Introduction. The Need for a Reflexive Intercultural Vision in Times of Populism

The aim of the Glossary is to provide readers and users with a cultural support in order to achieve three important goals on the road to building a renewed intercultural discourse and action: 1. Educational commitment; 2. Empowering policymakers; 3. Capacity building of practitioners. The implementation of interculturalism according to a reflexive perspective can be viewed as a step- by- step process. The first step is reviewing the main assumptions that describe one’s own cultural identity; The second step is reviewing one’s own language usage, The third step is acknowledging that fear, anxiety, and insecurity exist in public officers, engaged citizens, or experienced professionals as well as in lay people; A fourth step refers to the robust knowledge that the cultural mediator and the policymaker should achieve, learning more about causal correlations among factors. The Glossary offers materials to reflect in a deep way on the meaning of apparently opposite concepts and issues. Finally, the “reflexive intercultural agent” should improve his or her understanding of the negative externalities of single policies or social programs.