Call for Papers: Cultural Mappings and Diversity Configurations

 A special issue of European Journal of Cross-Cultural Competence and Management

There are strong indications of changing values in present day societies worldwide. Around the world, people are struggling with ongoing financial, economic and political crises. Not only in Mediterranean countries, uprisings and widespread strikes signal the need for change. In times of uncertainty, young people tend towards pragmatism.

 In a world that is perceived as being full of uncertainty yet also full of unknown opportunities, survival, achievement and fun have become drivers of patterns of behaviour among young people. Organisations, institutions and political parties, which are perceived as drivers of uncertainty and partly responsible for the current crises, cannot count on loyalty any more.

 Different traditional value studies had indicated these emerging changes, too. For instance, since the mid-1980s, World Values Survey Research had shown some – perhaps temporary – breaks in long term trends towards stronger self-expression values and secular rational values. Under the impact of Michael Minkov’s research, Geert Hofstede and colleagues decided to add two new cultural dimensions to the Value Survey Module of 2008.

 These circumstances strongly suggest the need for a special issue on cultural mappings and diversity configurations, addressing present day societies around the world. It is timely to address trends in global cultural developments and engage in research into newly emerging patterns of culture from a global and regional perspectives.

 New dividing lines between young and old, genders and other configurations of diversity (e.g. under the impact of migration) may have a significant impact on these newly emerging cultural patterns, including value perceptions and patterns of behaviour. Traditional patterns of international communication and cooperation may not be useful any more.

 In times of uncertainty and unknown directions of change, new and old forms of ‘management of meanings’ and ‘management of relevance’ may be employed, challenging or defending dominant paradigms, employing fair and unfair forms of ante-narrative, storytelling and stereotyping across classes or large groups within societies, but also in international relations.

 Suitable topics include but are not limited to:

•  Mapping culture from a global/regional perspective 
•  Trends in global cultural developments 
•  Relationships of cultural constructs and configurations of diversity 
•  Impact of cultural differences on international cooperations 
•  Cultural differences and communication in multi-cultural project settings 
•  Stereotyping in international relations 

Important Date
Submission deadline: 31 January 2012 (revised date)