New media environments’ comparative effects upon intercultural sensitivity: A five-dimensional analysis

An experimental 2 (channel) × 2 (gender) × 3 (time) mixed factorial design (N = 159) was applied to test and compare how individual dimensions of intercultural sensitivity might be affected by two channels: a virtual environment (i.e., Second Life^®) versus a Web environment. Using a modified version of Chen and Starosta's Intercultural Sensitivity Scale (ISS), the study sought to identify which of the five ISS dimensions played the most influential role in intercultural sensitivity outcomes: interaction enjoyment, interaction engagement, interaction confidence, interaction attentiveness, or respect for cultural differences. Results showed that one's willingness and effort toward understanding an intercultural interaction – interaction attentiveness – played the greatest and most statistically significant role in intercultural sensitivity outcomes, and that this effect was greatest within the virtual environment channel. Gender effects were also found, in which men experienced greater enjoyment but women expressed more attentiveness.     

Routed through Canada: a roundtable discussion on Inter-Asia and transnational research

ABSTRACT

The series of reflections are based on a roundtable discussion amongst Canada-based scholars with research interest in transnational, postcolonial, migration and diaspora studies. Their reflections engage with key ideas from Inter-Asia Cultural Studies through the lens of their research practices and personal histories. Y-Dang Troeung revisits generational memories that are shaped by the “Cold War fraternity” of China, Cambodia, and North Korea through the perspective of Critical Refugee Studies and her personal transits between Asia and Canada. Robert Diaz traces shifts in migratory routes by attending to diasporic returns to the Philippines under complex conditions of globalization that shape and constrain mobility between North America and Asia. Lara Campbell examines overlooked moments of transpacific connections in Canadian women’s history to show how Inter-Asia encounters complicated the racial dynamics of the suffrage movement in early twentieth century British Columbia. The roundtable discussion demonstrates the potential for ongoing dialogues on Inter-Asia issues among scholars in Canada and beyond.     

Theorizing identity in transnational and diaspora cultures: A critical approach to acculturation

This paper examines the various ways in which the concept of “diaspora” has important implications for rethinking traditional notions of acculturation in Psychology. In this paper, we argue that the idea of a fixed, invariant, and apolitical notion of acculturation dominates much of Psychology, and as such it needs to be revised and reexamined in light of transnational migration and global movements. Drawing on our previous and current scholarship on acculturation and identity [Bhatia, S., & Ram, A. (2001). Rethinking “acculturation” in relation to diasporic cultures and postcolonial identities. Human Development, 44, 1–17; Bhatia, S., & Ram, A. (2004). Culture, hybridity and the dialogical self: Cases from the South-Asian diaspora. Mind, Culture, and Activity, 11(3), 224–241; Bhatia, S. (2007a). American Karma: Race, culture, and identity and the Indian diaspora. New York, NY: New York University Press; Bhatia, S. (2008). Rethinking culture and identity in psychology: Towards a transnational cultural psychology. Journal of Theoretical and Philosophical Psychology, 28, 301–322], we provide a counterargument to models of acculturation that claim that all immigrants undergo a universal psychological process of acculturation and adaptation. More specifically, we show how members from the Indian diaspora reexamined their acculturation status after the events of 9/11. We use interdisciplinary research to critically examine the role of race in the acculturation process. In addition, we provide a new analytical framework to understand the larger structural forces that shape the acculturation and assimilation process of transnational and diasporic migrants.     

The space between: Mix taping as a ritual of distance

ABSTRACT

As an affectively charged medium of communication, the mix tape embodies a registry of human longings. In their accounts of exchanging mixes and their reflections on the meanings attached to them, mixers display the gamut of hopes and fears surrounding their relationships. While the mix tape often is represented as a token of unreserved intimacy, the practice of making and exchanging mixes can as easily be understood as a ritual of distance, one that betrays our ambivalence about dialogue and our delight in one-way communication. Based on interviews with donors and recipients of mix tapes and CDs, I will summarize four versions of the mix as a ritual of distance—communion, devotion, display, and fantasy—each building on its predecessor to round out the mix’s relational meaning.     

