Word-Dancing Together Towards Noble Outcomes

There is no single accepted definition of conflict. The many definitions, whether they refer to international, political, religious, cultural, generational, organisational, interpersonal, or intrapersonal conflicts, focus on the incompatibility of concerns (Thomas & Kilmann, 2012, p. 2) , adversarial values (Dorjee et al., 2013, p. 115) , and the collision of cultures (Lewis, 2018) with the connotation that conflict is a negative, destructive, or inhibitive force. In reality, conflict can be healthy. It can bring to light previously unseen pressures or discontents, promote problems to be addressed, and improve understanding of goals and motives (Mohammed et al., 2009, p. 4) . Upon moving away from the negative connotations, conflict becomes more of an intriguing challenge and its resolution can be found in communication. Approaching conflict with a positive outlook, coupled with effective communication, can turn conflicts into opportunities. | Excerpt from the author’s  doctor...

Considering that many intercultural misunderstandings, whether innocent or not, have their origins in inequality and not just difference (Blommaert, 2005, p. 77), the need to achieve a goal together, even if only for strategic purposes in the military, diplomacy, and business, has often led to results. The results are generally an effort of either cooperation or competition; similar processes take place in everyday micro-level intercultural encounters. When an intercultural interaction leads to an effective — and preferably appropriate — outcome (Deardorff 2006, 256), it is indeed at least because the interlocutors have a goal they want to achieve. Intercultural interaction ‘does not just happen’ (Deardorff 2009, xiii). Kecskes (2018) explained that intercultural communication relies more on emergent common ground, because of the limited availability of core common ground resulting from little or no mutual prior experience. Co-construction, which is the co-creation of emergent common g...