Intercultural Communication:
The Basics
Session 1: Opening the
Conversation
Communication 440/690 Panama
2014
Objectives
» Move from passive recipients to active
participants of intercultural communication
» Introduce challenges and opportunities of
intercultural communication in the context of
globalization
» Define culture
» Understand how social location and
standpoint shape perspective and experience
» Introduce intercultural praxis
Communication 440/690 Panama
2014
Intercultural Communication in
the Context of Globalization
• Globalization changes in intercultural communication
engagement
- Do you have examples of this?
• Technology connects lives in a global economy
- How do you experience this?
• Gap between haves and have-nots is widening.
- Is this evident where you live?
- Is this evident in Panama?
• Intercultural communication takes place in a context of
political, economic, and cultural globalization
• History, power, and global institutions play key roles
Communication 440/690 Panama
2014
What is Culture?
» High Culture
• Culture of the elite class
• i.e. Opera, ballet, literature
» Low Culture
• Culture of the working class
• i.e. Folk art, popular theater
» Popular Culture
• Culture of common everyday people
• i.e. TV, magazine, movies, fashion, music
Communication 440/690 Panama
2014
Anthropologic Definition
» Culture is passed down from generation to
generation through symbols .
» Culture allows us to make sense and
understand the world.
» Culture allows us to express ourselves.
» When you share the system of meaning,
you become part of the culture.
Communication 440/690 Panama
2014
Culture as a Site of Contested
Meaning
Cultural Studies Definition
» Culture is not shared by everyone, but
contested and negotiated.
» Focus on representations of class, race,
gender, sexuality, and nationality in the
media.
» Culture as an apparatus of power, system
of domination.
» Culture is a site where power relations are
negotiated.
» Hegemony : Domination through consent
Communication 440/690 Panama
2014
Culture as a Resource
Globalization Definition
» Culture is used as resource for economic
growth in global trade (movies, music, etc.)
» Resource for political movement.
» Resource for educating people: literacy,
health campaigns, etc.
» Resource for collective resistance and
social change
Communication 440/690 Panama
2014
Cultural Identity
» A situated sense of self that is shaped by our
cultural experiences and social locations
» How do you define yourself in terms of cultural
identity?
• Do you have multiple cultural identities?
» How does your cultural identity shape your
perspectives, beliefs and relationships with
others?
» Is the way you identify culturally related to issues
of power?
• For example, dominant groups identities are often not
as salient as non-dominant group identities
Communication 440/690 Panama
2014
Positionality
» A term that describes how we are socially
positioned in relation to each other.
» One’s social location shaped by differences-race, class, gender, sexual orientation,
religion, nationality, and physical abilities
• i.e. I’m a woman, of Mexican descent, upper class,
and deaf
• i.e. I’m a White American male who is in a
committed relationship with another man,
educated, from working class, and non-religious
Communication 440/690 Panama
2014
Standpoint Theory
» Standpoint: A place from which to view and
make sense of the world.
» Your positionality gives you a particular
standpoint.
» Different realities depending on the position
from which to view it.
» People with less power in society often have
a fuller and more comprehensive view—both
the dominant and marginalized view.
Communication 440/690 Panama
2014
Standpoint Theory and Positionality
» We may see, experience, and understand
the world quite differently based on our
different standpoints and positionalities .
» Knowledge about ourselves and others is
situated and partial.
» Knowledge is always and inevitably
connected to power.
» Oppositional standpoints can be formed to
challenge and contest the status quo.
Communication 440/690 Panama
2014
Ethnocentrism
» Ethno: group or nation
» Idea that one’s own group’s way of thinking,
being and acting is superior to others.
» Ethnocentrism can result in dehumanization,
prejudices, discrimination, conflict, and
violence.
Communication 440/690 Panama
2014
Intercultural Praxis
» Praxis: Action & Reflection
» A process of critical analysis, reflection, and
action for effective intercultural
communication in the context of globalization.
» To raise our awareness, increase our critical
analysis, and develop our socially responsible
action.
» There are six ports of entry: Inquiry, Framing,
Positioning, Dialogue, Reflection, and Action.
Communication 440/690 Panama
2014
Intercultural Praxis
Communication 440/690 Panama
2014
Communication 440/690 Panama
2013
Summary
» In this session, we addressed:
» 3 Definitions of culture:
- Culture as shared meaning
- Culture as contested meaning
- Culture as resource
» Key concepts
- Positionality
- Standpoint theory
- Ethnocentrism
» Intercultural praxis
Communication 440/690 Panama
2014