The University of Southampton
University of Southampton Institutional Repository

Beyond the ‘cultural turn’: the politics of recognition versus the politics redistribution in the field of intercultural communication

Beyond the ‘cultural turn’: the politics of recognition versus the politics redistribution in the field of intercultural communication
Beyond the ‘cultural turn’: the politics of recognition versus the politics redistribution in the field of intercultural communication
Since the 1980s the field of language teaching and learning has emphasized the interplay between language, culture and identity and promotes, both communicative and intercultural competencies. This mirrors a general trend in the social sciences after the so-called cultural turn which brought about a concentration on culture, identity and voice (the politics of recognition) at the expense of socio-economic structures and relations (the politics of redistribution). This article argues that despite this marginalization, socio-economic and hence class issues still impact crucially upon the amount and quality of recognition people receive from others and should therefore be brought again to the forefront of theoretical discussions. This seems ever more important in the current neoliberal socio-economic restructuring in all spheres of life that deepens inequality and thus impacts upon the conditions under which people meet and communicate with each other. This article analyzes the characteristics and consequences of the cultural turn that brought about this unhelpful divide between the politics of recognition and the politics of redistribution and then proposes an alternative theoretical framework that combines a Critical Realist ontology with Bourdieu’s notion of habitus and field. Such a framework, it is suggested, would shed a more realistic light on intercultural communication and could help to connect language teaching and learning with questions of social justice, and thus enhance empathy, understanding and criticality in students.
0957-1736
357-369
Zotzmann, Karin
83cb3ab3-c9cd-43c5-946e-cc48462ac234
Hernández-Zamora, Gregorio
46fa4f28-909a-4613-a9ca-db27508ead87
Zotzmann, Karin
83cb3ab3-c9cd-43c5-946e-cc48462ac234
Hernández-Zamora, Gregorio
46fa4f28-909a-4613-a9ca-db27508ead87

Zotzmann, Karin and Hernández-Zamora, Gregorio (2013) Beyond the ‘cultural turn’: the politics of recognition versus the politics redistribution in the field of intercultural communication. Language Learning Journal, 1, 357-369.

Record type: Article

Abstract

Since the 1980s the field of language teaching and learning has emphasized the interplay between language, culture and identity and promotes, both communicative and intercultural competencies. This mirrors a general trend in the social sciences after the so-called cultural turn which brought about a concentration on culture, identity and voice (the politics of recognition) at the expense of socio-economic structures and relations (the politics of redistribution). This article argues that despite this marginalization, socio-economic and hence class issues still impact crucially upon the amount and quality of recognition people receive from others and should therefore be brought again to the forefront of theoretical discussions. This seems ever more important in the current neoliberal socio-economic restructuring in all spheres of life that deepens inequality and thus impacts upon the conditions under which people meet and communicate with each other. This article analyzes the characteristics and consequences of the cultural turn that brought about this unhelpful divide between the politics of recognition and the politics of redistribution and then proposes an alternative theoretical framework that combines a Critical Realist ontology with Bourdieu’s notion of habitus and field. Such a framework, it is suggested, would shed a more realistic light on intercultural communication and could help to connect language teaching and learning with questions of social justice, and thus enhance empathy, understanding and criticality in students.

This record has no associated files available for download.

More information

Published date: 2013
Organisations: Modern Languages

Identifiers

Local EPrints ID: 345089
URI: http://eprints.soton.ac.uk/id/eprint/345089
ISSN: 0957-1736
PURE UUID: c85611db-5088-4b36-a403-06f8e8da36dc

Catalogue record

Date deposited: 09 Nov 2012 16:23
Last modified: 22 Jul 2022 18:16

Export record

Contributors

Author: Karin Zotzmann
Author: Gregorio Hernández-Zamora

Download statistics

Downloads from ePrints over the past year. Other digital versions may also be available to download e.g. from the publisher's website.

View more statistics

Atom RSS 1.0 RSS 2.0

Contact ePrints Soton: eprints@soton.ac.uk

ePrints Soton supports OAI 2.0 with a base URL of http://eprints.soton.ac.uk/cgi/oai2

This repository has been built using EPrints software, developed at the University of Southampton, but available to everyone to use.

We use cookies to ensure that we give you the best experience on our website. If you continue without changing your settings, we will assume that you are happy to receive cookies on the University of Southampton website.

×