ヒューマンライブラリーから見た異文化間能力―コンピテンシーを育てる実践の立場から―

抄録

The Human Library is a practical event, aiming to “reduce the prejudice”, “break the emotional barrier” and “raise the acceptability to diversity” within one’s heart. Launched in Denmark in 2000, the event has successfully spread to more than 70 countries, including Japan, where it has been held as many as 60 times since December 2008.

Despite its simple mechanism, the Human Library is well-known among those who are concerned about its effectiveness of decreasing the emotional barrier between strangers and also bringing valuable new encounters and self-improvement to the participants. However, formal research and study have rarely been conducted.

To begin, this paper points out that the intercultural competence raised by the Human Library is not based on national or ethnic differences, but focuses on minorities nearby in one’s life, such as disabled people. Then it discusses the overall mechanism, which fulfills the 4 criteria required to effectively reduce general prejudice. The mechanism is explained in a 4-step model, referring to the Pettigrew model. The actual effect on the participants is also analyzed based on survey results. Finally, the paper clearly illustrates the development process of intercultural competence through the Human Library, from the aspects of knowledge, skills and behaviors.

All the empirical data used in the paper is based upon my 7-year practical study and the report documents, and also the results of the ongoing research project supported by a Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research.