Introducing Intercultural Communication Coursebook 2015 PDF

 Introducing Intercultural Communication SAGE was founded in 1965 by Sara Miller McCune to support the dissemination of usable knowledge by publishing innovative and high-quality research and teaching content. Today, we publish more than 750 journals, including those of more than 300 learned soc...

 Introducing Intercultural Communication SAGE was founded in 1965 by Sara Miller McCune to support the dissemination of usable knowledge by publishing innovative and high-quality research and teaching content. Today, we publish more than 750 journals, including those of more than 300 learned societies, more than 800 new books per year, and a growing range of library products including archives, data, case studies, reports, conference highlights, and video. SAGE remains majority-owned by our founder, and on her passing will become owned by a charitable trust that secures our continued independence. Los Angeles | London | Washington DC | New Delhi | Singapore SAGE Publications Ltd  Shuang Liu, Zala Volčič and Cindy Gallois 2015 1 Oliver’s Yard 55 City Road First edition published 2010. Reprinted 2011, 2012 and 2013 London EC1Y 1SP Second edition published 2015 SAGE Publications Inc. 2455 Teller Road Apart from any fair dealing for the purposes of research or Thousand Oaks, California 91320 private study, or criticism or review, as permitted under the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act, 1988, this publication SAGE Publications India Pvt Ltd may be reproduced, stored or transmitted in any form, or by B 1/I 1 Mohan Cooperative Industrial Area any means, only with the prior permission in writing of the Mathura Road publishers, or in the case of reprographic reproduction, in New Delhi 110 044 accordance with the terms of licences issued by the Copyright Licensing Agency. Enquiries concerning reproduction outside SAGE Publications Asia-Pacific Pte Ltd those terms should be sent to the publishers. 3 Church Street #10-04 Samsung Hub All material on the accompanying website can be printed off Singapore 049483 and photocopied by the purchaser/user of the book. The web material itself may not be reproduced in its entirety for use by others without prior written permission from SAGE. The web material may not be distributed or sold separately from the book without the prior written permission of SAGE. Should anyone Editor: Mila Steele wish to use the materials from the website for conference Assistant editor: James Piper purposes, they would require separate permission from us. All Production editor: Imogen Roome material is © Shuang Liu, Zala Volčič and Cindy Gallois 2015 Indexer: Cathryn Pritchard Marketing manager: Michael Ainsley Cover design: Jen Crisp Typeset by: C&M Digitals (P) Ltd, Chennai, India Library of Congress Control Number: 2014939151 Printed and bound in Great Britain by Ashford Colour Press Ltd British Library Cataloguing in Publication data A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library ISBN 978-1-4462-8590-9 ISBN 978-1-4462-8591-6 (pbk) At SAGE we take sustainability seriously. Most of our products are printed in the UK using FSC papers and boards. When we print overseas we ensure sustainable papers are used as measured by the Egmont grading system. We undertake an annual audit to monitor our sustainability. Contents Preface ix Acknowledgements xii Companion website xiii Introduction: communicating in a culturally diverse society xiv 1 CHALLENGES OF LIVING IN A GLOBAL SOCIETY 3 Introduction 4 Contributors to cultural diversity 4 Necessity and benefits of intercultural communication 14 Summary 19 Join the debate: Will globalization result in the disappearance of local cultures? 19 Case study: Migration and diversity in Australia 20 Further readings 21 2 UNDERSTANDING COMMUNICATION 25 Introduction 26 The multifaceted nature of communication 26 Models of communication 36 Current issues surrounding theorizing communication 39 Communication and culture 43 Summary 47 Join the debate: universal or culture-specific theories of communication? 47 Case study: Hanging out in the public square 48 Further readings 49 3 UNDERSTANDING CULTURE 53 Introduction 54 Definitions and components of culture 54 Characteristics of culture 66 Subcultures 71 Summary 73 Join the debate: are we what we eat? 74 Case study: mobile banking in rural Papua new guinea 74 Further readings 76 vi Contents 4 THE INFLUENCE OF CULTURE ON PERCEPTION 79 Introduction 80 Stages of the perception process 81 The influence of culture on perception 87 Perception and intercultural communication 91 Summary 97 Join the debate: Is ageism the fear of our future self? 98 Case study: how are Eastern Europeans perceived by the west? 98 Further readings 100 5 CULTURAL AND VALUE ORIENTATIONS 103 Introduction 104 Hofstede’s cultural dimensions 104 Hall’s high- and low-context cultural dimension 110 Kluckhohn and Strodtbeck’s value orientations 111 Schwartz’s cultural value theory 116 Intercultural communication ethics 118 Summary 121 Join the debate: should same-sex marriage be accepted across the world? 121 Case study: museums as a site of culture 122 Further readings 124 6 CATEGORIZATION, SUBGROUPS, AND IDENTITIES 127 Introduction 128 Social categorization and identities 128 Subgroup memberships and identities 135 Identities and intercultural communication 144 Summary 146 Join the debate: is identity what we have or what we perform? 147 Case study: south african identity and apartheid in south africa 147 Further readings 149 7 VERBAL COMMUNICATION AND CULTURE 153 Introduction 154 The components and characteristics of verbal codes 154 Language, culture, and discourse 159 Cultural variations in verbal communication 163 Language and identity 169 Summary 171 Join the debate: ‘do the limits of my language mean the limits of my world?’ 172 Case study: how is politeness expressed across cultures? 172 Further readings 174  Contents vii 8 NONVERBAL COMMUNICATION AND CULTURE 177 Introduction 178 Characteristics and functions of nonverbal codes 179 Types of nonverbal communication 183 Influence of culture on nonverbal communication 190 Summary 191 Join the debate: how can we lie with our body language? 192 Case study: nonverbal expressions in politics – the case of Vladimir Putin 193 Further readings 195 9 IMMIGRATION AND ACCULTURATION 199 Introduction 200 Migration and cultural diversity 201 Diversity and multiculturalism 204 Culture shock and acculturation orientations 208 Cross-cultural adaptation 212 Summary 218 Join the debate: To what extent should migrants be encouraged to maintain their heritage culture? 218 Case study: The Cronulla riots 219 Further readings 221 10 DEVELOPING RELATIONS WITH CULTURALLY DIFFERENT OTHERS 225 Introduction 226 Dimensions and characteristics of human relationships 226 Stages of human relationship development 231 Culture and human relationship development 233 Developing intercultural relationships 240 Summary 244 Join the debate: does communication technology bring us closer or set us further apart? 245 Case study: Love by arrangement in India 245 Further readings 247 11 MANAGING INTERCULTURAL CONFLICTS 251 Introduction 252 Potential sources of intercultural conflict 253 Conflict stages and conflict management approaches and styles 262 Influence of culture on conflict management 265 Summary 270 Join the debate: when can conflict lead to productive and positive outcomes in workplaces? 271 viii Contents Case study: hollywood celebrity activism in war-torn societies 271 Further readings 273 12 MASS MEDIA, TECHNOLOGY, AND CULTURAL CHANGE 277 Introduction 278 Globalization, technology, and mass media 278 Mass media and symbolic social reality 287 Mass media and cultural change 294 Summary 295 Join the debate: will the print media still maintain a place in the digital age? 296 Case study: OhmyNews in South Korea 296 Further readings 298 13 BECOMING AN EFFECTIVE INTERCULTURAL COMMUNICATOR 301 Introduction 302 Homogenization and fragmentation 303 Globalization and localization 307 Developing intercultural competence 312 Summary 316 Join the debate: will our attitudes become more ‘provincial’ in the global economy? 317 Case study: doctors without Borders 317 Further readings 319 Glossary 322 References 333 Index 347 PREFACE We may have different religions, different languages, different-coloured skin, but we all belong to one human race. Kofi Annan, 7th UN Secretary-General, 2001 Nobel Peace Prize Winner This new edition of Introducing Intercultural Communication: Global Cultures and Contexts reflects theo­ ries and practices in the current field of intercultural communication and related disciplines. The global perspectives that the first edition adopts made the book stand out among other competitors in the market. The realization that the first edition was so well received by scholars, colleagues, and, more importantly, students across the world in the past three years left us with a sense of achievement and appreciation. We interpreted this success to mean that a book with global perspectives has resonated with an international audience. We embrace the opportunity to refine and improve on the content and features that have proven successful in the first edition, while concomitantly advancing contemporary theories and research in the field. This second edition has added new features in relation to theories, models, concepts, questions, ex- ercises, and case studies, which take students into some new territory, empower them in active learning, and foster critical thinking. Further, we have broadened the applications to suit a greater range of users from diverse disciplinary areas, including communication, linguistics, business, management, social psy- chology, political science, public relations, and journalism. This new edition continues our commitment to presenting intercultural communication theories and applications through a global prism and in a lively, interesting, relevant, and easy-to-follow writing style. At the same time, it maintains the high standard of intellectual depth and rigour in scholarly discussions. We have updated the content of each chapter to reflect state-of-the-art knowledge and current research in the field. Moreover, every chapter has been enriched with more examples from a diverse set of cultures, including Scandinavia, Italy, the