Culture and Negotiations in Arabic-Speaking Islam: course description
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Ilai Alon, Tel Aviv University
The purpose of this class is to introduce to Western students the cultural factors in Arabic speaking Islam, which influence negotiation in this culture. Its message is that culture at large is of prime importance in most conflicts and their management. The class will take off from the hypothesis that it is the culture-dependent concept of identity that lies at the basis of most, if not all, conflicts. Approaching it by means of negotiation necessitates, therefore, culture-based methods, hence acquaintance.
Three cultural elements constitute Arabic-Speaking negotiation style: universal, Arabic and Islamic. In the class all three will be addressed, but the emphasis will be laid on the latter two. The topics to be discussed in detail will be identity (or ‘Self and the Other’), in which the self image of Arabs and Muslims will be viewed, as well as that of non-Muslims and noon-Arabs. Evidence will be presented from Arabic literature, Islamic law and history, as well as modern-day expressions by thinkers and leaders.
The second concept that will be addressed is the perception of Time: here western approach to time (“time is Money”…) will be compared to Arab and Islamic polychromic view of it; Western concern with efficiently exploiting the time vs. its for relation-forging purposes in the Middle East. Also, the different roles of the Past and Future in both cultures will be examined.
Thirdly, the significance of Language in both cultures will be examined: Western perception that requires Language to be as efficient in conveying messages accurately and economically as possible, vs. viewing the role of Language as the most important tool for forging human relations in the East.
Conflict and war are next to be studied, as well as the traditional institutions of conflict management and resolution in Arab and Islamic societies. Under this heading the meaning of “Peace”, “Cease-fire”, “Sulha” and other concepts will be studied.
The class will consist of frontal lectures and student papers. The evaluations will be based on one class-papers and a final multiple-choice examination.
Three cultural elements constitute Arabic-Speaking negotiation style: universal, Arabic and Islamic. In the class all three will be addressed, but the emphasis will be laid on the latter two. The topics to be discussed in detail will be identity (or ‘Self and the Other’), in which the self image of Arabs and Muslims will be viewed, as well as that of non-Muslims and noon-Arabs. Evidence will be presented from Arabic literature, Islamic law and history, as well as modern-day expressions by thinkers and leaders.
The second concept that will be addressed is the perception of Time: here western approach to time (“time is Money”…) will be compared to Arab and Islamic polychromic view of it; Western concern with efficiently exploiting the time vs. its for relation-forging purposes in the Middle East. Also, the different roles of the Past and Future in both cultures will be examined.
Thirdly, the significance of Language in both cultures will be examined: Western perception that requires Language to be as efficient in conveying messages accurately and economically as possible, vs. viewing the role of Language as the most important tool for forging human relations in the East.
Conflict and war are next to be studied, as well as the traditional institutions of conflict management and resolution in Arab and Islamic societies. Under this heading the meaning of “Peace”, “Cease-fire”, “Sulha” and other concepts will be studied.
The class will consist of frontal lectures and student papers. The evaluations will be based on one class-papers and a final multiple-choice examination.
