INTRODUCING INTERCULTURAL COMMUNICATION
(GLOBAL CULTURES AND CONTEXTS)
1 CHALLENGES OF LIVING IN A GLOBAL COMMUNITY
INTRODUCTION
Over the years, modern transport facilities, cross-border trade, international education, human
migration and communication technologies have brought strangers from different parts of the world
into contact, either face to face or through mediated platforms such as the internet.
Global village: A world within communication technology, such as television, radio and news
services, brings news and information to the most remote parts of the world the place we live in =
metaphor.
CONTRIBUTORS TO CULTURAL DIVERSITY
Globalization: The process of increasing interconnectedness between societies and people at the
economic, political and cultural levels.
The connection between cultures and the mass migration of people have a long history the advent
of communication technologies has just accelerated the process.
* The Silk Road
* Ottoman Empire
We are all migrants now, living simultaneously within a particular culture and between different
cultures.
The notion of the global village and the process of globalization poses many questions. The
metaphor of a global village has caught the imagination of many people, including political leaders
and intellectuals.
Globalization is defined as the widening, deepening and speeding up of worldwide
interconnectedness in all aspects of contemporary social life. This interconnectivity breaks down the
boundary between East and West.
We find that while technology has given the world the means of getting closer together into a global
village, this very same technology has also given rise to unprecedented fears of domination by the
technology powerful nations.
Globalization has accelerated the mobility of goods and people on a global scale. Correspondingly,
it has challenged the traditional static and universal definition of place.
* Tourist destinations
Globalization is not simply Westernization, but a social construct of language and culture at the local
level.
ADVANCES IN COMMUNICATION TECHNOLOGY AND TRANSPORT SYSTEMS
Communication technology is a key contributor to cultural diversity. With emails, social media,
satellites and smartphones, we can contact people anywhere and anytime.
The choices of media to connect with other people anywhere and anytime are multiplying.
Advanced communication technologies also affect how people form relationships with others.
The internet has led to new ways of socializing that especially seem to attract young people.
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,Information and communication technologies also transform the potential reach and influence of
economic and business transactions form a local to a global level.
Global transformations: The worldwide economic and technological changes that influence how
people relate to one another.
* People in nearly every part of the world can buy Nike shoes or Iphones
Our local market is as culturally diverse as the global market.
Cultural diversity brings many opportunities, particularly in the economic realm, and helps to make our
society the cosmopolitan, dynamic and exciting place it is today. However, one of the biggest
economic and social challenges facing citizens of the global community is how to unlock barriers to the
acceptance of cultural diversity.
INTERNATIONAL MIGRATION AND GLOBAL BUSINESS
The most significant contributor to the culturally diverse society today is the ever-increasing flow of
people through international migration.
Large movements of migrants continue worldwide, often from low- and middle-income countries to
high-income countries.
Interestingly, Europe and Asia, while being the largest regions of origin of international migrants, are
also the top destination regions of international migrants.
International migration increases diversity in the composition of populations in destination countries,
and contributes to social and economic development both in the countries of origin and in the
countries of destination.
* International students
* People who migrate to the host country to make a living
Migrants move to their host countries for a variety of reasons, including access to a better living
environment or to give their children a good education in an English-speaking country. Other people
intend to explore business opportunities that are unavailable in their home country, while some
migrate to seek refuge or political protection.
Regardless of the reasons for migration, migrants worldwide dream of the freedom to be their own
boss, to have autonomy in their choice of work and to achieve prosperity in the host country.
In response to economic transformations, business are continually expanding into world markets as a
part of a wider process of globalization.
Similarly, multinational corporations are increasingly moving their operations overseas to take
advantage of lower labour costs, a trend that has far-reaching implications.
There is a global trend for multinational corporations to shift business from developed economies in
the West to emerging markets in the East.
Having a multicultural workface allows organizations to make use of scare resources and thus
increase their competitive advantage. As a result of such economic and cultural shifts, people with
diverse cultural backgrounds are working side by side in many countries, creating a culturally diverse
workplace.
Ethnic diversity within workplace is continually changing the organizational composition of most parts
of the world.
* Discovery of oil reserves in Saudi Arabia
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,Cross-border movements of workers have vastly increased both the amount of the importance of
intercultural communication in workplaces.
Communication problems can be exacerbated when people interact with those whose communication
behaviours are guided by a different set of beliefs and values.
