The value of difference

Myanmar: a land of mystery, a golden land, a Shangri­la for countless tourists, and home to 135 distinct ethnic groups – and that’s just the official number. Even vast Russia barely exceeds this figure with its 160 nationalities, while mighty China is home to just 55. Greater diversity is hard to imagine. But the reality, sadly, is more complex: with around 40 per cent of Myanmar’s population belonging to a minority, being different should really be the norm, and yet Myanmar is riven by conflicts, some of which have escalated into civil war.

One particular group – the Rohingya – stands out for not fitting into the picture. The United Nations calls these stateless Muslims the most persecuted minority on Earth. Their fate encapsulates, in microcosm, the frequent triggers of conflict: the coexistence of a majority (in this case the Burmese) alongside a minority (the Rohingya), the presence of different faiths (Buddhists, some of whom preach hate, and Muslims) and diverse languages (of Sino-Tibetan and Indo-European origin). In an ideal world, the national heroine, at least, would surely take up the cause of the persecuted. And yet even Nobel Peace Prize laureate Aung San Suu Kyi – revered for her pro-democracy campaign – has failed to speak up for the Rohingya: aligning herself with their cause could cost her valuable support.

UNESCO Convention on the Protection and Promotion of the Diversity of Cultural Expression

The history of the Rohingya makes it clear why it is always important for the international community to reach agreement on key principles under international law – and why further work is needed to put them into practice. In 2015, UNESCO marked the 10th anniversary of the Convention on the Protection and Promotion of the Diversity of Cultural Expressions. UNESCO defines culture as ‘the set of distinctive spiritual, material, intellectual and emotional features of society or a social group, [which] encompasses, in addition to art and literature, lifestyles, ways of living together, value systems, traditions and beliefs’ – a neat summation, surely, of all that the world has to offer. And yet how little we know about the treasure house that is diversity. Does it also exist where we see uniformity? Do we sometimes confuse diversity with more of the same?

Ultimately, if there is a different way of doing or being – as a choice, not as a necessity – everyone benefits. But some people put up barriers when they encounter something new. Perhaps it is insecurity about their own identity that prevents them from recognising the value inherent in difference. We like to say that we live in a colourful world, precisely because there are so many different ways of life. And yet – despite our access to modern communications – there isn’t a single person on Earth who can identify all of them.

"African time" and other cultural misunderstandings

In any encounter between people from different cultures, misunderstandings can easily arise. Working out exactly when a meeting is likely to take place or when a guest will arrive is an art in itself. ‘African time’, for example, is legendary: it almost always means a very late start. And in Pakistan, even official meetings are not usually scheduled well in advance. The Prime Minister’s office might simply call up at midnight to arrange a meeting for 8 am the following day – almost unthinkable in Germany.

‘Civilisation can be judged by the way it treats its ­minorities.’
Mahatma Gandhi, Indian pacifist and nonviolent resistance leader

In Japan, etiquette forbids the use of a handkerchief – instead, a drippy nose is cleared with a noisy snort, a practice drummed out of every child here in Europe. In India, shaking your head from side to side means yes, not no – very confusing for Europeans, to whom it means the ­opposite. In Sri Lanka, basins of water are provided in restaurants so that customers can wash their hands before and after the meal – much to the bemusement of visitors. The food is eaten with the right hand – after all, if you yourself haven’t seen the knife and fork being washed, how can you be sure that they are clean? And if Western Europeans invite a Kazakh round for tea and fill the guest’s cup up to the top, they may well find him taking his leave much sooner than expected – for although there’s always time for some tea in Kazakhstan, a brimming cup is a sign that the host is in a rush and not feeling particularly hospitable. And in Ecuador, the locals think the Europeans quite mad to take their dogs out for a walk: in their country, dogs walk themselves – and always find their way home.

There are often glaring differences, too, in the way people deal with personal events such as death. In Europe, if there’s a death in the family, it’s customary to pay one’s respects quietly and in private. But in African countries, it’s not only the extended family that comes together in an open display of grief: anyone who happens to be in the neighbourhood automatically becomes one of the mourners and may be asked to give a speech in honour of the ­departed, even if he or she has never met the grieving friends and family before.

Homosexuality is still illegal in many countries

In the West, most people have grown accustomed to the many different forms that a family can take. Some people live on their own, while others – married or not – live with a partner or share their home with their own or someone else’s children. Women can marry other women, and men can marry men. It’s of no concern to anyone else. But things are different elsewhere. Bearded drag queen Conchita Wurst may have won the Eurovision Song Contest in 2014, but the day when every person in every country of the world has the right to be open about their sexual orientation is still a long way off. Homosexuality is still illegal in around 80 of the world’s countries, 38 of them in Africa. As recently as 2014, Uganda attempted to introduce capital punishment for homosexuality despite massive international protests. And seven countries inflict the death penalty on those found to be involved in same-sex romantic relationships.

