Understanding Intercultural Transitions

People have always traveled from their homelands, but with the increasing technological ease of travel, people are moving much more than ever before. Sojourners, business travelers, tourists, immigrants, and refugees have very different reasons for traveling. These people are waiting for international arrivals at the Atlanta airport. How might reasons for traveling shape intercultural experiences? (Mark Spowart/Alamy Stock Photo)

People leave their countries for many reasons, including wars and famine (Iraq, South Sudan, and Syria). In addition, millions of global nomads are roaming around the world as transnational corporate or government employees, guest workers, refugees, tourists, or study-abroad students, like Bakari (see

Figure 8-1). And there are also millions of internal migrations—where people move from one place to another within national boundaries—often for the same reasons: for better economic opportunities or because of war or famine. Perhaps you can look at your own family and think about your migration history. Perhaps your ancestors came to the United States in the second wave, from

western Europe in the 1800s, or perhaps in the third wave, from Europe, Asia, or

Latin or South America. Perhaps you can look at your own family and think about your migration history.

Perhaps your ancestors came to the United States in the second wave, from western Europe in the 1800s, or perhaps in the third wave, from Europe, Asia, or Latin or South America. Perhaps you’ve had a global nomad experience of studying abroad or living abroad as an exchange student.

THINKING DIALECTICALLY ABOUT INTERCULTURAL

TRANSITIONS

Understanding the process of adaptation in intercultural transitions depends on

several dialectical tensions. Unfortunately, there are no easy answers. Think about transitions.

For example, businesspeople who live abroad while working for transnational

corporations often are economically privileged: They receive additional pay,

housing relocation money, and so on. They also meet many people

through work and can afford to travel in their new host location. In contrast, refugees often lack

financial resources in their new host location, which may have been chosen out of

sheer necessity. 

They may have few opportunities to meet other people, travel in

their new homeland, or purchase basic necessities. In this way, they may not view

their new environment in the same way as a more privileged migrant. These dialectical

differences shape the intercultural migrant’s identity and the changes that this

identity undergoes.

We might also invoke the personal–contextual dialectic. Often, in adapting to

new cultural contexts, people may find themselves challenged to be culturally competent

by behaving in ways that may be contradictory to their personal identities. For

example, a Muslim woman may feel that she can’t wear her chador in certain U.S.

contexts and thus can’t express her religious identity. The dialectic calls for a balance

between the individual and contextual demands.