Nemawashi

Class this weekend was fabulous. No readings, no assignments. Part lecture, part group participation. This is the best way to learn, by far. In two days (9am-5pm) of the seminar, I think I spaced out once. That might have been the six cups of coffee each morning/afternoon. But overall, a very engaging topic: Understanding Cultures -- Negotiating Effectively. The Prof was a bit goofy, telling and laughing at his own jokes. However, his tangent illustrations were actually well-woven into the materials. He was also intriguing - a non-religious, openly gay, liberal but free-trade, capitalist-loving academic from India. His first job in the States was selling Bibles door-to-door in the South. And, I have to respect a liberal academic who will disagree with Said's preposterous Orientalism.

The course focused primarily on economic negotiations, but with North Korea's recent moves, we carried much of the discussion to security issues. Topics also touched on: high and low context cultures, increased violence when cultural identity is threatened, power and 'othering' (one of my favorite academic debates), the symbiotic nature of sadomasochist relationships, and ideology-based versus interest-based negotiations.

Two observations:
One, cultural diplomacy risks politicizing culture and making issues of culture when there actually might be none. Instead of reaching understanding, the gaerre des images widens the schism.
Two, I think I'm supposed to do something with India. This is random, I know. I've felt this draw to India for the past year and a half, ignored it thinking "Why on earth would G-d want Miss Islam and Arab Expert to go to India?" But India is everywhere I turn lately and so I'm going to stop ignoring and start praying.

Nemawashi is Japanese for 'testing the waters.' We learned this in context of what you do when entering the negotiating space. (Where are people sitting, body language, drinks, food, hospitality, etc.) I don't know if Nemawashi applies to me testing the waters to see what is up with India, but I'm using it anyway. (So much for cultural sensitivity!)