The pervasive reliance on the internet for work communication, along with the increasingly diverse
ethnic composition of the workforce, makes business realize the importance of intercultural
understanding in workplaces where people from different ethnic backgrounds work side by side.
Cultural home: An individual’s sense of belonging to an ethnic, racial or geographic community
with shared traditions and practices. It provides its members with emotional attachments to a
cultural group as well as a sense of identity and belonging because its members share a common
history and culture, and even similar physical features.
Ethnic enclave: An area where relatively large numbers of people from the same ethnic or racial
background live in their host country.
Although a cultural home may be geographically defined, a stable location is not always an
essential defining feature of a cultural home. The boundaries of a cultural home can be symbolic.
* Gypsies
Globalization and the increasing cross-border movements of people raise the question of whether
or not we need a cultural home in a multicultural society. The answer to this question is yes, but this
cultural home is ‘in the middle of many cultures’.
Cultural home forms the basis for the development of identity and nurtures a feeling of belonging,
although the belief in a single cultural identity that is itself based on a nation, culture, religion and
way of life is changing.
Just as our geographical home is located in our local community, so too is our cultural home located
within the global community. Yet citizens of this global community identify themselves not with the
global community as a whole, but oftentimes with various ethnic or subcultural groups that are the
constituent parts of the global community.
CHALLENGES FROM CULTURAL DIVERSITY AND MULTICULTURALISM
All over the world, nations are trying to come to terms with the growing diversity of their populations.
When migrants, refugees, asylum seekers, expatriates, international students or transnational
business people move from one country to another, they bring their heritage culture to the new
country.
Does the preservation of ethnic cultures creates a threat to the uniqueness and dominance of the
mainstream culture?
Multiculturalism:
Term which can be used to characterize a society with diverse cultures = descriptive level
It can refer to a society’s tolerance towards diversity and acceptance of equal societal
participation = attitude
Immigrants have long been forming associations or diaspora communities to maintain their ethnic and
cultural heritage and promote the survival of their languages within a host country’s mainstream
institutions.
On the other hand, host nationals have expressed concerns over the threat that different ethnic
cultures may pose to their mainstream culture values, the political and economic power structure and
the distribution of employment opportunities.
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, Some countries are addressing these concerns by trying to control diversity through tighter entry
requirements. Other countries are developing government policies concerning rights of immigrants to
preserve their home culture within the host country.
The maintenance of nationalism and protecting the mainstream culture have been key challenges
facing host nationals in immigrant-receiving countries.
With the opening up of national borders with the European Union, European nations have been
granting social rights, although no real political rights, to migrants. This change has increased the
perception of competition on the part of the native population.
* There is a large North African presence in Europe
Understanding the cultural tensions created by cultural diversity is a challenge we face in the global
community.
Cultural diversity and multiculturalism require is to reconsider our cultural identity.
While multiculturalism is right to continue to focus on inequalities, it has failed to adapt to super-
diversity and the multifaceted aspects of difference and otherness, including those based on disability,
age and gender.
While multiculturalism has become rooted in differences between cultural groups within a nation, an
intercultural approach is now necessary to support the changing concepts and patterns of national
identity.
The key issues about diversity, citizenship, multiculturalism and national identity are directly related to
intercultural communication.
How can we increase the possibilities for peace, tolerance, and social cohesion by building
relationships across many divides in a multicultural society?
Increasing mobility and technology make our ‘village’ more global and diverse this does not mean
that the physical and psychological borders between countries and people are removed.
While communication technology and modern transport systems have facilitated contact between
peoples, they may have also accentuated an awareness of differences between peoples and
psychological borders.
Breaking down the cultural and psychological walls is a challenge we face today, living in a global
society.
NECESSITY AND BENEFITS OF INTERCULTURAL COMMUNICATION
As citizens of the global community, we face the task of promoting intercultural understanding, so as to
reap the benefits of cultural diversity and reduce intercultural tensions between cultural groups.
Fractionation: The divisive separation of people, societies and nations.
The issue of respect, tolerance and social and cultural space for a diverse population is much more
than just a matter of recognizing and celebrating cultural diversity.
Recognition is an essential first step, but unless it is translated into practice in everyday lives, there will
not be understanding.
The key to building the necessary understanding between cultural groups is effective intercultural
communication.
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