Netherlands, Sweden, Russia, Saudi Arabia, Finland, and the USA. This edition has a stronger emphasis on blending theory with practice. More challenging questions are included throughout the text to give students opportunities to exercise their potential, and possibly to target postgraduate students. In response to the reviews, we have also re-ordered the chapters to better streamline the presentation of various topics. At every point in the writing of this new edition, we have endeavoured to put ourselves in the student’s place, drawing upon the learning experiences of hundreds of culturally diverse students whom we have been privileged to teach. New to this edition Streamlining of the chapters. Immigration and Acculturation (Chapter 9) is placed before Developing Intercultural Relations with Culturally Different Others (Chapter 10); Categorization, Subgroups and x PREFACE Identities (Chapter 6) is placed immediately after Cultural and Value Orientations (Chapter 5) and before Verbal Communication and Culture (Chapter 7). This re-ordering presents a more logical flow of the topics. Updated content. New sections are added to fill in the gaps identified in the reviews and to reflect current development in the field. They include emic–etic approaches to studying culture (Chapter 3, Understanding Culture); Schwartz’s value orientations (Chapter 5); religious identity and subgroups based on sexual orientation – gay, lesbian, bisexual and transsexual individuals (Chapter 6); discourse and politeness across cultures (Chapter 7); refugees, Indigenous people and additional acculturation models (Chapter 9); and management of diversity in organizations (Chapter 11, Managing Intercultural Conflicts). Theory in Practice. This feature accompanies each ‘Theory Corner’ to highlight the application of theories in different disciplinary areas, including linguistics, business, organizations, advertising, political science, social psychology, and the mass media. In each ‘Theory in Practice’ box, we also include challenging questions to take students further in their application of knowledge. More in-depth discussion on theories and concepts. Chapter 2 (Understanding Communication) is substantially revised to raise the level of the discussion on communication models. As well, more theoretical depth is added to Chapter 13 (Becoming an Effective Intercultural Communicator), with concrete examples from multiple cultures. Join the Debate. ‘Key terms’ at the end of each chapter has been replaced by ‘Join the Debate’, which poses challenging questions and debates in the field. This feature enables students to develop interest and talent. Emphasis on critical thinking. Critical-thinking questions are incorporated throughout each chapter to engage students in deep learning. More examples from European countries. More examples from Germany, France, the Netherlands, Switzerland, Sweden, and Scandinavia are added in the text and in case studies. Where appropriate, questions pertaining to case studies are revised to encourage application in a wider context. Communication in cyberspace. The role of social media and the issues of cyber-bullying in intercultural relations are elaborated in Chapter 10 as well as mass media in the digital age (Chapter 12, Mass Media, Technology, and Cultural Change). Retained from the previous edition Case studies. All reviewers and our own students embraced and endorsed them. To build on the success of this feature, we have updated a number of case studies and expanded the domains to humanities, linguistics, business, organizations, and public relations. Theory Corners. Positive feedback has been received on the ‘Theory Corners’. We have updated the theories and added application (‘Theory in Practice’) to illustrate theories in action. Further readings. Further readings at the end of each chapter consolidate and complement students’ learning. In this new edition, the number of further readings is reduced to five per chapter but they are annotated. In addition, a list of further readings is provided in the Instructor’s Manual.  PREFACE xi Chapter summaries. The summary of each chapter highlights the key points covered. In response to the reviews, the chapter summaries in this new edition are in the form of bullet points to make them more concise and easier to follow. Pictures. The illustrative pictures were praised by reviewers and students as original and interesting. We have retained this feature and updated pictures to further align with the revised text and enhance their illustrative power. Glossary. The glossary, containing definitions of all key terms used in the text, is retained to give users a quick index of the key concepts covered and their definitions. A list of key terms by chapter is provided in the Instructor’s Manual. Instructor materials on the companion website. This new edition has updated all the exercises and activities, as well as multiple choice questions, to align with the new content in this edition. The original sections have been retained: lecture notes, key terms, powerpoints, further readings, exercises and activities, and multiple choice questions. The companion website can be found at https://study.sagepub.com/liu2e ACKNOWLEDGeMENTS We would like to thank all those who have helped us as we progressed through the journey to complete this second edition. We thank the reviewers for their insightful comments on the first edition and valu- able suggestions for improvement. A special note of thanks goes to the many instructors who have adop- ted the first edition over the past two years, as well as to the scholars who have provided their feedback through various channels, including the website of SAGE Publications. Their positive comments on the first edition are especially gratifying, and their suggestions for improvement have helped us rethink and reshape this second edition. We have all had the privilege of teaching and doing research in intercultural communication, and these experiences have formed our outlook on this fascinating field. We are indebted to our colleagues, friends, and students, both at the University of Queensland and at other institutions around the world where we have studied, worked, or spent periods of research leave; all of them have contributed to this book in various ways, including providing feedback on our intercultural communication classes, sharing their ideas with us, and lending us references and photos from their col- lections. In particular, we are grateful to Professor Carley Dodd from Abilene Christian University, who granted us permission to include his model of culture; to Alison Rae for granting us permission to use the photos she took while travelling around the world collecting stories as a reporter; and to UNESCO for granting us permission to include some photos from their photobank. We express our sincere gratitude to the Centre of Communication for Social Change in the School of Journalism and Communication at the University of Queensland for offering financial support to employ a research assistant, Laura Simpson Reeves, who assisted with the development of the Instructor’s Manuals for the companion website. Special thanks go to everyone who has given us support, time, and encouragement. We express sincere appreciation to the Senior Commissioning Editor at SAGE Publications, Mila Steele. Without her encouragement and support, this second edition would not have come to fruition. Special thanks also go to the assistant editor, James Piper, others on the editorial staff, and the anonym- ous reviewers, who reviewed early and final drafts of the manuscript. Their insightful suggestions have greatly contributed to an improved book. We would like to thank everyone from SAGE whose work has transformed the manuscript into its present form. Finally, we are deeply indebted to our families for their support, love, encouragement and patience throughout the writing of this book. Special thanks, therefore, go to Annie Liu, Mark Andrejevic, and Jeff Pittam. Companion Website This book is supported by a brand new companion website (https://study.sagepub.com/liu2e). The web- site offers a wide range of free teaching and learning resources, including: For Students: SAGE Journal Articles: free access to selected further readings Glossary Flashcards: practice For Instructors: PowerPoint Slides to accompany each chapter Instructor Notes including learning objectives and questions to think about Discussion Questions and exercises for use in class A testbank of Multiple Choice Questions for class testing INTRODUCTION COMMUNICATING IN A CULTURALLY DIVERSE SOCIETY Human beings are drawn close to one another by their common nature, but habits and customs keep them apart. Confucius, Chinese thinker and social philosopher, 551–479BC Since ancient times, clear geographic or political borders have always been marked between countries, states, cities, and villages. Natural boundaries such as rivers, oceans, and mountain ridges, or artificial borders such as walls, fences and signs, all function as landmarks to separate country from country, region from region and people from people. However, the spread of culture has never been confined to these geographic or political territories. For example, as early as the fifteenth century, Aesop’s Fables were translated from Greek, the language in which they were originally written, into English, thus making them accessible to entirely new cultural, national and geographical audiences. Today, the fables, available in many languages across the world, including Chinese, Japanese, French, Russian, and German, have permeated our culture as myths and legends, providing entertainment and moral truisms for children and adults alike. Regardless of where we live, the colour of our skin or what language we speak, it is likely we have at some time encountered many of the morals or adages of Aesop’s Fables: for instance, ‘A liar will not be believed, even when telling the truth’ from The Boy Who Cried Wolf; ‘Slow and steady wins the race’ from The Tortoise and the Hare. While we might not know that the stories were written by Aesop, exactly when they were written or how many languages they have been translated into, the tales still teach us universal virtues such as honesty, perseverance, modesty, and mutual respect. In addition to the spread of folk literature like Aesop’s