Dialogic literacy

As social and technological developments have expanded our need for dialogue across cultures (Jenkins et al., 2009), a few research threads are advancing our understanding of conflict and collaboration by explaining, for example

• how value systems can differ within and between cultures, while resting at the same time on shared “moral foundations” (Haidt, 2012);
• how language can be used to enable and strengthen collaboration, but also to prevent communication and collaboration with outsiders (Pagel, 2012)
• how people break rules, but still need to see themselves as moral human beings (Ariely, 2012)
• how difficult ‘collaborative decision making’ can be in a community whose members represent different points of view, interests and values, but also how ‘collaborative decision making’ can be the best option to overcome polarisation (Innes & Booher, 2010)

I will suggest that knowledge and competences on these subjects be identified as dialogic literacy and would like to discuss whether dialogic literacy ought to become an explicit goal when studying language and culture.

References
Ariely, D. (2012). The Honest Truth about Dishonesty: How We Lie to Everyone–Especially Ourselves. New York: Harper.
Haidt, J. (2012). The Righteous Mind. Why Good People Are Divided by Politics and Religion. London: Penguin.
Innes, J. E., & Booher, D. E. (2010). Planning with complexity: An introduction to collaborative rationality for public policy. London: Routledge.
Jenkins, H., Purushotma, R., Weigel, M., Clinton, K. & Robison, A. J. (2009). Confronting the Challenges of Participatory Culture: Media Education for the 21st Century. Cambridge, MA: The MIT Press.
Pagel, M. (2012). Wired for culture: origins of the human social mind. New York/London: Norton/Penguin Press.