To highlight recent and ongoing research activities, scholars and other education professionals are invited to publish their views on current research topics and scholarly debates in The EWC Statement Series. Each year the EWC publish the collection of statements as a booklet, both as a printed and online version. The first booklet, containing contributions by five renowned experts in the field, was published Spring 2011.

The second booklet has just been published, March 2012, and is a a collection of the statements published in 2011, highlighting relevant educational, scientific and political debates and developments.


Latest Statement:

Published March 2012

Prejudice and Group Focused Enmity

In their Statement “Prejudice and Group Focused Enmity”, Beate Küpper and Andreas Zick give a thorough introduction into the topic of “prejudice”. Based on theories of Social Psychology, they describe the mechanisms and functions of prejudice, making it clear why stereotypes against vulnerable and out-groups are so hard-necked long lasting.

The authors identify the destructive potential of open and covert prejudices, especially as they form a part of a broader syndrome of “Group Focused Enmity” basing on an assumption of inequality and hierarchy among human groups. According to  Küpper and Zick, building learning arenas based on principles of equality and openness can make an important contribution to counteract Group Focused Enmity.


The Authors

Beate Küpper, Dr., Dipl.-Psych., born in 1968, is Professor for Social Work in group and conflict situations at the University of Applied Science Niederrhein. She supervised the survey of Group-focused Enmity in Europe conducted in 2008 in eight countries.
Her research focuses on intergroup conflict, the link between social status and prejudice, integration, diversity, the role of religiosity, Social Dominance Orientation, and gender aspects.



Andreas Zick, Dr. rer.-nat., phil. habil., Dipl.-Psych., born in 1962, is Professor of Socialization and Conflict Research at the Faculty of Educational Science at the University of Bielefeld and a member of the Institute for Interdisciplinary Research on Conflict and Violence. He invented the study of Group-focused Enmity in Europe and is cooperating in the German long-term study on Group-focused Enmity (2002-2011). His research interest in the issue of prejudice dates back to the 1980s (www.uni-bielefeld.de/ikg/zick).







Published December, 2011

Martyn Barrett on Intercultural Competence

In his statement, Martyn Barrett places the conceptualization of Intercultural Competence in the framework of Council of Europe policy and provides a profound overview regarding theoretical approaches towards Intercultural Competence. After presenting a range of models, Barrett provides a working definition widely approved in the scholarly debate. He identifies central components of Intercultural Competence in terms of knowledge, skills and attitudes/behaviors and finally presents two Council of Europe projects which resulted in educational material that helps to develop learner’s Intercultural Competence.

Read Martyn Barrett's Statement

 
Martyn Barrett is Professor of Psychology in the Department of Psychology at the University of Surrey, UK. He is a developmental and social psychologist but has a strong commitment to multidisciplinary research, and he is currently working with political scientists, anthropologists, sociologists, policy analysts and educationists. He works on processes of national and ethnic enculturation, the development of prejudice and stereotyping, the identifications and cultural practices of ethnic minority and mixed-heritage individuals, the development of the intercultural competences which are required for successful intercultural dialogue, and the development of political cognition, attitudes and active citizenship.

He is currently leading an FP7 project funded by the European Commission entitled Processes Influencing Democratic Ownership and Participation (PIDOP), which is running from 2009-2012. He is also working as an expert advisor to the Council of Europe. He is Academic Director of the multidisciplinary Centre for Research on Nationalism, Ethnicity and Multiculturalism (CRONEM) at the University of Surrey, and an Academician of the Social Sciences. Read More..