Fables, cultural products like tools, technology, clothing, food, furniture, electric appliances, music, customs, and rituals are spread beyond geographic or political borders. Culture is defined as the total way of life of a people (Rogers and Steinfatt, 1999). The word ‘culture’ is derived from the Latin root colere, meaning ‘to cultivate’. Our language, customs, expectations, behav- iours, habits – our way of thinking, doing and being – have and continue to be formed over a long period of cultivation within the specific physical environment and social context in which we were born, with which we grew up, and in which we presently live. During the process of learning and adapting to the envi- ronment, different groups of people have learned distinctive ways to organize their world (Dodd, 1998). A group’s unique ways of doing and thinking become their beliefs, values, worldviews, norms, rituals, customs, and their communication styles – ultimately, their cultural traditions. Cultural traditions vary across different groups. For example, the concept of a wedding has a univer- sal meaning, but specific wedding customs and rituals vary from culture to culture. In southern regions of China, the gifts that the groom’s parents give to the bride’s family often include two coconuts. In the Chinese language, the word ‘coconut’ is similar in sound to the words ‘grandfather and son’. Thus, the gift of coconuts symbolizes a wish for both the longevity of the family’s older generations and the ongoing pres- ence of the younger generations, as an extended family of three or four generations is treasured in Chinese  INTRODUCTION xv culture. In India, the cultural tradition is for the bride to enter her in-laws’ home for the first time on her right foot and to knock over a container of uncooked rice, so as to bring good luck to the house. At a Sudanese wedding, seven broomsticks are burned and thrown away, to symbolize the couple discarding any bad habits that could pose a threat to their marriage. Japanese couples only become husband and wife after they take the first sip of sake, a rice wine drink, at the wedding. In Sweden, before leaving for the church to be married, the bride-to-be receives a gold coin from her mother to put in her right shoe, and a silver coin from her father to put in her left shoe. This is to ensure that she will always have sufficient financial resources. In the Netherlands, it is a custom to create a wedding ‘wish tree’. At the reception a tree branch is placed next to the bride and groom’s table, and paper leaves attached to pieces of ribbon are placed at each guest’s place setting. Guests write their wishes for the couple on their leaves, which the bride and groom read and hang on the tree. And in France, the groom customarily walks his mother down the aisle before arriving at the altar to be married. Such are the rich variants of cultural traditions. Culture defines a group of people, binds them to one another and gives them a sense of shared identity. It is the means by which a society expresses its structure and function, its views of the physical universe, and what it regards as the proper ways to live and to treat each other. Cultural traditions go through a process of development and sedimentation, and are passed on from generation to generation. Central to this entire process of development and maintenance is human communication. The word ‘communication’ is derived from the Latin word ‘to make common’, as in sharing thoughts, hopes and knowledge. Every cultural pattern and every act of social behaviour involves communication. Culture and communication are inseparable. Human communication is a product of continual and ongoing development. In the villages of our early ancestors, information sharing was largely done on a face-to-face basis. The successive historical breakthroughs of print, telephone, broadcasting, television, and internet have progressively expanded the domain of communication beyond the immediate cultural and geographic borders. Correspondingly, our identities today have expanded from social groups, ethnic communities, and nations to incorporate factors that are no longer bound by politics, geography, or culture. The ease of global interaction in business, politics, education, and travel has brought strangers from different parts of the globe into face-to-face contact. This increased interconnectedness requires us to communicate competently with people whose cultures are different from our own; that is, to engage in intercultural communication. This ability does not come naturally, but must be learned. We must be able to communicate effectively and efficiently in our increasingly diverse society. THE STUDY OF INTERCULTURAL COMMUNICATION The roots of intercultural communication can be traced to the Chicago School, known for pioneering empirical investigations based on the theories of German sociologist Georg Simmel (1858–1918) (Rogers and Steinfatt, 1999). Simmel studied at the University of Berlin, and taught there and at the University of Strassburg in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. Simmel analysed concepts related to his own life. As the son of Jewish parents, the anti-Semitism he experienced in Germany undoubtedly influenced his development of the concept of der Fremde or ‘stranger’, the intellectual descendants of which are key concepts in the fields of both sociology and intercultural communication today. The stranger (Simmel, 1950) is a member of a system, but not strongly attached to it or accepted by the other members of the system. Simmel’s insights on the role of the stranger are part of his general concern with the rela- tionships between individuals. His examination of reciprocal interactions at the individual level within a larger social context inspired much of the research at the Chicago School (Rogers, 1999) and subsequent xvi INTRODUCTION research in the field of intercultural communication. The notion of communicating with someone who is different from us – an intercultural ‘stranger’ – lies at the heart of intercultural communication. The key scholar in translating and applying Simmel’s concept of the stranger was Robert E. Park, a former newspaper reporter who also earned his PhD degree in Germany. In 1900 Park took Simmel’s course in sociology at the University of Berlin, and in 1915 began teaching sociology at the University of Chicago. Inspired by Simmel’s notion of the stranger, Park developed the concept of social distance, which he defined as the degree to which an individual perceives a lack of intimacy with individuals different in ethnicity, race, religion, occupation or other variables (Park, 1924). Park’s student Emory S. Bogardus later developed a scale that measured the social distance people perceive between them- selves and members of another group. For example, in the scale respondents are asked such questions as, ‘Would you marry someone who is Chinese?’ and ‘Would you have Chinese people as regular friends or as speaking acquaintances?’ (Bogardus, 1933). The Bogardus Social Distance scale quantified the perceived intimacy or distance of an individual’s relationships with various others. As social distance is largely culturally prescribed, intercultural communication is invariably affected. For instance, Australians often use first names with someone they have just met, and in a university setting it is common for students to address the lecturers by their first name. This can be very puzzling to Korean students, who are more formal in their social relationships, only using first names with very close friends who are usually of the same age or social status as themselves. For example, an American Korean who has taught in the United States for over 30 years still feels some discomfort when students address her by her first name. When asked why she did not explain her preference to her students, she answered that she would only do it indirectly, a preferred Asian communication style. If a student addressed her by first name, instead of calling her ‘Professor’, she would respond in an unenthusiastic, subdued manner, in the hope that her student would gradually learn the ‘appropriate’ way to address her as a professor. Simmel’s concept of the stranger and subsequent derivative concepts all deal with individual relation- ships, both with others and the larger society. The concept of the stranger implies that the individual does not have a high degree of cohesion with the larger system of which he or she is a part. Park also concep- tualized the ‘marginal man’. A marginal person is an individual who lives in two different worlds, and is a stranger in both. Park studied the children of European immigrant parents in the United States, who typic- ally rejected the European culture and language of their parents, but did not consider themselves to be true North Americans either. Their freedom from the norms of both systems led to a relatively high crime rate. To Park, the marginal person is a cultural hybrid, an individual on the margin of two cultures which never completely fuse. Park’s concept was later extended to ‘the sojourner’, an individual who visits another cul- ture for a period of time but who retains his or her original culture. The experience of sojourning or visiting often gives individuals a unique perspective for viewing both the host and home cultures. The sojourner later became a favourite topic of study for intercultural communication scholars, leading to concepts such as the U-curve of adjustment model, culture shock, and reverse culture shock (see Chapter 9). Although the concepts of stranger, social distance and marginality are among those at the heart of inter- cultural communication, the field did not really emerge until after the Second World War. At that time, the United States had emerged as a leading world power and, with the advent of the United Nations, a number of new programmes, such as the World Health Organization, the United Nations’ assistance programmes and the World Bank, were initiated to provide assistance to developing nations. However well-intended, not all development programmes were successful, largely because of a failure to comprehend the mul- tifaceted and interrelated nature of culture. In Thailand, for example, where obtaining pure water was identified as the highest-priority problem, most of the