1 Reference: Barrett, M. (2013). Intercultural competence: A distinctive hallmark of interculturalism? In M. Barrett (Ed.), Interculturalism and Multiculturalism: Similarities and Differences (pp.147-168). Strasbourg: Council of Europe Publishing. Chapter 8 Intercultural competence: a distinctive hallmark of interculturalism? 1 Martyn Barrett This chapter discusses the nature of intercultural competence. It also discusses the issue of whether an emphasis on intercultural competence and intercultural education is a distinctive hallmark of interculturalism, and whether this emphasis is one of the hallmarks which serve to differentiate interculturalism from multiculturalism. Recent treatments of interculturalism have certainly placed considerable emphasis on the concept of intercultural competence. For example, in building its case for interculturalism, the Council of Europe’s White Paper on Intercultural Dialogue (2008) argues that intercultural dialogue offers the best approach for managing issues of cultural diversity within contemporary societies. The White Paper defines intercultural dialogue as the open and respectful exchange of views between individuals and groups from different ethnic, religious, linguistic and national backgrounds on the basis of mutual understanding and respect, and it argues that such dialogue is crucial for promoting tolerance, mutual respect and understanding, preventing conflicts, and achieving social cohesion (sections 2.1 and 3.1). However, the White Paper also observes that the competence that is required for participating in intercultural dialogue is not acquired automatically by individuals. This competence instead needs to be learned, practised and maintained throughout life (section 4.3), and education professionals, public authorities, civil society organisations, religious communities, the media and all other providers of education therefore have a crucial role to play in equipping citizens with intercultural competence (section 4.3). Similarly, in his book Interculturalism, Cantle (2012) argues that, in today’s culturally diverse societies, it is vital that citizens acquire cultural navigational skills and intercultural competence (pages 206-211) so that citizens are able to explore other identities, to understand other cultures, and to appreciate other nations, ethnic groups and faiths (page 207). He also proposes that citizens should be encouraged to learn about others within their local, national and international communities (page 211), with schools, colleges, workplaces and community organisations having a responsibility to provide opportunities for citizens to acquire a better understanding of people with other identities and affiliations (page 211). What is intercultural competence? However, neither the White Paper nor Cantle provides a detailed explanation of what intercultural competence actually is. To understand what is meant by this term, it is instead necessary to turn to the social science research literature, where considerable attention has 1 This chapter draws upon three previous commentaries on intercultural competence, namely those presented in Barrett (2012a), Barrett (2012b) and Barrett, Byram, Lázár, Mompoint-Gaillard and Philippou (2013). I would like to express my gratitude to Mike Byram, Ildikò Lázár, Pascale Mompoint-Gaillard, Stravroula Philippou, Josef Huber and Christopher Reynolds for the stimulation and exploration of ideas which occurred during the writing of the third of these papers. I would also like to thank Mike Byram for his very helpful feedback on the first draft of this chapter.