In President Putin’s Russia, there are unpleasant consequences simply for speaking publicly about the issue. Even in countries which do not prohibit homosexuality, such as the staunchly Catholic Philippines, gays and lesbians often keep their sexual orientation under wraps. There’s more freedom in Germany, but even here, it is still relatively new: the infamous paragraph 175 of the Criminal Code penalised sex between men until 1994. Since then, much has changed: Germany has had an openly gay Foreign Minister, for example. Nonetheless, many of the court rulings remain in force and prejudice persists. Germans sometimes forget that the rights they vocally demand from others are fairly new in their own country: the German Civil Code did not permit married women to make decisions about their own financial affairs until the late 1950s, and a married woman was not allowed to go out to work without her husband’s express consent until 1977.

People who belong to the majority or live in a liberal environment often have no idea how it feels to be one of the ‘others’. ‘Gringa, gringo, hey, whiteys,’ the bemused locals muttered at us as we walked to a cathedral in Peru one evening during Holy Week in the 1990s. At that time, Shining Path terrorists were still wreaking havoc in this Andean country. Foreigners rarely ventured off the beaten track – and certainly not on foot or after dark. A similar scenario can arise in the USA as well: a white person leaving the melting pot of New York and travelling to black middle-class neighbourhoods in New Jersey is likely to encounter incredulous questions from the police and black bus drivers: ‘Do you really want to go THERE?’ And on reaching your destination, the local youth cast glances of disbelief, as if an alien had landed. Most white people don’t venture into these neighbourhoods, and because most black people avoid the predominantly white areas, they don’t realise that they are in fact very similar to their own middle-class residential areas.

But even if we do form our own impressions, can we ever be certain that we have properly understood what we have seen? Or do we still think mainly in terms of black and white? Are shades of grey too much of an effort?

‘My idea of a perfect world is one in which we really appreciate each other’s differences... .’
Barbra Streisand, American actress

Take the issue of the veil or headscarf worn by Muslim women. For many Christians, the situation is clear-cut: behind the veil is a disenfranchised woman. And yet, as is so often the case, the reality is more complex. The veil has emerged as something of a cultural battleground, making it a highly sensitive issue. A glance at Pakistan illustrates the dilemma: some women professors wear a headscarf as the visible sign of opposition to supposed ‘enemies’ in the West. But many female students only pull up their dupattas to cover their hair when the Qur’an is quoted or the muezzin recites the call to prayer, or if their father summons them. They never wear it when out shopping in the bazaar. For some veiled women in the highly conservative border regions, the sight of a foreign woman without her hair covered is an intolerable affront. Others say: ‘It’s entirely up to you. But I need my community’s respect in order to campaign for women’s rights, and that’s why I wear a headscarf.’ Nowadays, many young women wear a headscarf while they zip around town on their Vespas. But then there is the articulate woman from the almost inaccessible tribal areas, who has been to university and has worked abroad for years but has nonetheless consented to an arranged marriage. Fully veiled on visits home, she has to hold her brother’s hand so that she doesn’t fall over – she’s not used to such a restricted field of vision. So even behind the veil, there is a measure of diversity.

Diversity is a source of deep displeasure to many conservatives, such as the self-styled moral guardians who are mainly interested in exercising their power over others and who claim an exclusive right to define what is acceptable and what is not. Some of them exist in Arab countries as well. The worst example is the so-called ‘Islamic State’, whose brutal fanatics are currently attempting to subjugate the entire world to their inhuman brand of culture, religion and society and destroy anything that doesn’t fit in with their particular worldview.

One language dies somewhere around the world every two weeks

The threat is rarely quite as monstrous as that. But in many regions, people fear for the future of their language and their traditions: in other words, their identity. So they often demand more rights: Catalans in Spain, Scots in the United Kingdom, Kurds in Turkey, Tamils in Sri Lanka. Experience has shown that peaceful community relations can only be sustained if every group within society is protected and has a voice. If the majority believes for too long that it can dominate or ignore the minority, this often opens the door to militants.

On paper, the body of rights is growing, and yet cultural diversity is shrinking at the same time. Studies show that one language dies somewhere around the world every two weeks. Traditional nutritional knowledge is also gradually disappearing in many parts of the world as people embrace a ‘modern’ diet. In countries as far apart as Haiti and India, doctors are treating rising numbers of obese children and young diabetics. Although their families could easily grow fresh fruit and vegetables, there are soft drinks and burgers available. And it’s not much better in the developed countries. Recent studies show that the Germans ­enjoy eating foods from other countries, but – as in the USA – they now prefer to eat in a restaurant or while they are out and about, or they opt for ready meals. The number of Germans who cook at home is diminishing – indeed, some people have got rid of their stoves altogether.

10 to 20 per cent of the world’s population belongs to a minority, according to United Nations ­estimates (no precise figures exist). This amounts to between 700 million and 1.4 billion people.
Source: Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights

Globalisation makes some aspects of life much easier. Many Rwandans, for example, had mobile phones before they were popular in the developed countries. The reason is very simple: in the past, telephones were only available in the capital Kigali and perhaps in one shop per village, due to the costs and effort involved in laying cables across Rwanda’s impassable terrain. Nationwide coverage was only achieved with the advent of mobile telephony – and people quickly embraced the new technology. Today, mobile devices are a feature of everyday life in many African countries and even make it easier for farmers to do their work: the iCow app, for example, offers calendar services to farmers and provides tips on feeding and milking. In Ghana, the Esoko tool enables farmers to compare market prices and find out whether the middlemen are trying to cheat them. This is the new diversity.

