2004
Conference Theme: Off the shelf or from the ground up? ICTs and cultural marginalization, homogenization or hybridization The biennial CATaC conference
series continues to provide an international forum for the presentation
and discussion of current research on how diverse cultural attitudes shape the
implementation and use of information and communication technologies (ICTs).
The conference series brings together scholars from around the globe who
provide diverse perspectives, both in terms of the specific culture(s) they
highlight in their presentations and discussions, and in terms of the
discipline(s) through which they approach the conference theme. The first
conference in the series was held in London in 1998, the second conference in
Perth in 2000, and the third conference in Montreal in 2002. Original full papers (especially those which connect theoretical frameworks with specific examples of cultural values, practices, etc.) and short papers (e.g. describing current research projects and preliminary results) are invited. Topics of particular interested include but are not limited to: 1. Culture: theory and praxisWhile 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:
How does commercialization of CMC technologies - most obviously, the Net and the Web - shape the prevailing cultures conveyed and favored by these technologies? How do such commercialized "virtual cultures" sustain and/or undermine local cultural values and identities? 3. Alternative models for ICT diffusionAs the dangers of "computer-mediated colonization" (i.e., of imposing specific cultural values and communicative preferences, as embedded in the design and implementation of ICTs, upon "target" cultures) are increasingly recognized, there is likewise a growing awareness of the importance of developing non-colonizing implementations of ICTs that seek to fulfill the beneficent promises of these new technologies while also preserving and enhancing local cultural values and preferences. (Examples of these described at CATaC'02 included open knowledge networks like One World <URL> and other peer-to-peer networking projects that circumvented otherwise central - and culturally dominant - powers.) Descriptions of such projects - including projects involving software (e.g., CSCW systems) and interface design (HCI) - are invited, especially as these (a) make clear the problematic cultural issues initially faced by prevailing models for design and implementation; (b) account for how the authors/researchers/theorists/designers sought to overcome the dangers of computer-mediated colonization; and/or (c) report on research/work (including work in progress) that assesses how far the alternative model/design succeeds in avoiding cultural imperialism. The role of governments and activists in culture, technology and communication Both government- and NGO-sponsored projects directly involve the use of ICTs in communication with minority/indigenous cultures. Descriptions of such projects are encouraged, especially as these: (a) bring to the foreground observed interactions between different cultural values and communicative preferences as these work in the design, implementation, and responses to ICTs used in a given project, and (b) discuss how these observed interactions support, contradict, and/or force us to revise specific theoretical approaches to ICT design, the role of culture and communication in technology diffusion, etc. ICTs and cultural hybridityNietzsche noted at the end of the 19th century that as our awareness of and interactions with other cultures grows, we living increasingly in an age of comparison - and, we can add, of hybridity, i.e., the self-conscious and unconscious blendings of aspects of two or more cultures. On the one hand, such hybridization can reflect free and productive choices, creative intermixings that contribute to an enhanced self-identity and richer national self-consciousness. On the other hand, such hybridization may also amount to homogenization, as many important elements of one culture are swept away by the dominant values and orientations of a globalizing culture ("McWorld"). Are there ways - accounted for not only in theory, but also demonstrated in praxis - that ICTs may contribute to a hybridization process that avoids homogenization (as another form of cultural imperialism)? ICTs and intercultural communication Nations such as Sweden, Denmark, Norway, Switzerland, the Netherlands, Thailand, and others, have long managed to maintain a distinctive cultural identity while at the same time fostering a cosmopolitanism that allows them to succeed economically and politically. Such cosmopolitanism is marked by fostering bi- (or even tri-) lingualism, (usually nonviolent) appropriation of aspects of "other" cultures (e.g., the syncretic Buddhism of Thailand that incorporates Hinduism and Chinese religions). These sorts of cosmopolitan cultures - i.e., ones that retain distinctive cultural identity while simultaneously engaging in the "other" cultures of the world - were described at CATaC'98 by Thai philosopher Soraj Hongladarom as conjunctions of "thick" and "thin" cultures, i.e., hybrids of distinctive local cultural identity (thick) and a larger, globally shared (thin) cultural identity. Critical to these "hybrid cosmopolitans" is the ability of people to communicate comfortably in more than one language - and, thereby, to be aware of how to succeed (at least modestly) in intercultural communication. Such communication involves not simply an ability to translate terms from one language to another, but an awareness of what is culturally appropriate, ranging from terms and idioms that may be acceptable in one's own culture but offensive elsewhere, to in/appropriate gestures, body language, etc. As ICTs dramatically accelerate our ability to engage with one another cross-culturally - do they help us learn to communicate interculturally? And/or: are ICTs, because they are designed by and embed the cultural and communicative values of specific nations and regions, inevitably limited as tools of such intercultural communication? Stated positively: can ICTs help its users become more effective intercultural communicators - and thereby contribute to a process of cultural hybridization that sustains local cultural identities and avoids cultural homogenization. Culture, communication and e-learningIn the rush to get courses online, some of the challenges of online teaching and learning are often ignored. Too often virtual learning environments (VLEs) are adopted because of their technical innovativeness and little thought is given to integrating the medium with learning objectives and pedagogical strategies, and taking into account a multicultural audience. For these reasons, global education typically lacks social and collaborative activities with the unintended consequence of feelings of social and cultural isolation. In other words, technology can separate rather than connect students. Yet, more than any other teaching medium, virtual learning environments have the potential to fully exploit theories of social and active learning through communication, collaboration and cooperation. |