An earlier post about Studio Wikitecture discussed how non-architects could help design virtual buildings – like a health clinic in Nepal – in Second Life. But in addition to dispensing with geographical obstacles, the virtual world can also help overcome cultural and religious barriers.

Rita J. King and Joshua S. Fouts, both senior fellows at the Carnegie Council for Ethics in International Affairs, spent a year studying what people – represented by their avatars – were already doing to learn about Islam in Second Life.  (In addition to their virtual world explorations they also traveled in the real world to four continents.) King and Fouts are also CEO and creative director as well as chief global strategist of Dancing Ink Productions, “a full-service creative company that develops business strategy, policy, immersive narrative and mixed-media, mixed-reality content including games, conferences and cultural intelligence for a new global culture and economy in the Imagination Age.”

King and Fouts chose Second Life because of its disproportionately international, non-U.S. membership. They detailed their findings earlier this year in a report, “Digital Diplomacy: Understanding Islam through Virtual Worlds,” as well as a mini-documentary and a graphic book. 

Second Life provides an environment for interactions to occur between Muslims and non-Muslims that might not otherwise take place in the real world due to geography, language and a general reluctance to go up to a stranger and question them about his or her religion.

“Digital diplomacy” is potentially valuable for a variety of groups. As King and Fouts note in their report:

“Understanding Islam through Virtual Worlds specifically endeavored to consider how the Internet can lead to a greater firsthand understanding of Islam for policymakers, diplomats, and people worldwide, and to explore how the Internet allows people to experience the culture of Islam in a manner conducive to substantive dialog between cultures…

We have no illusions that radical Islamists are going to reverse course because Second Life has appeared. However, as part of a broader public diplomacy strategy, engaging and interacting with people in virtual worlds who self-identify as Muslim can contribute to a well-developed and inclusive perspective on religion, society, and democratic coexistence, which serves to undermine conditions that can lead to radical views and violent actions. The interviews and communities we encountered illustrate the rich potential for transformation.

We discovered thriving communities of people sharing the experience of what it means to be Muslim all over the world in 2008. We learned about the depth of the spiritual commitment required for authentic practice of Islam and the challenges of dealing with the damage done by extremists while simultaneously trying to meaningfully participate in a changing global culture and economy.”  

One exchange in Second Life illustrated how the virtual world can facilitate conversations about sensitive topics.”  

Islamonline.net has a Second Life simulation of the annual hajj to Mecca, which allows for easy participation by non-Muslims because it explains the symbolic importance of the journey to pilgrims, along with the required clothing, accoutrements and animations (prayer).

The first time King and Fouts visited the hajj they met two, avatars, one from the United States who said he was of “Arabic root” and another from the North Caucasus region of Russia. They offered both avatars a friendship (which can be instantly accepted or declined), which was declined. But they struck up a conversation about “ijtihad” (the critical thought component of Islam), which led to the following interaction:

“Ingush, the avatar from North Caucasus, became upset when he mistakenly interpreted the question to be about ‘jihad.’ Dialogue with Westerners is ‘almost impossible,’ he said, because the subject of jihad always comes up so soon. When we suggested that he read back through the chat log, he did, and he apologized for jumping to the wrong conclusion. We apologized for underestimating the language barrier and offered both avatars friendship again. This time they accepted. The interaction was illustrative of the way sensitive conversations can take place in a virtual world, where the potential to mitigate tension is such that conflict can become a catalyst for social change instead of escalating unchecked toward violence.”

Among King’s and Fouts’ observations is that the flow of information no longer follows a one-way, hierarchical path. “In fact, it’s the reverse–information now flows non-hierarchically from the bottom up. Public diplomacy and strategic communications must learn to adapt to this new communication and creative flow paradigm. Key influencers evolve rapidly and organically on the Internet. Public diplomacy must be prepared to  engage these communities in a nimble, non-bureaucratic way.

While virtual worlds cannot replace physical immersion in a culture, virtual environments offer a cost-effective way to maintain relationships after people return to their home country.

King presented their findings at the O’Reilly Gov 2.0 Summit and Expo, winning the Gov 2.0 award. Below is a video of her presentation: