|
|
 |
|
Viewing report
|
|
|
|
Divergent Hallways. Edition No. 1
VDM Publishing House, March 2008, Pages: 148
This thesis explores the management of cross-cultural conflict by Resident
Advisors (RA) at the University of Victoria in British Columbia, Canada. A total of
twelve RAs were interviewed on the policies and expected practices of RAs, how these
policies are implemented and whether these policies are effective in resolving crosscultural
conflict. This research analyzes and demonstrates that besides conflict itself, the
discourse of conflict--how one speaks about conflict--and its representation are equally
important. In many circumstances, the cultural discourse and its representation are not
only a major part of the problem, but even a source of it. I argue that a narrow
conceptualization of culture in the expected dispute resolution practices of RAs
constrains the management of disputes between residents. Examples of disputes
pertaining to nationality, racial and sexual discrimination, drugs, and alcohol illustrate the
use of culture as a controlling factor in conflict, defining culture as bounded and discrete.
This neglects the underlying structural issues at play, serving only to reproduce conflict
and to ensure that social and economic inequities are passed on.
|
|
|
|
