Culture: Theory and praxis

While a number of important theories concerning culture and technology have come to the foreground in CMC literature and previous CATaC conferences (e.g., Bourdieu, Hofstede, Hannerz, etc.), "culture" remains a highly problematic concept, one that both plays a central role in theory and practice while it also stubbornly resists easy definition. A defining theme for the CATaC conferences - one we continue with CATaC'04 - is the on-going effort to better understand what "culture" may mean, especially as culture may be empirically examined in the interplay of communication mediated through ICTs.

Discussions of "culture" are invited, especially as these are informed by the praxis of seeking to facilitate cross-cultural communication with ICTs. In particular:

These intersections of culture, technology, and communication are fruitfully examined not only in relation to computer-mediated communication, but also in conjunction with other new technologies such as cellular phones, Simple Messaging Service, satellite TV, etc. These technologies are often more significant than CMC (obviously, the Web and the Net) in regions - and thus cultures - with limited technology infrastructures. Theoretical/practical discussions of projects involving such technologies are invited, especially as these may highlight important differences between the cultural dimensions and implications of the uses of these technologies vs. those that prevail in regions with more extensive technology infrastructures.
Some countries and regions are more multicultural than others (e.g., Australia, Switzerland, and, in its own way, the European Union), and thus present distinctive domains within which the intersections of culture, technology, and communication may be of more immediate relevance and urgency than in less multi-cultural societies. Projects and discussions that help us understand the distinctive role of culture in such multi-cultural settings - including how far ICTs contribute to hybridizing cultures in these settings - are encouraged.
Minority/indigenous cultural groups likewise represent distinctive opportunities to examine the role of cultural and communicative variables as these affect the implementation and uses of ICTs. Understanding the role of culture in how far minority and/or indigenous cultural groups may succeed - or fail - in taking up ICTs designed for a majority culture is obviously crucial to the moral and political imperative of designing ICTs in ways that will not simply reinforce such groups' marginalization. Projects and discussion that highlight the role of culture in the success and/or failure of efforts to exploit the empowering potentials of ICTs among minority and indigenous groups are invited, especially as these detail the development of such efforts "from the ground up" (i.e., by beginning with the local culture and conditions, rather than assuming dominant "off-the-shelf" technologies are appropriate).