Crossing the Bamboo Bridge
Community Working Groups
Cultural Diplomacy
Cultural Diplomacy and Indigenous Wisdom
10.07.2009 | read more
Cultural diplomacy is the action one takes in the process of seeking cultural competence; it is also an expression and demonstration of the internalized qualities of cultural awareness and sensitivity. For the last two decades, the concepts of cultural competence, cultural sensitivity, and trans-cultural nursing have been explored extensively as they relate to nursing practice and education. Educational experiences in cultural sensitivity and trans-cultural awareness inspire in students and practicing nurses a greater knowledge of and compassion for cultural differences.
Diplomacy is a highly refined communication skill used with the intention of developing and maintaining relationships between different cultures. The central skills of cultural diplomacy are tactful communication and negotiation. It is a potential antidote to the culture clashes that can occur in relationships, such as those between teacher and student and between young and senior nurses. Culture clash occurs when people with different perspectives seek to extend their influence by convincing others of the “rightness” of their views. Culture clash is the greatest obstacle to community-building such as is the vision in South African ubuntu philosophy. At the center of culture clash is the fear of loss of control and the subsequent need to dominate others and convert them to one’s own cultural beliefs and practices. The diplomat’s purpose is to keep dialogue open so that solutions to problems that satisfy all involved parties can be found. Cultural diplomats promote community-building. They honor their own and another person’s culture: the beliefs, values, and way of knowing the world and of being in it that they have brought to the profession.
While the term diplomacy is more commonly applied to international and political relationships, cultural diplomacy is not unknown in the international community. All relations between peoples are cultural in nature. Nursing and the nurse-patient relationship are also cultural constructions. Cultural diplomacy promotes the free exchange of ideas among peoples. The foundation for cultural diplomacy is education and example. As it is applied to nursing and healthcare, cultural diplomacy suggests the actual acknowledgment of the diversity of health beliefs and practices encountered withinnursing as a professional culture as well as among individual nurses and patients. The purpose of cultural diplomacy is to improve communication, understanding, and cultural exchange. Its goal is to build long-term relationships within the profession, with patients, and communities, which can lead to an increasingly peaceful global community that is open to sharing all health beliefs, practices, and systems.
Excerpt taken from:
Mulaudzi, M, Libster, M., and Phiri, S. (2009). Suggestions for Creating a Welcoming Nursing Community: Ubuntu, Cultural Diplomacy, and Mentoring. International Journal of Human Caring 13(2): 45-51.