Peacebuilding &conflict transformation A ... - Peaceworkafrica

AttitudeAttitude means the way an individual is dealing with oneself and others, based onwhat and how one thinks about human dignity, appreciation of others, empathy, justiceand fairness.Human dignity how one thinks about his own worth as an individual and that ofothers. This includes the individual’s history and particularly the backgroundof others.Appreciation of others how one values and tolerates the various aspects of others,their cultures, beliefs, concepts and values. It also includes if and how a personis open to learn from other cultures.Empathy how one is willing and able to imagine the feelings and viewpoints of otherswith the aim of understanding.Justice & fairness how one values genuinely fair principles and democratic pro ces -ses on different levels of society and is ready to involve oneself for a just world.CultureCulture is something we are born into, it is not something we have at birth. We learnthe particular practices, actions, values, norms and standards that are accepted inthe society we live in from our parents, family, elders, teachers, religious leader andthe media. Culture is not static; it changes over the course of time through internaland external influences. Culture must be recognized in conflicts because it shapeshow we think about and perceive the things happening around us, how we act andhow we relate to others.There are various definitions of culture. The following five statements supportthe idea of culture as something we learn and acquire unconsciously, just due to thefact that we grow up and live in a society with its particular culture.At the same time, the definitions explain that culture is continuously changingdue to various internal and external influences.a) Fons Trompenaar 11Culture is an integrated system of learned behaviour patterns that are characteristicof the members of any given society. Culture is manifested and shows itself at differentlevels:▶ Artefacts and products like food, architecture, buildings, language,music, clothing, literature, climate, noise, body contact.▶ Norms and values that guide society. Norms explain what is right andwrong, the rules and code of conduct; values define what is good or bad.▶ Implicit assumptions are understood as the basic beliefs and ideasguiding people’s behaviour although they are unaware of them(like a fish unaware of the water it is in).104 I I I . C O N F L I C T