Understanding and overcoming cultural gaps. 

On the occasion of the publication of the book ‘Le pari de l'interculturalité : comprendre et dépasser les écarts culturels’, published by Éditions jésuites, JRS France organised a round table on Monday 17 April at the Centre Sèvres. 

How to welcome, take into account and appreciate the cultural factors that are at work in the relationship between people of different origins and social situations? How to identify the sources, often cultural but not always, of misunderstandings that sometimes make a relationship complex? 

The book Le pari de l'interculturalité : comprendre et dépasser les écarts culturels (The challenge of interculturality: understanding and overcoming cultural gaps) proposes to explore these questions through the sharing of people, both exiles and locals, brought together by the association JRS France. Together, they recounted a multitude of situations in which the other's culture surprised or embarrassed them. 

For three years, JRS France analysed the experiences of encounters between people from different cultures, leading to the publication of this book which relates the richness and difficulties of these encounters and provides keys to understanding how to live together better. 

Indeed, when the way of doing things of the other person disturbs or questions me, it is because it touches my own cultural reference. It is then a matter of stepping back from a spontaneous value judgment and asking questions on both sides, in order to be open to diversity and make dialogue possible. 

Now, reading the testimonies of French and foreigners who tell of their surprises regarding cultural diversity is already a step towards a peaceful living together, and we all need it! 

To present this experience and announce the release of this book, JRS France organised a round-table discussion on "The challenge of interculturality", which taked place on Monday, April 17, 2023, at 7:30 pm at the Centre Sèvres. It brough together Véronique ALBANEL, president of JRS France and professor of philosophy at the Centre Sèvres, Alain RÉGNIER, interministerial delegate in charge of the reception and integration of refugees, Elena LASIDA, professor at the Institut catholique de Paris (ICP) and author of the book Le goût de l'autre, A. JAM, Franco-Iranian press cartoonist and illustrator of the book, Michel SAUQUET, writer and trainer in intercultural communication, co-author of the book, as well as Pauline BLAIN and Blandine LE BOURGEOIS, authors and employees of JRS France. 

Marie-Catherine CHEVALIER (Deputy Director JRS France) 

Jésuites EOF