hand-pump wells drilled in hundreds of villages by American development workers were broken within six months (Niehoff, 1964). An investigation into the problem showed that no local person was responsible for the maintenance of the pumps. When a well was  INTRODUCTION xvii dug on Buddhist temple grounds, the monks would look after the pump; other wells were neglected. The well-drilling project, conceived and implemented as separate and independent from the church, had not considered the important role that Buddhist monasteries played in Thai culture and the vital contribution they could make to the success of the project. It was clear that cultural issues had to be taken into account along with economic, political, and technical dimensions (Rogers, 1995). US diplomats also experienced cultural frustrations. They were often poorly trained, lacking in cultural awareness and intercultural communication insight. They usually lived and worked in a small circle of English-speaking individuals, seldom venturing outside the capital city of their posting. In 1946, the US Congress passed an act to provide training to American diplomats and technical assistance workers in the Foreign Service Institute (FSI). Edward T. Hall, a leading anthropologist and teacher at FSI, and his anthropological and linguistics colleagues initially taught the participants the language and anthropolo- gical concepts of the nation to which they were assigned. The language programme was successful, but participants reported to Hall that they needed to communicate across cultures and thus wanted to under- stand intercultural differences, rather than simply gaining an understanding of the single culture in which they were to work. In response to these requests, Hall and his colleagues created a new approach that he called ‘intercultural communication’. The publication of his famous book, The Silent Language (1959), signals the birth of intercultural communication study. At the FSI, intercultural communication meant only communication between individuals of different national cultures. However, as teaching and research in intercultural communication developed over the decades, the meaning of ‘culture’ in intercultural communication broadened from national culture to any type of culture or subculture. Intercultural communication came to mean communication between individu- als who might differ, for example, in ethnicity, socioeconomic status, age, gender, or lifestyle. This broader definition of the field is reflected in most intercultural communication textbooks today. A key figure in broad- ening this field was William B. Gudykunst, a professor of communication at California State University. In 1983, Gudykunst published an article in which he applied Simmel’s concept of the stranger, arguing that the stranger is perceived as unfamiliar by other members of the system, so that a high degree of uncertainty is involved. This perspective was later carried through in a textbook, co-authored with Young Yun Kim from the University of Oklahoma, Communicating with Strangers: An Approach to Intercultural Communication (Gudykunst and Kim, 1984), in which communication with a stranger was made the key intellectual device to broaden the meaning of intercultural communication. Cultural differences, according to Gudykunst and Kim, could involve national or other culture, for example organizational culture or the culture of the deaf. The focus on the uncertainty involved in intercultural communication has led scholars to investigate how individuals reduce uncertainty by means of communication, a key area of intercultural communication study. ORGANIZATION OF THIS NEW EDITION This new edition of Introducing Intercultural Communication reflects our commitment to present intercul- tural communication concepts, theories, and applications through global perspectives, and emphasizes the application of knowledge to resolve practical problems. Striking a balance between theory and practice, this book enables you: 1. To learn fundamental concepts and principles of communication between people from different social and cultural backgrounds. 2. To generate insights into social, cultural, and historical dimensions of cultural and subcultural groups around the world. xviii INTRODUCTION 3. To reflect critically upon the influence of your own culture on how you view yourself and others. 4. To compare communication behaviour, verbal and nonverbal, of different cultural groups, and inter- pret the behaviour through culture. 5. To apply knowledge and skills to demonstrate autonomy, expert judgement, adaptability, and respons- ibility as an effective and ethical communicator across multiple cultural contexts. This book begins by identifying different contributors to diversity in our society and the various challenges that we face in an increasingly globalized society (Chapter 1). When Canadian media culture analyst Marshall McLuhan coined the expression ‘global village’ five decades ago, many thought emerging com- munication technologies would restore social relations and bring back village-like intimate interactions. Of course, the technology McLuhan wrote about was not nearly as developed as it is today; recent devel- opments like satellite communications and the rise of the internet make his vision seem almost prophetic. We watch and read about the same things at the same time, and exchange ideas with people on the other side of the world with the same speed and ease that our ancestors did with members of their own village. Yet the rules and guidelines for this interaction are not the same as those of our ancestors, and we have many issues still to explore: Do we really have a unified world because the media bring us closer? Who are the inhabitants and the players in this global village? What roles can intercultural communication play in meeting these challenges? Chapters 2–5 introduce a range of theories to address historical questions at the intersection of identity, communication, and culture, as well as a number of key issues about the influence of culture on commu- nication. Culture is a construction of reality that is created, shared, and transmitted by members of a group (Bonvillain, 2014). To explore and express our internal states of being, we must engage in communication. Our cultural value orientations influence how we see the world and how we communicate with others who we see around us. In what ways does culture shape our thinking, doing, and being? How does culture influence our perception of ourselves and that of others who are culturally different from us? Understanding how our culture influences our communication reminds us of the boundaries of the different groups we belong to. Chapters 6 examines groups, subgroups, and various types of identities, including religious identity and identity based on sexual orientation. We belong to many different groups, on the basis of a range of characteristics shared with other members (culture, religion, social activities, gender, occupation, interest, etc.). These shared characteristics serve to categorize us into groups and subgroups, and the identities we derive from our group memberships develop, transform, and reshape our attitudes and behaviours. How do our group memberships give us a sense of location in the world? How are our identities formed and transformed as we move from group to group? Chapters 7 and 8 focus on verbal and nonverbal codes of communication. Language is our most visible medium of exchange. Language is a set of symbols shared by a community to communicate meaning and experience, that abstract experience. Growing up, we learn to receive, store, manipulate, and generate symbols, through a process shared with others. Cultural values and norms are part of this process, so that problems may arise when people from different cultures interact with one another. If verbal commu- nication can cause intercultural misunderstandings, the chance of misunderstanding is even greater for nonverbal behaviour, which is less explicitly coded. How is culture reflected in what we say and the way we say it? Chapter 9 addresses issues surrounding immigration. The migration of people is linked to movements of capital and commodities, as well as to global cultural interchange, which is facilitated by improved transport infrastructure and the proliferation of electronic and print media. We pay special attention to migration as part of a transnational revolution that is reshaping the world’s societies. The ‘globalization  INTRODUCTION xix of migration’ will play a major role in the next decade, and we explore the acculturation of both migrants and people from host cultures. What attitudes should ethnic majorities have towards ethnic minorities, and vice versa? How should we interpret multiculturalism – as a threat or as a benefit? Chapter 10 discusses cultural influences on relationships with others, including refugees, immigrants, and Indigenous people. Initiating and maintaining relationships with people in different groups is an important way to develop our own personal identity. From our relationships with others we receive feed- back that we use to assess ourselves. But this emphasis on shared group experiences and rewards leads to the questions: How do people from different cultures establish relationships with others? How does culture influence ongoing human relationships? What are the potential barriers to developing intercultural friendships or interracial romantic relations? Chapter 11 focuses on conflict management in intercultural communication and intercultural rela- tions. Conflicts are inevitable in all interactions, and they occur at multiple levels: interpersonal, social, ethnic, national, and international. As conflicts everywhere increase in number and severity, this chapter explores the role of intercultural communication in understanding and transforming these conflicts. We also offer some advice on managing intercultural conflicts, including the management of diversity in organizations. Special attention is paid to the historical reasons for conflicts, such as historical antagon- ism between ethnic groups (for example, Arabs and Jews, Serbs and Albanian Kosovars). We present the approaches of different cultures to address legacies of widespread or systematic human rights abuses as they move from a period of violent conflict or