But the globalised economy also leads to uniformity: people use the same type of tablet computer in Buenos Aires and in New Delhi and they drink the same brand of coffee in Washington and in Rome. There’s a growing concern that connectivity is toxic to diversity. One example is the debate about the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP), currently the subject of negotiations between the European Union and the USA. Few politicians would ever have dreamed that such an obscure and complex issue would bring more than 150,000 protestors to Berlin, as happened towards the end of last year. But TTIP touches on key areas of our lives. Will 1.3 million jobs be created, or will 600,000 be lost? Does TTIP spell the end for workers’ rights, consumer protection, food safety and regional products such as feta cheese and Black Forest ham? The German Economic Affairs Minister is taking out full-page ads to deny these claims: no, he says, diversity will be preserved. The two sides present their ­arguments with equal conviction.

­Diversity management is now well-established in major companies

As studies show, businesses recognised the value of diversity in stimulating productivity and creativity long ago. ­Diversity management is now well-established in major companies, and programmes for women’s advancement and the integration of people with disabilities are part of the new social reality. The German Diversity Charter initiative is a case in point: it brings together 18 major companies, including Adidas, Bayer, BMW, Telekom and SAP, and its code of conduct has 2,300 signatories. ‘The companies aren’t doing this because it’s nice to have. As exporters, small and medium-sized enterprises know how important it is to get the right message across to each consumer,’ says CEO Aletta Gräfin von Hardenberg. ‘We can only be successful economically if we recognise and make use of the diversity that exists,’ says German Justice Minister Heiko Maas, who is a keen advocate of the D-word.

However, diversity benefits not only each and every company but also the country as a whole. Far more women with children are in work today than 10 years ago – and that has added almost EUR 5 billion to Germany’s gross domestic product. Without foreign nationals, entire ­sectors of the economy would collapse. Germans with a migration background pay more than EUR 50 billion in taxes a year. And a little-known fact: one senior manager in three in Germany does not hold a German passport.

But this diversity can also cause all kinds of friction. In our dealings with others, we often relapse subconsciously into entrenched ways of thinking and prejudices. This doesn’t just have to do with psychology, which we can address through education, researchers say. It seems we have deep-rooted biological mechanisms in our brain which inform our view of diversity. The brain stores our experiences and automatically recalls them when we make decisions. This may be one reason why it takes so long to correct distortions. It takes time, for example, for women managers to be viewed as the norm after so many years of male dominance. It also helps to explain why people tend to favour others from the same cultural background.

It seems our mental images are all-pervasive, and no matter how liberal we are, no one can simply delete everything from their internal hard drive. Jessica Gedamu and Albert Kehrer, whose diversity slams – modelled on the poetry equivalent – turn the spotlight on prejudice, call our brain’s instinctive reactions ‘the Homer Simpson response’. And alongside our more rational ‘Mr Spock response’, it’s something we should be aware of so that it doesn’t start causing trouble.

Refugees as a challenge for the open Europe

Diversity needs dialogue. Familiarity helps by creating new experiences to overlay the old ones. This is the only way to promote acceptance. But diversity also needs compromises. Anyone expecting tolerance from others must be tolerant themselves. This takes effort in everyday life and can impose seemingly unreasonable demands – on everyone. Becoming accustomed to one another takes time – more than some diversity enthusiasts would like or would personally need. Tolerance means pushing the boundaries – but it means setting boundaries as well. Living together within society needs clear rules which everyone must abide by so that we can all enjoy our rights without impinging on others.

Europe is currently in the throes of an experiment. Finding a way to accept and integrate so many refugees is a challenge for host societies and new arrivals alike. But there is much more at stake: the world is watching and waiting to see how our cultures find the right balance. A major new paradigm may well be the result.

published in akzente 1/16

INDIGENOUS PEOPLES

Project: Implementing the rights of indigenous peoples
Country: Peru
Commissioned by: German Federal Foreign Office
Lead executing agency: Vice Ministry of Interculturality in Peru’s Ministry of Culture
Term: 2012 to 2016

WOMEN

Project: Economic Integration of Women in the MENA Region (EconoWin)
Country: Middle East and North Africa
Commissioned by: German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development
Lead executing agencies: Governments of Egypt, Jordan, Morocco and Tunisia
Term: 2010 to 2016

SOCIAL COHESION

Project: Avoiding new conflicts through better integration
Country: Sri Lanka
Commissioned by: German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development
Lead executing agency: Sri Lanka’s Ministry of National Languages and Social Integration (MNLSI)
Term: 2002 to 2017

BIODIVERSITY

Project: Conservation of biodiversity
Country: Costa Rica
Commissioned by: German Federal Ministry for the Environment, Nature Conservation, Building and Nuclear Safety
Lead executing agency: Costa Rica’s Ministry of Environment and Energy
Term: 2014 to 2020