Understanding transnational political involvement among Senegalese migrants: The role of acculturation preferences and perceived discrimination

In political debates, migrants’ political involvement in their countries of origin and successful adaptation to receiving countries are often portrayed as incompatible. We address this concern by examining the links between acculturation preferences, perceived discrimination, and migrants’ transnational political involvement in their country of origin. In line with collective action research, a cross-sectional questionnaire study (N = 84) among Senegalese migrants in Paris (France) and Geneva (Switzerland) examined three pathways to transnational political involvement (motivations and actual behaviour). Perceived discrimination, the grievances pathway, was positively related to both transnational motivations (but only when desire to adopt the receiving culture was low) and political behaviour in Senegal. Desire to adopt the culture of the receiving society as an acculturation preference, the embeddedness pathway, was also positively linked to transnational motivations and political behaviour. Finally, desire to maintain the culture of origin as an acculturation preference—the collective identification pathway—was unrelated to transnational political involvement. These findings underscore the compatibility of transnational political involvement in countries of origin and adaptation to receiving societies. We discuss the pivotal role of political psychology in bringing together acculturation psychology and transnationalism studies.     

The politics of imagining Asia: a genealogical analysis

Abstract

Following the recent trends of globalization and regionalization, the idea of Asia has been revived in political, economic, and cultural fields. This essay examines some of the various uses of this idea in modern East Asian and especially Chinese history. The essay consists of four parts. Part One discusses the derivativeness of the idea of Asia, that is, how this idea developed from modern European history, especially the nineteenth‐century European narrative of ‘World History,’ and it points out how the early modern Japanese ‘theory of shedding Asia’ derived from this narrative. Part Two studies the relationship between the idea of Asia and two forms of populism against the background of the Chinese and Russian revolutions – one, exemplified by Russian Narodism, attempted to use Asian particularity to challenge modern capitalism; the other, represented by Sun Yat‐sen, attempted to construct a nation‐state according to a socialist revolutionary program, and to develop agricultural capitalism under the particular social conditions of Asia. Part Three considers the differences and tensions between the ‘Great Asia‐ism’ of Chinese revolutionaries such as Sun and the Japanese idea of East Asia (Tōyō),and it discusses the need to overcome the categories of nation‐state and international relations in order to understand the question of Asia. Part Four discusses the need to go beyond early modern maritime‐centered accounts, nationalist frameworks, and Eurocentrism in re‐examining the question of Asia through historical research by focusing on the particular legacies of Asia and Toyo (such as the tributary system) and the problems of ‘early modernity.’     

Fated for foreigners: Ecological realities shape perspectives of transnational marriage in northern Thailand

Around the world, intercultural contact prompted by modern globalization has reconstituted private dimensions of people’s lives. One such private dimension that has been significantly reshaped is that of kinship networks, due in part to the increasing feasibility and normalization of transnational marriage. This study examines perspectives of transnational marriage among adolescents and parents in northern Thailand, where such intimate intercultural relationships are increasingly common. Eighty Thai participants, evenly divided by ecological context (rural, urban) and generational cohort (adolescent, parent), participated in semi-structured interviews in which perspectives of Thai–foreigner marriages were discussed. Participants’ moral evaluations were examined quantitatively and moral reasoning was examined qualitatively. Quantitative analysis revealed that participants across ecological contexts and generational cohorts agreed that transnational marriage is mostly morally right and a little morally wrong. Qualitative analysis revealed differences across ecological contexts and across generations in the urban setting in values endorsed to support their evaluations. Rural adolescent and parent evaluations of transnational marriage were largely informed by local Thai values, urban adolescent evaluations were informed by autonomous Western values, and urban parent evaluations were driven by local and Western values. The distinct values endorsed across contexts and across generations in the urban setting point to how ecological realities—particularly exposure to and embeddedness in individualistic globalization discourses—shape perspectives of intimate intercultural relationships.     

Sex roles on television: A comparison of eastern and western media

Research on television sex roles is examined in terms of sex role portrayal, occupational endeavors, attitudes, and personalities. The studies reviewed for the U.S. verified the notion that men and women are still presented in their traditional roles. Women are not portrayed as autonomous, independent human beings, but were primarily sex typed. They were given responsibility for child care and routine home maintenance. On the other hand, men were shown in more serious roles assuming responsibility for family financial support, and thus were very likely to be employed in positions of high occupational status. The studies conducted in Japan and the Philippines likewise adhered faithfully to traditional roles and, in that sense, women were still not functioning to promote an egalitarian life for themselves.     

Under construction: Towards a framework for cultural value

This article explores, in the context of prevailing discourses around the value of the arts and culture, the reasons why the UK's Arts & Humanities Research Council launched a research project on cultural value and sets out the character of that project. It is concerned with arts and cultural engagement across the commercial, subsidised, amateur, and participatory sectors; embraces the full range of arts and cultural forms; and seeks to reach beyond dichotomies such as intrinsic and instrumental, high and low art, quantitative and qualitative evaluation, and public and private experiences. The article explains the project's thinking around the components of cultural value and the methodologies for evidencing them, and highlights some of the key research being funded.     