oppression towards peace, democracy, the rule of law, and respect for individual and collective rights. How is conflict conceptualized and dealt with by members in different cultures? What are the communication styles preferred by people from different cultures to resolve conflicts? Chapter 12 addresses the impact of the mass media on identity and cultural change. We present ways of thinking about media and identity in different geographical, political, and cultural contexts by offering examples of how the mass media influence us and shape our identities and belongings. We show how the mass media have historically played an essential part in the imagination of national communities. The creation of a national culture would have been impossible, for example, without the contribution of print and broadcast media. This chapter also addresses the mutual influence of mass media and technology, and their joint impact on cultural change; we take up issues related to online media and social networking sites. For example, how do different cultures use Facebook, based on their existing communication practices? What is the role of mass media in this increasingly connected and digitized world? Finally, Chapter 13 brings us back to the issues raised in Chapter 1 regarding the challenges of living in a culturally diverse society. It explores the dialectic of homogenization and fragmentation of cultures. We present arguments about understanding the global context through the local context, and how local cultures challenge, negotiate, and adjust to globalization. This chapter raises issues for the study of com- munication and culture, preparing you for further investigation in the field of intercultural communication. Is globalization a form of Westernization? How do we develop intercultural competence to enable us to function effectively in intercultural communication? This textbook does not simply raise questions and provide answers. We aim to enable you to ask further critical questions, so that you not only learn intercultural knowledge and skills, but also become a crit- ical consumer of information. In learning, debating, and applying knowledge and skills, your journey to become a skilled intercultural communicator starts now! ‘ I do not want my house to be walled in on all sides and my windows to be stuffed. I want all the cultures of all the lands to be blown about my house ’ as freely as possible. But I refuse to be blown off my feet by any. Mohandas K. Gandhi, political and spiritual leader of India, 1869–1948 1 CHALLENGES OF LIVING IN A GLOBAL SOCIETY LEARNING OBJECTIVES At the end of this chapter, you should be able to: Identify different contributors to cultural diversity in our society. Analyse the challenges we face living in a global village. Appreciate unity and harmony amid diversity. Recognize the importance of developing the solid knowledge and skills of intercultural communication. 4 Introducing Intercultural Communication INTRODUCTION Our early ancestors lived in small villages; most of them rarely ventured far from their own com- munities. They lived and died close to where they were born, and much of their information sharing was done through face-to-face communication with people who were much like themselves. Over the years, advances in transportation, improvements in telecommunication technologies, increases in international business, and political exchanges have brought strangers from different parts of the world into face-to-face contact. In 1964, Canadian media culture analyst Marshall McLuhan coined the term ‘global village’ to describe a world in which communication technology, such as television, radio, and news services, brings news and information to the most remote parts of the world. Today, McLuhan’s vision of a global village is no longer considered an abstract idea, but a virtual certainty. We can exchange ideas as easily and quickly with people across the world as our ancestors did within the confines of their villages. We form communities and societies, and we encounter people from dif- ferent cultures in business, at school, in public places, in our neighbourhood, and in cyberspace. We may wear clothes made in China, purchase seafood from Thailand, dine out with friends in an Italian restaurant, work at a computer made in the United States, drive a car manufactured in Japan – the list goes on. Each encounter with new food, clothing, lifestyle, art, language, or practice teaches us new things outside our ‘village’ culture. ‘Globalization lies at the heart of modern culture; cultural practices lie at the heart of globalization’ (Tomlinson, 1999: 1). This quote raises questions about the challenges that we face living in a global village. This chapter first identifies different contributors to cultural diversity in our society. Advances in technology, modern transport systems, global economy, international business transactions, and mass migration make our ‘village’ more culturally diverse. In this global village, people are constantly moving across borders and engaging in international exchange. This chapter explores theories of globalization and the context in which they are applied, describes various challenges we face living in such a global village, and explains the roles intercultural communication can play in meeting those challenges. By recognizing the importance of developing the sound knowledge and skills of intercultural communication, we can appreciate unity and harmony amid diversity in our global village. CONTRIBUTORS TO CULTURAL DIVERSITY Advanced technology and transport system Globalization is the process of increasing interconnectedness between societies, so that events in one place of the world have more and deeper effects on people and societies far away (Baylis and Smith, 2001). Today, we can watch and read about the same events at the same time, regardless of time and space distance. With emails, social media, bulletin boards, satellites, fax and mobile phones, we can contact people anywhere and anytime. If we want a more personal exchange, Skype or video desktop technology can bring a person at the other end of the globe onto the computer screen right in front of us. Words like ‘blogs’ (an abridgment of the term ‘web log’) and ‘podcasting’ (an amalgam of ‘ipod’ and ‘broadcasting’) have appeared in our dictionaries since the beginning of the twenty-first century. Facebook is now a global phenomenon, allowing people from all walks of life to post their profiles online and communicate with other users across the world. Voice-over-internet protocol (VOIP), one of the fastest-growing internet technologies, allows people to talk online as if they were on a landline  Challenges of Living in a Global Society 5 telephone. Instant messaging and texting messages and images by mobile phone can carry visual messages, if an audio channel is inconvenient. The choices of media to connect with other people anywhere and anytime are multiplying. Critical thinking… ? Do we actually partake of a more unified or diversified world because communication technologies bring us closer? What are the biggest differences? What remains the same? Theory Corner Global village The notion of global village and the process of globalization pose more questions than answers. Anura Goonasekera (2001) defines globalization 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. The metaphor of a global village has caught the imagination of many people, including political leaders and intellectuals. Goonasekera further argues that ‘paradox- ically, 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 technologically powerful nations’ (2001: 278). Some Asian leaders feel that globalization creates fears of cultural liquidation, particularly among smaller nations. Consequently, the global village is viewed more as a threat to cultural identities than as an opportunity to create a more consensual culture among people. Reference Goonasekera, Anura (2001) ‘Transnational communication: establishing effective linkages between North and South’, in N. Chitty (ed.), Mapping Globalization: International Media and a Crisis of Identity. Penang: Southbank. pp. 270–281. Further reading on globalization and cultural hegemony Castells, Manuel (2007) ‘Communication, power and counter-power in the network society’, International Journal of Communication, 1: 238–266. 6 Introducing Intercultural Communication Theory in Practice Localized globalism at tourist sites in China The increasing mobility of goods and people on a global scale has challenged the traditional, static, and universal definition of place. In tourist destinations, for example, the construction of places for tourists’ consumption involves the strategic mobilization of resources on a global–local continuum. Gao (2012) studied a tourist site, West Street, in Yangshuo County, China, to illustrate how a former resid- ential neighbourhood was gradually transformed into a ‘global village’ for local tourists, in part through appropriating English as a semiotic resource. Situated in the picturesque Yangshuo County, West Street is full of craft shops, calligraphy and painting shops, cafés, bars, and Chinese Kung Fu houses. It is also the gathering place for the largest number of foreigners, with more than 20 businesses being owned by foreigners. The place is called the ‘global village’, since all the locals can speak foreign languages. Gao analysed County Chronicles, media reports, promotional materials on local government websites, and held interviews with foreign and local business owners in West Street to uncover how linguistic devices are used to localize globalism at tourism sites. Findings from this study show that the ‘global village’ in Yangshuo is not simply Westernization, but a social construct whose significance corresponds to ideolo- gies of language and culture at societal level. Questions to take you further Tourist sites provide an opportunity for minority languages and cultures to enhance their value through the commodification of local languages and identities. Can you identify another arena for exploring the social construction of place? Reference Gao, Shuang (2012) ‘Commodification of place, consumption of identity: the sociolinguistic construction of a “global village” in rural China’, Journal of Sociolinguistics, 16(3): 336–357. Further reading on globalization Blommaert, Jan (2010) The Sociolinguistics of Globalization. Cambridge and New York: Cambridge University Press. Advanced communication technologies also affect how we form relationships with others. In past centur- ies, social relationships typically were circumscribed by how far one could walk (Martin and Nakayama, 2001). With each technological advance – the train, motor vehicle, telephone, or the internet – social rela- tionships have been transformed and expanded manyfold. There are millions of global users of the internet every day. The average user spends over 70 per cent of his or her time online, building personal rela- tionships, including online friendships, sexual partnerships, and romances (Nua Internet Survey, 2007). Evidence of the legitimacy and social acceptance of these types of relationship is found, for example, in Warner Brothers’ popular 1998 movie You’ve Got Mail, which played on the increasing mainstream acceptance of romantic relationships formed over the internet.  