Navigating identities

How embracing multiple identities fuels creativity and collaboration

Through the lens of transculturality
Growing up in a household deeply rooted in South African traditions (language, storytelling, respect for elders, and collective responsibility) while simultaneously being immersed in Dutch educational systems, social norms, and public discourse, I learned early on to navigate between cultural logics. This often meant negotiating identity across contexts: being too Dutch in African spaces and too African in Dutch ones. Over time, I began to see this not as a dislocation, but as a form of cultural fluency.

Welsch’s concept of transculturality has offered me a critical lens through which to understand this experience. In a globalized world, as Welsch argues, cultures no longer exist in isolation but are increasingly interwoven, giving rise to hybrid identities and cultural transformation. My own life mirrors this dynamic: I do not belong solely to one cultural sphere, but instead inhabit a space where boundaries blur and new possibilities of being emerge.

Culture as negotiation
This transcultural perspective has significantly influenced my interests and critical approach. I am drawn to questions of identity, representation, and belonging. Rather than seeing my cultural identity as fixed, I understand it as a negotiated process, one that evolves through ongoing interaction with diverse cultural frameworks and is grounded in both self-awareness and social understanding. This dynamic navigation is both a challenge and a strength, and it shapes how I think critically about identity and belonging, and how I navigate the world.

Importantly, I also approach my identity through an intersectional lens. My experience is shaped not only by culture, but also by the ways race, gender, geography, but also tribal affiliation intersects. These overlapping social positions do not operate in isolation; they compound and interact, shaping how I am perceived, how I experience inclusion or exclusion, and how I position myself in the world. This intersectional awareness deepens my understanding of power, belonging, and representation and leads me to ask not just ‘Who am I?’, but also ‘Who are we? Who belongs? Who is seen? Whose stories are centered, and whose are marginalized?’.

Transculturality as a framework
Ultimately, my transcultural identity is not merely a background detail; it is a framework that shapes how I engage with knowledge, connect with others, and contribute meaningfully to conversations in a globalized world. And just as transculturality shapes my personal journey, it also holds vital lessons for organisations; especially those navigating mergers or collaborations across borders. When two or more cultures come together in a professional context, the challenge is often framed as ‘integration’, but in reality it is about learning to live and thrive in the ‘in-between’, the space where different cultures, identities, or logics overlap, blur, and interact without fully collapsing into one or the other.

Creating a shared space
Transculturality in organisations in the process of change, growth or merger, means moving beyond simply combining practices or preserving separate identities; it is about creating a shared space where new cultural logics, hybrid ways of working, and fresh possibilities of belonging can emerge. This requires cultural fluency, i.e. the ability to navigate complexity, embrace hybridity, and leverage diversity as a strategic strength. Curious how to cultivate this fluency, turn cultural differences from a source of tension into a source of innovation and connection? Let’s explore how transculturality can become an asset for your future.