ABSTRACT

The introduction justifies the need for a book about the Chinese perspective of Minzu for unthinking and rethinking diversity and interculturality in education. The authors explain how current scholarship tends to be divided but also, and especially, dominated by Western-centric ideologies, theories and methods in diversity education, which ‘silence’ ex-/implicitly voices from the periphery about interculturality. The need for alternative ways of problematizing and ‘doing’ interculturality has been argued for by other scholars too. The introduction provides a short overview of what Minzu is about and what it entails. The objectives and working methods of the book are also presented, with the spirit of companionship and modesty - amongst others - at its centre. The authors insist that the book does not intend to present the reader with undue ‘bias’ about Minzu and that their take on the notion derives from deep, critical and reflexive dialogues between them about the thorny issue of interculturality. The last part of the introduction presents the different chapters that compose the book.