Challenges of Living in a Global Society 7 The internet has led to new ways of social- izing that seem especially to attract young people. The research shows that, for example, in Western European countries most people know someone who has met a romantic partner on the internet. As Sveningsson (2007) writes, one of Sweden’s most popular online meeting places is a web community called Lunarstorm (www. lunarstorm.se), which is visited weekly by 85 per cent and daily by 29 per cent of all Swedes aged 15–20. Most young Swedes seem to have become members of Lunarstorm – the media have even called it ‘Sweden’s largest online youth recreation centre’. Whitty, Baker and Inman (2007) show that there are still the usual steps leading to the establishment and development of a love relationship, when initiated on the web: meeting in specific online places, communicat- Photo 1.1 We continue to be ‘connected’ during our work or leisure time. Copyright  Jaka Polutnik. Used with permission. ing online, and meeting in real life are factors in successful and unsuccessful online-initiated relationships. They assess the role of Facebook in the escalation of romantic relationships and argue that new media technologies are supplementing or replacing face-to-face interaction in relationship development for a growing number of individuals. The idea of internet-based romantic relationships is gaining popularity as the mobility of society increases. Unlike the telephone, postage, and physical travel, the cost of email, instant messaging and chat rooms does not depend on either message length or the distance the message travels. The internet, there- fore, provides many opportunities to maintain and receive support from long-distance romantic partners, as it is inexpensive, convenient, quick, and similar to a conversation. The people we exchange emails with on the internet are now more than ever likely to come from different countries, be of different ethnic or cultural backgrounds, and have different life experiences. Advanced communication technologies make our community more culturally diverse than ever before. Critical thinking… ? In what ways can online communication shape the structure and development of interpersonal relationships, such as friendships? Do you think our continued reliance on technology-mediated communication will lead to a weakening of interpersonal communication skills? Not only do we come in contact with more people in cyberspace, but modern transport systems also bring us into contact with more people physically. Our society is more mobile than in the past. For example, in the 1930s, travel from China to Singapore took several months; travellers started the journey in winter and arrived at their destination in summer. Nowadays, the same distance by airplane would take only a few hours! Such ease of mobility changes the nature of society. On the one hand, families and individu- als easily and often move for economic, career or lifestyle opportunities. A New Zealander can work in Australia; an Australian can work in the USA; an American can work in England; a Briton can work in 8 Introducing Intercultural Communication France; a French person can work in Belgium – or in Tahiti. Increasing mobility and technology make our global village smaller but more diverse. On the other hand, as Brown (2011) argues, ever since the fall of the Berlin Wall, there has been a strange increase in wall-building, in order to separate people. It is not simply that there is a resurgence in the construction of physical walls, such as the Israeli West Bank barrier, the US–Mexico border fence, or similar barriers on the edges of the European Union or the borders of India, Saudi Arabia, and a host of other countries (or the non-physical boundaries in maritime countries like Australia). There is also a rise of attempts at enclosure, as if nations could wrap themselves safely behind walls. Think of the town of Michalovce in Slovakia, where residents built a cement barrier to separate themselves from the town’s majority Roma population. This wall has nothing to do with sovereignty or security, but with aversion and xenophobia. Thus, while changes in technology have facilitated the exchange of ideas, they also have magnified the possibility for misunderstandings. If we consider that people with the same cultural background may experience problems communicating with each other, we can appreciate more fully the difficulties that people from different cultures may encounter when trying to communicate. Understanding other cultures is a challenge we face today, living in a global society. Further online reading The following article can be accessed for free on the book’s companion web- site https://study.sagepub.com/liu2e: Cunningham, William A., Nezlek, John B. and Banaji, Mahzarin R. (2004) ‘Implicit and explicit ethnocentrism: revisiting the ideologies of prejudice’, Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 30(10): 1332–1346. Theory Corner Perspectives on globalization In the academic literature (Held and McGrew, 2007), there are three different perspectives on glob- alization: a globalist perspective, a traditionalist perspective, and a transformationalist perspective. Globalists view globalization as an inevitable development which cannot be resisted or significantly influenced by human intervention, particularly through traditional political institutions, such as nation- states. Traditionalists argue that the significance of globalization as a new phase has been exaggerated. They believe that most economic and social activity is regional, rather than global, and they still see a significant role for nation-states. Transformationalists contend that globalization represents a significant shift, but they question the inevitability of its impacts. They argue that there is still significant scope for national, local, and other agencies. Reference Held, David and Anthony, McGrew (eds) (2007) Globalization Theory: Approaches and Controversies. Cambridge: Polity Press. Further reading on globalization Baylis, John, Steve, Smith and Patricia, Owens (2011) The Globalization of World Politics: An Introduction to International Relations (5th edn). Oxford: Oxford University Press.  Challenges of Living in a Global Society 9 Theory in Practice Ongoing conflicts between globalists and sceptics Research on media globalization has grown rapidly in recent years. Within the field of global media studies, there is an ongoing conflict between two basic positions: globalists and sceptics. Globalists emphasize the possibility of transnational media systems and communication technology to create a global public sphere, whereas sceptics stress the persistent national features of the news media, and the continuing stability of the nation-state paradigm. In her study on the emergence of a transnational (European) identity in national news reporting on global climate change, Olausson (2013) analysed cli- mate reporting in Indian, Swedish, and US newspapers. Findings showed that some domestic discourses created explicit interconnections between the national or local and the global, for example, by situating Earth Hour in a small city in Sweden within the global framework of the event. Other discourses worked in a counter-domestic manner; that is, they lacked nationalizing elements around the issue of climate change. The author argues that the national and global are not mutually exclusive, but reinforce and reconstruct one another; they constitute two sides of the same coin. Questions to take you further Think about media audiences. Can you give examples to show what types of event covered in the media are more likely to activate our national identity positions? Under what circumstances do we accept global outlooks provided by the media? Reference Olausson, Ulrika (2013) ‘Theorizing global media as global discourse’, International Journal of Com­ munication, 7: 1281–1297. Further reading on global media Sparks, Colin (2007) ‘What’s wrong with globalization?’, Global Media and Communication, 3(2): 133–155. Global economy and business transactions Information and communication technologies (ICTs) transform the potential reach and influence of our economy and business transactions from a local to a global level. Global transformation refers to the worldwide economic and technological changes that influence how people relate to one another (Cooper, Calloway-Thomas and Simonds, 2007). For example, people in nearly every part of the world can buy Reebok shoes, Levi jeans or an iPhone! Cross-cultural business transactions today are as common as trade between two persons in the same village was centuries ago. The clothes we wear, the food we purchase from the local supermarket, the cars we drive, the electric appliances we use at home, the movies we watch may all be from different countries. Indeed, we are being multiculturalized every day. 