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The following article shortly describes the Conference on "Stereotypes and Alterity: perceptions of ‘otherness’
in the Mediterranean", Valletta, Malta, November 27-29 1997. This conference was co-organised by
the European and Mediterranean Network of the Social Sciences, based at
the Foundation for International Studies, and the Management of Social
Transformations Programme of UNESCO. Enquiries about the conference proceedings
should be addressed to the International Institute for the Social Sciences
at the FIS.
The author, Corinne Vella, is currently working at the Foundation for International Studies.
There was nothing exceptional about the fact that a conference was taking
place in the Aula Magna of the Old University building in Valletta. On
average, around 12 are held there each year. There was nothing unusual
either about the seating arrangements. It is normal at conferences for
people to sit together.
What was outstanding was that these were people from groups that traditionally distrust one another, a fact made all the more striking by the theme of the meeting. "Stereotypes and Alterity: perceptions of ‘otherness’ in the Mediterranean" could have been just another talk-fest were it not for the mutual presence of Arabs, Israelis and Southern Europeans, reflecting the meeting's aim of overcoming cultural differences.
Stereotypes, as described by the conference's first keynote speaker,
Dr Saad Eddin Ibrahim, are categorical beliefs about groups, peoples, nations
and whole civilisations. They are over-generalised, inaccurate, and resistant
to new information. Dr Ibrahim said that the Western stereotypes of the
‘Arab-Muslim World’ are a case in point: " ... not all Muslims are Arabs.
Yet the two are often lumped together, and judged as "irrational, violent,
fanatical and anti-Western".
Both cause and effect of prejudice, racism, and discrimination, stereotypes
are partly a cause of the resentment and conflict evident in the political
situation in the Mediterranean today. A product of misunderstandings between
ethnic, racial, religious and national groupings, cultural resentment is
also partly the result of inaccurate perception. The way individuals perceive
each other is determined by their personal background, a mix of cultural,
socio-political, ideological and religious factors. One's cultural filters
shape what one perceives – the perception one forms of individuals on the
other side of a cultural divide is influenced by what one expects to see.
When the image formed is negative, the consequences can be serious.
Impressions of others – stereotypes – be comes embedded in a culture
as they are passed on from one generation to the next. When those impressions
are negative, they carry with them resentment and antagonism that inhibit
peaceful coexistence and constantly threaten to erupt into open conflict.
As each generation ‘confirms’ its stereotypes through experience, the
problem is compounded. The stereotype becomes the ‘other’, the one who
is strange and different. By extension, the negative ‘otherness’ is attributed
to entire cultures. Over time, the original cause of resentment is forgotten
while its results linger on. In a presentation made at the Conference,
Professor Jeremy Boissevain told a story that illustrates this point.
The story concerns two boys who live in neighbouring homes One North
African, the other Maltese, they were once playing football in the street.
Before taking a freekick, the Maltese boy made the sign of the cross, a
gesture mocked by his North African friend. The Maltese boy responded by
saying "Alla Kbir, Mawmettu hanzir. God is great, Mohammed is a pig". The
words were once used by Maltese children to taunt the Tunisian vendors
who visited their villages over 50 years ago, two generations before that
football game.
The insult has evidently lived on, independently of the situation in
which it arose. The incident involving the two boys apparently passed without
ill effect but under different circumstances, as Professor Boissevain pointed
out, "such deeply embedded prejudices that surface unexpectedly in moments
of anger, can spark off crises". Quoting another author, he went on to
explain how prejudice can have frightening consequences.
Milovan Djilas ... described the exploits of a Montenegrin who took
part in the slaughter of Moslems following the First World War.
Sekula who cut the ligaments of the Moslem's heels ... hated the Turks
... and held it equally to be his inescapable duty to wreak vengeance on
this alien creed.
Professor Boissevain says that these sentiments are to blame for the
atrocities that occurred in the same region over the past years.
Although prejudice based on cultural difference may appear to arise
naturally, it is deliberately exploited for political ends. "Ethnic and
religious differences per se do not cause conflict", said Professor
Boissevain, "political leaders use these differences as symbols to transform
political maneuvering into religious and/or nationalistic movements". He
quoted the example of Saddam Hussein portraying resistance to his annexation
of Kuwait as an attack on Islam, thereby invoking the support of Muslims
everywhere, particularly in the Arab world.
His statement echoed Professor Silvo Devetak, a keynote speaker who
is from Slovenia’s University of Maribor. In his principal address, Professor
Devetak said that problems of co-operation and development in the Mediterranean
are intermingled with religious fundamentalism and cultural misperceptions:
"ethnic or religious connotation is given to problems that have nothing
to do with ethnicity or religion". He fears that the unacceptability of
‘otherness’ is spreading in the Mediterranean area, threatening international
co-operation, and that extremism is becoming a substitute for democratic
values. Because of people's susceptibility to extremism, "it is quite easy
to use it as a tool for the irrational mobilisation of masses against ‘the
others’, whether within a society or between countries".
Professor Devetak feels that the events in Cyprus in the Seventies and
more recently, in Croatia and Bosnia-Herzegovina, have seriously damaged
the notion of a multicultural or multireligious society. He said that confidence
in the viability of such a society is "one of the basic demands of the
struggle for democracy and social progress." He sees extremist political,
social, ethnic and religious behaviour as a security risk: "the acceptance
of ‘otherness’ is not a mere humanitarian issue but a prerequisite for
stability, security and peace in the Mediterranean area".
The general feeling among the delegates at the conference was that the
breaking down of barriers is a sine qua non. The elimination or
neutralisation of negative stereotypes would be part of that process. But
how can centuries of deep rooted prejudice be eliminated? As another keynote
speaker, Columbia University's Professor Nancy Beth Jackson pointed out,
"it is easy to identify and to protest stereotypes, but the question here
is how do we remake the images"
Some Conference delegates had answers to that question. Formalising intellectual debate on the matter was one idea. Exchange programmes for youths and the promotion of tourism are ideas quoted frequently as a means of generation cultural understanding. But perhaps the best suggestion was made very early on this conference. Speaking at the inaugural session, Dr Paul de Guchteneire of UNESCO appealed to the assembled social scientists to consider communication as part of their professional duty: "in our work we should not only collect, analyse and interpret data but should use our skills to communicate messages based on our findings ... to get our message across to the policy makers in order to be effective"
For more informtion, please contact:
European and Mediterranean Network of the Social Sciences (EUMENESS) Foundation for International Studies Old University Building St Paul Street VALLETTA VLT 07, Malta Telephone: +356 234 121/2 Fax: +356 230 551 E-mail: aspiteri@arts.um.edu.mt |
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