No-one knows.

Skin color and literacydark blue = under 50%

Global warmingmore serious in the tropics

Are the following racist acts?

• Not paying 0.7% GNP for ODA• Instead financing the Iraq war• Using “War on terror” as a distraction• Ignoring unfair trade, tax oases• Not signing Kyoto• Not promoting condoms to prevent HIV• Not addressing indigenous health issues• Not rejecting far-right politics

European xenophobia

Far-right parties have significant support in most EU countries

Interculturality in current European news

• Italy– Lega Nord triumphs in regional elections

• Russia: – Islamic suicide bombers in Moscow underground

• France, Belgium– When is Burka/Niqab ok?

• Switzerland– no new minarettes

• Turkey – promotes Turkish-language schools in Germany– convinces US to avoid term “genocide”– threatens to expel 100,000 Armenians guest workers

Interculturalityin current world news

• USA– success of first black president

• Israel– settlements in East Jerusalem

• Iran– G8 threaten sanctions

• China– conflict with Google

Graz today

• NGOs– human rights– legal advice– language– employment– women’s issues– ikndividual

minorities

• Research– SE Europe– history, literature– religion– sociology,– psychology– cultural studies– anthropology– philosophy

Intercultural history of Grazthe Austro-Hungarian empire

• 16th -18th C.: Turkish wars“normal” xenophobia

• 1867-1918 Monarchy– about 20 official languages☺

• From 1870 German-nationalism

• 1939: Annexation by Nazi Germany popular support for Nazis unclear

• 1945: Austria = “victim of Nazism” less denazification than in Germany

Intercultural history of Graz postwar

• 1955: state treaty, neutral republic• 1960s: guest workers from SE Europe• 1990s: immigration from E & SE Europe• 2000: Austrian government coalition with

far-right “freedom party”; EU sanctions• 2001: Human rights city

Accepting difference

Interaction between cultures

Awareness of your own …

…and other cultur

es

Equal rights and dignity

Tolerance for ambiguities

Main aims of cAIRShort term:• synergize practice and research please emphasize this synergy in all presentations!

Long term:• promote intercultural communication• reduce racism difficult to monitor

cAIR: Communities of practiceEqual opportunity as a prerequisite for constructive collaboration

• Equal rights and obligations– practitioners and researchers– practitioners/researchers in different areas– languages, religions, skin colors

• Analysis, exposure and deconstruction of implicit theories of self-superiority

Welcome to cAIR10!Submissions by country

Welcome to cAIR10!submissions by topic

Promising:• Visible symptoms

– health– minorities, refugees– towns, cities

• Awareness raising– arts– education– language

Not enough?• Big forces

– global politics– business, economics– mass media

• Cultural detail– religion– ways of thinking

Progress is possible! Historical examples

• French revolution • American independence• Abolishment of slavery• Education and voting for women• Defeat of dictatorships• International declaration of human rights• International criminal court• Internet and transparency

Elimination of extreme poverty and racism?

Martin Luther KingAfrican American civil rights movement, 1963

I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character.

Wangari MaathaiNobel Peace Prize 2004 for contribution to sustainable

development, democracy and peace

We can work together for a better world with men and women of goodwill, those who radiate the intrinsic goodness of humankind. To do so effectively, the world needs a global ethic with values which give meaning to life experiences and, more than religious institutions and dogmas, sustain the non-material dimension of humanity. Mankind's universal values of love, compassion, solidarity, caring and tolerance should form the basis for this global ethic which should permeate culture, politics, trade, religion and philosophy.