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 us today is to unlock the barriers to the 10 Introducing Intercultural Communication acceptance of cultural diversity in the economy and society as a whole (Beamer and Varner, 2008). In response to the economic transformations, businesses are continually expanding into world markets as a part of the wider process of globalization. Cultural diversity shapes market demand and economic behaviours. For example, in 1991, India began to open its economy to wider trade, and the United States quickly became its primary trading and invest- ment partner – investing some US$687 million in 1997, almost three times as much as in the previous year (Cooper et al., 2007). Billions of dollars in goods and services are exchanged each year in international businesses. Similarly, multinational corporations are increasingly moving their operations over- seas to take advantage of lower labour costs, a trend that has far-reaching implications. Ethnic diversity within workplaces is continually changing the organizational composition of most parts of the world. For example, the number of emigrants joining the European workforce from Africa, Asia, and the Middle East increases each year. In the United States, the proportion of non-white (Asian, black, and Hispanic American) men is growing, and this trend is expected to continue (Oetzel, 2002). In the Middle East, many workers come from India, the Philippines, and Photo 1.2 Ethnic shops in Chinatown in Brisbane, Australia. Southeast Asia. For example, Saudi Arabia’s population of Copyright  Shuang Liu. Used with permission. foreign workers has increased significantly over the last few decades, with a particularly significant increase of 38 per cent between 1975 and 2000. This population grew dramatically again in 2004, when there were approximately 12.5 million foreign workers in the country, making up 37 per cent of the overall population and 65 per cent of the entire labour force (Looney, 2004). The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia emerged in 1932 upon the ascendance of King Abdulaziz to the throne. During the middle of the twentieth century, the discovery of oil reserves in the country led to rapid industrialization, and subsequent economic development. Early on, the oil wealth led to a great demand for skilled labour that was not present in Saudi Arabia. Similarly, in Asian countries like Malaysia, the workforce is also becoming more diverse. Even though Malays make up a large proportion of the workforce (65 per cent), the term ‘Malaysian’, more often than not, is used to refer to the people of different ethnicities, including Indians and Chinese in Malaysia. Working in cross-cultural teams allows organizations to make use of scarce resources and thus increase their competitive advantage. As a result of such economic and cultural shifts, people with diverse cul- tural backgrounds are working side by side in many countries, creating a workplace that is intercultural (Beamer and Varner, 2008). The flow of migrant workers as a result of economic transformation also leads to an increase in ethnic competition. Migrant workers tend to flow from regions with lower economic opportunities towards those with greater opportunities. In Western European countries, for example, with the opening up of national borders within the European Union, European nation-states have been granting social rights, although no real political rights, to migrants (Soysal, 1994). This change has increased the perception of competition on the part of the native population. For example, there is a large North African presence in Europe. Reaching 3.5 million today, North Africans began arriving in Europe as early as the 1940s to help rebuild fledgling European economies severely weakened by the war. This migration accelerated in the 1950s and 1960s to meet the high demand for low-skilled workers in factories and mines and to compensate for  Challenges of Living in a Global Society 11 slow demographic growth in Western Europe. For many years, North African immigrants were considered temporary residents (guest workers) and had no share in the social, political, and cultural life of the host societies. Now, these groups form communities with a generation born in the new country. Further online reading The following article can be accessed for free on the book’s companion website https://study.sagepub.com/liu2e: Castells, Manuel (2008) ‘The new public sphere: global civil society, communication networks, and global governance’, Annals of the American Academy of Political and Social Science, 616(1): 78–93. It was only after the 1974 policies of family reunion that immigrants, their families, traditions, and reli- gions became visible in everyday life. France, for example, is home to the largest number of North African immigrants, due to its long colonial involvement in Algeria, Morocco, and Tunisia, followed by Holland, Belgium, Spain, Italy, and Germany. Different citizenship and immigration laws, as well as the socio-po- litical climate of each host country, determine to a large extent how North Africans have engaged with the host culture. While acknowledging the benefits that can be obtained from an ethnically and culturally diverse workforce, studies consistently indicate problems often experienced by multi-ethnic workers, such as conflicts in expectations, lack of communication competence, and attitude problems such as mistrust. Thus, understanding the cultural tensions created by economic transformations is a challenge we face in the business context of intercultural communication. Theory Corner Conceptualizing ethnicity As is widely known, ‘ethnicity’ and ‘ethnic’ are derived from the Greek. At the time of Homer (between 750 and 650 BC) the term ethnos was applied to various large, undifferentiated groups (warriors as well as bees and birds) and meant something like ‘throng’ or ‘swarm’. According to Hutchinson and Smith (1996: 6), ethnicity is named after a ‘human population with myths of common ancestry, shared historical memories, one or more elements of a common culture, a link with a homeland and a sense of solidarity among at least some of its members’. Special attention is paid to the extremes of human experience, which are always a fertile ground for cultural myths and memories that sustain a large group culture. Similarly, Anthony D. Smith (2007) views myths and memories as part of a culture, remembered as a part of a golden past and the commemoration and celebration of heroic events. Every ethnic group, according to Smith, has a mythologized version of its past, in which heroic events (victories/glories and sacrifices/traumas) and heroes (actual historical figures and/or mythologized characters) occupy a prominent position. These events and characters are often evoked during different occasions and ceremonies to inspire the members of the group, to build social cohesion among them, and to particularize their common identity. For example, the French celebrate their Independence Day to honour the storming of the Bastille, the beginning of the revolution, and the birth of the modern French nation. These celebratory activities have the purpose of enhancing the cultural group’s sense of belonging and togetherness. 12 Introducing Intercultural Communication References Hutchinson, John and Anthony D. Smith (1996) Ethnicity. Oxford: Oxford University Press. Smith, Anthony D. (2007) Myths and Memories of the Nation. Oxford: Oxford University Press. Further reading on ethnicity Hecht, Michael, Ronald L. Jackson II, Sheryl Lindsley, Susan Strauss and Karen E. Johnson (2001) ‘A lay- ered approach to ethnicity: language and communication’, in P. Robinson and H. Giles (eds), The New Handbook of Language and Social Psychology. Chichester, UK: Wiley. pp. 429–449. Theory in Practice Ethnicity as a management issue and resource There has been recognition for some time that the management policies in international operations of multinational companies are complex and complicated. This is not only due to diverse business or product market strategies, but also because the political, economic, social, legislative, and cultural environment varies between locations. In particular, a neglected aspect of the context is ethnicity, especially in multi-ethnic locations. Such environments provide not only ‘constraints’, but also ‘oppor- tunities’ in terms of management, write Bhopal and Rowley (2005). Ethnicity is not only an issue which calls for ‘management’, but is itself a potential managerial resource. Ethnicity is important for organiz- ations at both external (contextual) and internal (operational) levels. Bhopal and Rowley specifically write about the Malaysian context. They argue that for political man- agement, the creation of ethnic boundaries assists in creating ethnic bonds. In this sense, ethnicity is a resource in the developmental process, because it undermines the potential of employer–employee conflicts of interest, and can act as a solvent for the basis of political organization and support. In this study, the idea of ethnic identification – either with the values of rural Malays or with Chinese-educated Chinese – acts to ensure that there is a desire to reduce cultural distance and seek commonalities rather than highlight differences. Questions to take you further To what extent are issues of ethnicity functional and dysfunctional for organizational management? What are the key factors that improve the situation? What aspects of ethnicity make things worse? Reference Bhopal, Mhinder and Chris Rowley (2005) ‘Ethnicity as a management issue and resource: examples from Malaysia’, Asia Pacific Business Review, 11(4): 553–574. Further reading on global business citizenship Logsdon, Jeanne M. and Donna J. Wood (2005) ‘Global business citizenship and voluntary codes of eth- ical conduct’, Journal of Business Ethics, 59(1): 55–67.  