ERASMUS+ PROGRAMME, KEY ACTION 2

CAPACITY BUILDING IN HIGHER EDUCATION

Furthering International Relations Capacities and Intercultural Engagement to

Nurture Campus Diversity and to Support Internationalisation at Home
(FRIENDS)

Unit 3: Dimensions of culture - cultural distances between countries:

identity, power, gender, uncertainty, time and gratification of needs
Part 2
Prof. Michael Minkov
TRANSCRIPT

I would like to show you the Cultural Map of the world that we obtained from this study. It's
a two-dimensional map of the world and it looks very much like the real geographic map of
the world seen from a traditional European perspective.
I don't know from where you're watching this video, but if you're from Europe and if you
look at a European map of the world, you will notice that Europe is in the center. If you're
American and you use an American map of the world, the United States would be in the
middle. And I understand that the Asian maps of the world are with Asia in the middle.
Now, for some reason, this map that we obtained from this statistical analysis resembles a
European map of the world. Europe is, or more precisely South Europe, is in the center, North
Europe is up North and Africa is in the South. Then you see it one extreme on this side, East
Asia, Japan, and the Chinese speaking countries at this extreme, and at the other extreme,
Latin America.
What does this map stand for? The North-South axis is the Individualism-Collectivism axis.
The most individualist nations are those of Northern Europe, the most Collectivist ones are
those of Africa.
In many African nations, they still have tribes, which means that you have to be loyal to your
tribe. It means that you may have to share privileges with them as opposed to the situation
in northern Europe, where only individuals count.
Groups are not so important. This is also the axis of what Hofstede calls Low Power distance
in the North, High Power distance in the South. What this means is that your company
This project has been funded with support from the European Commission. This publication reflects the views
only of the author, and the Commission cannot be held responsible for any use which may be made of the
information contained therein. 1
position or your social position is not as important in Northern Europe as in South Asia and
in Africa.
As I said previously, it is perfectly acceptable in Northern Europe to argue with your father,
with your teacher, with your professor, with your boss in the company where you work. If
you do it politely, of course, and constructively, the idea is not to argue, but just to express
disagreement. For the purpose of a more constructive debate, the situation is quite different
in Africa and South Asia.
I'm often told by my students from those regions that if you contradict your boss, you will
most likely lose your job. In this part of the world or in school, if you contradict the teacher
in some countries, even if you ask questions in class, you may be told to stop talking and just
do what you're told and follow the wisdom of the teacher.
This has many, many consequences. For example, rulers in the Southern part of the world
often rule without much accountability, which accounts for high corruption levels as
opposed to the situation in Northern Europe, where corruption is much lower and
everybody's held accountable. Nobody is above the law. The laws are the same for
everybody. It doesn’t matter how rich and powerful you are. The laws are the same for all
individuals. The only thing that matters is what you have done as an individual. That's why
this is called individualism. Individual rights are so important in Northern Europe but in
developing countries, individual rights are often trampled by powerful.
More powerful individuals, the East-West axis is also interesting. I call it Monumentalism –
Flexibility - two terms that may be difficult to understand. We can start with Monumentalism.
This means that the human self in Latin America and Africa is like a proud monument. Always
the same and proud of itself.
At this extreme in East Asia, pride is almost considered a sin. You're not allowed to have a
high opinion of yourself. You're expected to be changeable and flexible and focus on
improvement. Basically, the expected philosophy in Japan and in the Chinese speaking
countries is you are not very good, but there is a remedy for that. You can study hard and as
an outcome of your efforts in education, you will achieve good results. You will become a
more educated person and then you will be a better person.

This project has been funded with support from the European Commission. This publication reflects the views
only of the author, and the Commission cannot be held responsible for any use which may be made of the
information contained therein. 2