Rebuilding the homeland in poetry and song: Simin Behbahani,Dariush Eghbali,and the making of a transnational national anthem

ABSTRACT

This article traces the transformation of an Iranian nationalist poem by Simin Behbahani entitled “I Will Rebuild You, Homeland” (1981) into an expatriate national anthem, and the poem-song’s subsequent incorporation into protests and political speeches by individuals and groups in and outside of Iran. Employing musical and textual analysis, interviews, and a transnational perspective on cultural circulation and reception, I show how exile pop singer Dariush Eghbali’s adaptation of the original poem mobilized the text and opened it to audience participation. The article argues that the poem and its musical–textual permutations exemplify contemporary Iranian practices of national identification in which conflicting parties attempt to motivate “the Iranian people” to political ends. As actors from around the world and across the political spectrum repeatedly turn to nationalist poetry, song, anthem, and political speech, we observe how mass-mediated popular culture reveals ongoing recourse to nationalist forms even in transnational space.     

A model of international communication media appraisal:: Phase IV,generalizing the model to film

This study constitutes the fourth phase of a programmatic research effort designed to develop and to test a model of international communication media exposure and appraisal. The model posits that three variables, editoral tone, communication potential, and utility, have positive determinant effects on these dependent variables. This research was conducted in the Philippines on film audiences. The results of the audience film tests suggested that the model, which was previously supported with research on magazines in various countries, can be generalized to other media as well and has important implications for intercultural relations.     

Once a refugee: selfie activism,visualized citizenship and the space of appearance

ABSTRACT

This article examines the social media campaign “Once I was a refugee” by former refugees as a response to the increasingly hostile political climate in Finland against refugees. With selfie activism, the campaign expanded the “space of appearance” and introduced new voice and visuality to the public debate. The case depicts politics of claiming citizenship and social value through self-presentation to counter views of refugees as economic burden, noncitizens, and surplus humanity. The empirical material is based on analysis of the Facebook and Twitter campaign and interviews with the participants. It is argued that selfie activism may occasionally, through new voice and visibility, expand the space of appearance and contribute to the rise of affective or counter-publics that can come together and make use of digital media for political action. However, the case also reveals how difficult it is to speak from a refugee position without being drawn into the discourse of deservingness.     

Framing inclusion: The media treatment of irregular immigrants' right to health care in Spain

With the passing of Royal Decree-Law 16/2012, Spain's national health system switched from a model defined by universal and free health care principles, to a private insurance system that excluded large population groups. Based on a qualitative research design, this paper examines the media treatment of undocumented immigrants’ prerogatives to public health care in Spain (2012–2018). The analysis of 234 articles, drawn from three major Spanish newspapers, reveals three frames that underscore the media's "rhetorics of inclusion," which argue for the extension of free medical services to irregular immigrantsa topic traditionally underestimated by the literature. The moralist frame, supported by social justice arguments, is found in tandem with the cost-benefit frame that advocates for immigrants’ health care access as a means for containing medical expenses. The overall predominance of the legalist frame largely relies on arguments that reflect a Spanish political culture rooted in the universality of health rights.     

Cross-cultural small group research: A review,an analysis,and a theory

The small group research reported in the literature has been conducted predominantly with American subjects. Because these studies have primarily sampled only one culture, it was speculated that the findings may not be applicable to groups in other societies. After examining the available cross-national small group research, the investigator found that group behavior frequently varied from culture to culture, particularly with regard to leadership, conformity, network performance, and risky shift. In discussing cultural differences in group behavior, a value theory of small group development was posited. Essentially, the theory maintains that cultural values determine how a small group and its members behave. Research strategies for testing the theory are also examined in the article.     

House of Netflix: Streaming media and digital lore

This article focuses on the emergence of a nascent streaming industry. The media industry studies conceptualization of “industry lore” can be read during times of transition for media industries. Streaming lore is a re-articulation of existing industry lore accompanying the advent of streaming technology and distribution. Contemporary streaming acts as a site of rupture, wherein industry discourses related to digital media are rendered visible. The article proposes three categories of emergent streaming lore and analyzes their relation to a growing streaming media industry. These categories include (a) Netflix as “quality” streams, (b) the algorithmic audience, and (c) cord-cutters and cord-nevers.