Challenges of Living in a Global Society 13 Critical thinking… ? Skilled migrants form an important migration element; they are accepted into the receiving country to fill in skill shortages. However, international research has found that many of them are under-employed or unemployed in the country of settlement. Why do you think this is so? What training programmes could we offer to enhance their employability in the job market? What does this have to do with intercultural communication? Mass migration and international exchange One of the most significant contributors to our multicultural environment is the ever-increasing flow of people through migration and international exchange (see Chapter 9). According to the Population Division of the Department of Economic and Social Affairs of the United Nations (DESA, 2013), 232 mil lion people, or 3.2 per cent of the world’s population, were international migrants in 2012, compared with 175 million in 2000 and 154 million in 1990. In 2013 a growing concentration of international migrants was found in ten countries, with the USA hosting the largest number (45.8 million). The Russian Federation hosted 11 million, followed by Germany (9.8 million), Saudi Arabia (9.1 million), the United Arab Emirates (7.8 million), the United Kingdom (7.8 million), France (7.4 million), Canada (7.3 million), Australia (6.5 million), and Spain (6.5 million). Asians and Latin Americans living outside their home regions form the largest global diaspora group. Statistics from the Population Division of the United Nations reveals that in 2013 Asians accounted for 19 million migrants living in Europe, some 16 million in Northern America, and about 3 million in Oceania. International migrants originating from Central America, includ- ing Mexico, represented another large group of migrants living outside their home region. The majority of Central American migrants (about 16.3 million out of 17.4 million) live in the USA. Migration increases cultural diversity in the composition of populations for receiving countries, and contributes to social and economic development both in the countries of origin and in the countries of destination. Therefore, it is crucial to enhance the benefits of international migration, while reducing its negative implications. A steadily increasing proportion of migrant populations are made up of international students, particu- larly in developed English-speaking countries such as the USA, Australia, and the UK. To date, the United States has been the world’s largest receiving country for international students. In 2005–06, the number of international students enrolled in higher education institutions remained steady at 567,766, according to the Annual Report on International Academic Mobility published by the Institute of International Education (IIE, 2006). This marks the seventh year in a row that the USA has hosted more than half a million foreign students. Asia remains the largest region of origin, accounting for 58 per cent of the total of US international enrolments. India is the leading country of origin for international students, followed by China, Korea, Japan, Canada, Taiwan, Mexico, Turkey, Germany, and Thailand. International students contribute approx- imately US$13.5 billion to the US economy through their expenditure on tuition and living expenses. The Department of Commerce describes US higher education as the country’s fifth largest service sector export. A similar trend was found in Oceanic countries such as Australia, where education has recently replaced tourism as the country’s largest service export, according to IDP Education, a global company that informs and advises international students on Australian education and assists in enrolment in Australian institutions across all sectors (IDP Education, 2008). Higher education is the largest sector for international students, with an average annual growth rate of 7.7 per cent since 2002. Students from China accounted for 40.2 per cent of all international student higher education enrolments in 2011 (International Education Advisory Council [IEAC], 2012). Australia’s top five source countries for international students are China, India, 14 Introducing Intercultural Communication South Korea, Vietnam, and Malaysia (Australian Education International, 2013). Figures released by the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) show that international education contributed A$16 billion (approximately US$15 billion) to the Australian economy in the 2010–11 financial year, and created over 100,000 jobs. According to com- mentators, education is now a bigger drawcard for visitors to Australia than the Great Barrier Reef and all other tourist attractions combined. The flow of international students, particularly those from non-English- to English-speaking countries, inevitably creates both opportunities and chal- lenges for intercultural communication. Of more permanent residential status than international students are those people who mi­grate to the host country to make a living. They Photo 1.3 Signs in market squares are in different languages to cater are a significant contributor to the multicultural to multicultural customers. Copyright  Shuang Liu. Used with permission. environment of society today. In Australia, for example, immigration has always been a central part of nation building. Since the end of the Second World War, around over 7 million migrants have moved to Australia. In the immediate post-war period, only 10 per cent of Australia’s population was born over- seas (Marden and Mercer, 1998). Today, nearly 25 per cent of the Australian population was born overseas (including all three authors of this book), and approximately 200 languages are spoken in the country. The proportion of people from Asian countries is on the increase. Between 2000 and 2005, the number of East Asians in Australia rose by 17 per cent (from approximately 850,000 to 1 million). In comparison, the total Australian population grew only by approximately 5 per cent (from 19.4 million to 20.3 million) during the same period (Australian Bureau of Statistics, 2005). Migrants move to their host countries for a variety of reasons, including access to a better living envir- onment or to give their children a good education in an English-speaking country. Other people intend to explore business opportunities 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. Small businesses, such as take-away shops, convenience stores, trading companies or video shops, are considered by many migrants as ways to realize their dreams of freedom and financial security. As a res- ult, walking along a street in Sydney, Auckland, San Francisco or London, one would not have difficulty finding an Indian restaurant, a Chinese take-away shop, a Vietnamese greengrocery store, an Italian deli, a Japanese sushi bar – the list goes on. For example, in Brisbane market squares, signs are in different lan- guages to cater to the linguistic diversity of customers. NECESSITY AND BENEFITS OF INTERCULTURAL COMMUNICATION Multiculturalism All over the world, nations are trying to come to terms with the growing diversity of their populations (Beamer and Varner, 2008). Behind the overt, visible symbols of cultural diversity is a complex and often  Challenges of Living in a Global Society 15 implicit concept of multiculturalism. At a descriptive level, multiculturalism can be used to characterize a society with diverse cultures. As an attitude, it can refer to a society’s tolerance towards diversity and acceptance of equal societal participation. In attempting to maximize the benefits of cultural diversity, there has been an accompanying awareness of some potential threats to our cultural uniqueness. Globally, host nationals have expressed concerns over the threat that new ethnic cultures may pose to mainstream cultural values, the political and economic power structure, and the distribution of employment oppor- tunities. Some countries are addressing these concerns by trying to control diversity through tighter entry requirements. Other countries are developing governmental policies concerning the rights of immigrants to preserve their home culture within the host country. Australia, during the nineteenth century, had no restrictions on anyone entering what was then a set of colonies, provided that they were not convicts serving out their time. Consequently, free settlers moved in from Great Britain, Germany, America, Scandinavia, and Asia. Similarly, the slogan of the post-Second World War immigration programme was ‘Populate or Perish’! However, since 2007, a citizenship test has been in place to check migrants’ knowledge of the English language and comprehension of Australian moral principles and history, as well as national and Aboriginal symbols. The test is available in English only, and a migrant applicant for citizenship must pass the test before an application for citizenship can be lodged. This restriction of citizenship opportunities is also evident elsewhere. In some countries, such as the People’s Republic of China and the USA, dual citizenship is not recognized. In Germany, immigrants are considered ‘Ausländer’ (foreigners) and their naturalization is only possible if they agree to renounce their original citizenship and demonstrate loyalty to their ‘adoptive’ country (these laws were slightly relaxed when the Social Democrats gained power in the 1990s). Even so, there is a raging controversy regarding the amendment of the citizenship laws and the implications for German national identity (Blank, Schmidt and Westle, 2001). France has built its nation-state, since the nineteenth century, on the premise that all regional and cultural differences should be eliminated. French citizens have to show loyalty to a powerful, centralized, secular nation-state, and to adhere to universal political values. Linguistic as well as cultural diversity within France has always been seen as a sign of regression and a hindrance to achieving national unity. Even in the United States, a country that historically afforded a home to people of diverse cultures, the advantages and disadvantages of acknowledging diversity are hotly debated (Cooper et al., 2007). Maintenance of nationalism and continuity of the mainstream culture have been key issues of con- cern in all countries that receive migrants. Migrants, on the other hand, have long been forming associations to maintain their ethnic and cultural heritage and promote the survival of their languages within a host country’s mainstream institutions. In Australia, for example, the Asian-values debate has attracted considerable media attention, particularly in response to increased Asian immigration and the continuing emphasis placed on Australia’s role in the Asian region as being closely tied to the policy of multiculturalism (Marden and Mercer, 1998). Central to this debate is the question of whether the preservation of ethnic cultures creates a threat to main- stream society. An interesting example, from Australia, involves the game of football (soccer), the ‘world game’ (or the ‘beautiful game’). This code of football had not been popular in Australia, but began to gain followers with the European migrations in the 1950s and