Chapter 9: A New Approach to Intercultural Cooperation

Historically, intercultural cooperation has been achieved through the domination of one culture by the other. This approach has numerous dysfunctional outcomes including resistance using violent and nonviolent means. A new approach called “Third Culture” that seeks to offend neither culture and capitalize on the strengths and minimize the weaknesses of both is offered. This chapter focuses on Eastern and Western cultural cooperation attempts and illustrates the usefulness of the “Third Culture” way in situations involving two strong cultures. Acknowledging the 21st century’s need for flexible organizational structure (Seers, Chapter 1, this volume) to cope with the turbulence of the knowledge economy, this new approach seeks to develop emergent flexible structures that can integrate the requirements of two or more cultures in ways that produce mutually gratifying intercultural cooperation.