World peace through intercultural research: From a research culture of war to a research culture of peace
- 作者：Min-Sun Kim kmin@hawaii.edu
- 关键词：Research culture of war ; Research culture of peace ; intercultural communication research ; Representation of the &lsquo ; Other&rsquo
- 刊名：International Journal of Intercultural Relations
- 出版年：2012
- 期刊代码：48_01471767
- 类别：soc
- 出版时间：January, 2012
- 卷：36
- 期：1
- 页码：3-13
- 文件大小：360 K
摘要
Nowadays, 鈥渨orld peace鈥?has become a jaded expression. Rather than responding with utter cynicism or calling it a utopian dream, I would like to point out how intercultural researchers might contribute to making the world a better place. Intercultural researchers may hold a na茂ve presumption that just because we are in the business of understanding 鈥渢he Other,鈥?we are doing something good for humanity. Na茂ve scientism, which has believed in neutrality of describing the 鈥渙ther鈥?culture chosen as a 鈥渇ield research,鈥?has been heavily criticized. What had been praised as scholarly contributions have been shown to reveal hidden desires of domination. This shift in perception has created a crisis of cognition with regard to ways of understanding the 鈥淥ther鈥?This paper focuses on five different research trends that view the binary relation with 鈥渢he Other鈥?as camouflage for killing or ingesting the 鈥淥ther鈥? (1) collectivism as the absence of individualism, rejecting the 鈥淥ther,鈥?(2) assimilating the Other to the self in acculturation literature, which reflects annihilation anxiety, (3) hidden ethnocentrism in theories, signifying that one is not open to the Other's experiences, (4) focusing on comparisons between culture-typed individuals rather than bi- or multi-cultural individuals, thereby implying a binary opposition between the self and the Other, (5) Host Communication Competence research, pressuring others to become similar to oneself. All this suggests the position of a 鈥淩esearch Culture of War鈥? seeking to define, dominate and absorb the Other. One's relationship with the Other is better as difference than as sameness. The very possibility of love arises from the existence of an Other that cannot be reduced to oneself or digested into sameness. I appeal for adopting the perspective of 鈥淭hou Shalt not Kill鈥?in our intercultural research, welcoming the Other rather than trying to manage or dissolve it.