Social Sciences

The article explores letter writing as both an artistic practice and a relational method of inquiry. Through an exchange of letters between two academics, the authors reflect on how their correspondence deepened their relationship and created space for honest, vulnerable communication. Their exchange began while collaborating on a program addressing racism, where they discovered that sharing personal stories could serve as a foundation for building authentic relationships across difference. By speaking openly about fears and truths typically hidden in academic spaces, their writing resisted the isolation of the academy and transformed silence into collective expression and action. The article includes the letters and poetry that emerged from this exchange, presenting storytelling as a liberatory and decolonizing practice grounded in feminist and decolonial traditions. The authors show how writing can simultaneously function as theory, resistance, and renewal. They ask where creative scholarly passions originate, how social location shapes the pursuit of justice, and what nurtures emerging ideas. Through critical reflection on their vulnerabilities and the process of building trust, they position letter writing as both creative expression and method. Meaning is generated through the act of writing itself, which becomes an invitation to activism and courageous storytelling. Ultimately, they argue that letter writing is an art form and a way of knowing that sustains continuous learning, deepens connection, and inspires action.

This paper explores the controversial issue of the extent to which human rights values are universal and applicable within all cultural contexts across the contemporary world. It evaluates three claims that are commonly made by those working in the field of intercultural education: (i) because human rights are a product of Western ways of thinking, they are incompatible with the values and norms of non-Western cultures; (ii) applying human rights to non-Western cultures is culturally insensitive and a form of cultural imperialism; and (iii) human rights are based on an individualistic conception of the human being and are therefore inappropriate for collectivistic cultures. This paper provides a critical review of all three claims, with the aim of evaluating each of them in turn. The review reveals that the claim that human rights are incompatible with the values and norms of non-Western cultures is both factually incorrect and analytically problematic; that historically, the contents of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights were shaped and endorsed by both Western and non-Western actors; and that human rights are based on a collectivistic and communitarian—not an individualistic—conception of the human being. It is argued that the approach to human rights that is compatible with these conclusions is relative universalism, according to which the implementation of human rights principles should always display flexibility so that cultural specificities can be appropriately balanced against the general principles of universal human rights. Two further issues that are also discussed are the organised hypocrisy in the policies of many Western governments in relationship to human rights and the need for greater material equality to ensure the effective implementation of human rights. The conclusion that is drawn from the review is that there is no ethical dilemma for those working in the field of intercultural education in embracing and endorsing universal human rights, that a culturally sensitive approach can, and indeed should, be adopted in applying universal human rights principles in all cultural contexts, and that the assault on universal human rights from intercultural education is based on widely repeated misunderstandings and myths about human rights.

This article presents an arts-based and polyvocal account of Gira Ingoma (One Drum per Girl), a women- and girl-led cultural initiative in Rwanda that reconstructs drumming, warrior dance, and self-praise poetry to advance gender equality and contribute to everyday peace power. Based on arts-based qualitative methods (workshops, rehearsals, festivals, interviews, and youth-led Monitoring, Evaluation, and Learning), we show how repetitive public performance materialises gender equality beyond policy texts. The article explores core theoretical frames—gender performativity, everyday peace power, spatial approaches to peace, and performance-as-knowledge—while aligning key findings to research questions concerning (1) negotiation of gender through performance, (2) micro-processes of everyday peace power, and (3) observable change in confidence, community engagement, and institutional practice. We conclude with policy measures to embed gender-responsive arts education, resource girls and women across the creative value chain, and set parity targets within cultural institutions.