Language & Intercultural Communication
Editor: Dr John Corbett (University of Glasgow)
Associate Editor: Robert Crawshaw (Lancaster University)
Reviews and Criticism Editor: Dr Fiona J. Doloughan (University of Surrey)
Editorial Board: Gavin Jack (University of Stirling)
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Volume: 1 Number: 1 Page: 76–93
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Will and Power: Towards Radical Intercultural Communication Research and Pedagogy1
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Shi-Xu Wilson and John Wilson
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Much of intercultural communication research and training has rested on the presumption that the key to intercultural communication and understanding is knowledge and skills in the relevant language and
culture. In this paper, we argue that what is missing from this perspective is, crucially, power relations and the willpower to overcome them. Proceeding from this ethical and political stance, we suggest
that research, education and training take on the role of institutional moral agents and turn their attention to critiquing power practices on the one hand and cultivating the ethical motivation to construct
common goals on the other. As empirical illustrations of research, we examine, firstly, how intercultural '(mis)understandings' are utilised to suit political and economic interests and, secondly, what
members themselves feel to be the cause of failures in intercultural communication. In conclusion, we discuss some implications for pedagogy.
© Multilingual Matters 2001
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