Recognising diversity and developing skills: The proper role of transcultural communication

This paper opens by identifying the different historical routes European countries have followed in becoming multi-ethnic, and the consequent very different understandings that underpin contemporary national approaches to managing diversity. A discussion of the politics of equal recognition, and of difference, provides the basis for a critique of liberal universalism and of the discourse of 'tolerance'. A model of transcultural communicative competence is presented. It is argued that the introduction of training in transcultural communication into social work education can too easily slip into an individualistic acquisition of interpersonal skills. Referring back to the earlier discussion of the politics of multiculturalism, it is argued that effective social work requires both individual and institution learning.