Interculturality from above and below: navigating uneven discourses in a neoliberal university system

ABSTRACT

This article draws on data from an ethnographic account of the institutionalisation of ‘the intercultural’ within a large British university. The study finds that although the term ‘intercultural’ is frequently used in multiple forms, it is often aligned with the dominant discourses of the neoliberal university system in order to become an accepted part of the institution. A counter position, which I label ‘interculturality from below’, is taken by some social actors within the university who challenge essentialist and neoliberal approaches to the intercultural. This study is relevant to arguments which emphasise the need for a paradigm shift in the applications of the intercultural and it raises the question of whether a paradigm shift is possible within a neoliberal university system.

El presente artículo tiene como base un estudio etnográfico de la institucionalización de ‘lo intercultural’ dentro de una de las universidades grandes de Inglaterra. El estudio concluye que aunque el término ‘intercultural’ se utiliza frecuentemente con distintas acepciones, a menudo éste se alínea con los discursos dominantes del sistema universitario neoliberal, con el fin de convertirse en parte aceptada de la institución. Una postura alterna, que denomino ‘interculturalidad desde abajo’, es adoptada por algunos actores sociales dentro de la universidad para cuestionar los enfoques esencialistas y neoliberales hacia lo intercultural. Este estudio tiene relevancia para los argumentos que hacen hincapié en la necesidad de un cambio de paradigma en las aplicaciones de lo intercultural, y plantea la pregunta de si es posible un cambio de paradigma dentro de un sistema universitario neoliberal.

KEYWORDS:

• Intercultural communication
• internationalisation
• institutionalisation in higher education
• neoliberalism
• marketisation of higher education

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author.

Notes on contributor

Haynes Collins is Senior English Teaching Fellow in the School of Languages, Cultures and Societies at the University of Leeds. His research falls broadly into the category of intercultural communication/studies and he is specifically interested in how institutional and media discourses mobilise the concept of culture and interculturality to serve ideological agendas. His research interests also include migration issues and intercultural practices within ‘small cultures’. He teaches intercultural communication at undergraduate and postgraduate levels.