Intercultural Categories of Thought in Times of Crisis. The Challenge of Inter/Multi-disciplinary Research

Within the new multicultural socio-urban contexts, many are the questions about the dynamics of relationships among people, with emphasis on moral and pragmatic key issues referring to education, well-fare and legal regulations. The biggest challenge for contemporary democracies is to find morally acceptable and politically viable strategies for the sustainability of social interactions. At present in Europe the assumptions that guided polities for decades are queried by clashes on the rights of migrants and cultural minorities. On the global level, the foundations of the theory of human rights are shaking as they are more and more questioned by diverse cultural traditions. Principles, worldviews, moralities, languages claim their own space for truth, pointing to a contradiction between universalist and relativist tendencies. How is it possible to break the persisting deadlock of fear, anxiety and deep prejudices so as to engage in a pluralistic approach to human rights? How can human rights be turned into a value truly celebrated by all cultures if -more or less- they are only respected in western contexts?