Socio-Cultural Differences and Intercultural Communication in Social Participation Experiences

Abstract

This article discusses the main theoretical and methodological aspects of the intercultural communication analytical perspective that I have developed to respond to specific research needs. This perspective is based on the idea that institutional and collective social actors are heterogeneous entities because they comprise a variety of internal parties, as I have been able to observe in my field research experience. Intercultural communication involves, therefore, multidimensional exchanges between heterogeneous agents that build meaning and struggle over it within their own group as well as with the other social agents. Meaning is something that is negotiated, transformed, appropriated, and can often be a subject of dispute. For that reason, the study of intercultural communication should center on social processes, not just verbal utterances. Close examination of social practices and relations enable us to understand how differences are articulated and how meaning is transformed.