Beyond ethnocentrism in communication theory: towards a culture-centric approach

Abstract

Communications scholars have been challenging the universality of Eurocentric scholarship, which they argue to be a form of intellectual imperialism imposing its provincial ideals and masquerading these as universal. As an answer to Eurocentricity, Asiacentricity proposes to place Asian values and ideals at the center of inquiry to see Asian phenomena from the standpoint of Asians as subjects and agents. This article critiques this Asiacentric agenda and critically examines the implications and premises of this paradigm. It suggests instead that a culture-centric paradigm be adopted to avoid an Asian version of the Eurocentricity crisis. The article advocates the adoption of a more harmonious perspective in light of the convergence of global cultures and calls for approaching research deficiencies as a global community of communication scholars rather than one divided along ethnic fault lines. The culture-centric approach is proposed as a meta-theory that is non-polarizing by nature through its placement of culture at the center of inquiry. To avoid the creation of polarity, culture-centricity seeks to encompass the contradictions and ambivalences as well as other diverse cultural representations. This article argues for a non-polarizing approach so that communication scholars can theorize without ideological bias or artificial boundaries created by arbitrary definitions of what constitutes East or West.

Pathway outta pigeonhole? De-contextualizing Majority World Countries

“…They seek to challenge careless universalism that is the signature of the scholarship of Minority World Countries, and at the same time question the taken-for-granted Western theoretical and methodological perspectives. Although some scholars from Majority countries have insisted resources and research focus should be placed on developing 'home-grown' solutions (Kuo and Chew, 2009), the theories, concepts and methodological approaches from Majority countries can hardly match the influential theories from the Minority, at least going by the global resonance 6 of journal articles. This means that the only way researchers in Majority countries can contribute to the debates at the core of the fields is by providing their geographical (often under-explored) empirical realities (Sarkar, 2019).…”

Educational Policies for Providing the Quality of Life

“…"Culture-centricity is to solve all the problems, connected with presenting various cultures, to eliminate polarity," (Kuo & Chew, 2009). However, in our opinion, education will help to reach a worthy quality of life only if its main principle is culture-centric.…”

De-westernizing Communication Studies: A Reassessment

“…Replacing Western‐centrism with any other from the global South is not precisely something to cheer for. It leaves unaltered the fundamental problems of essentialism and nativism, as Kuo and Chew () correctly point out. It would be ironic if the critique of Eurocentrism and universalism slides into new versions of intellectual parochialism under the rubric of critical thought.…”