Research as an intercultural 'contact zone

Bibliographic Data

ID2927692
AuthorsCatherine Manathunga (0000-0001-8915-0344, The University of Queensland, corresponding author)
Year2009
Volume30
Issue2
Pages165-177
Publication date2009-06-01
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueDiscourse Studies in the Cultural Politics of Education (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 0159-6306 • E-ISSN: 1469-3739
PublisherInforma UK Limited (PUBLISHER • GB)
DOI10.1080/01596300902809161
OpenAlexW1973409282
LanguageEN
Citations received18
References cited31

Contemporary researchers need to work across many cultural boundaries between ethnicities, between disciplines, between universities and industry, between professional cultures, and between various workplace cultures. While many authors have sought to characterise aspects of this boundary work, there remains little research on how researchers, especially research higher degree students, might be adequately prepared to work sensitively in these cultural borderlands. This article draws upon the post-colonial concept of the ‘contact zone’ to reconceptualise the knowledge and skills required by the successful intercultural researcher. It demonstrates how recognition of and engagement with cultural difference can create deconstructive, productive possibilities for innovative research and new knowledge. The article also examines the consequences of a lack of intercultural sensitivity and equity – the symbolic violence and exploitation present in the contemporary research arena. This recasting of research has significant implications for future research training

Engineering ethics · Ethnic group · Intercultural communication · Intercultural relations · Pedagogy · Political science · Social science · Sociology · Anthropology · Engineering · Higher Education Governance and Development · Innovative Education and Learning Practices · International Student and Expatriate Challenges

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