Dialectics of culture and dynamic balancing between individuality and collectivity

Abstract

This study offers an Eastern alternative to the Western perspective that is fundamentally disjunctive in its approach to culture and communication. Inspired by Cartesian dualism and Hegelian dialectics, most Western theories subscribe to the concept of cultural divides that separate two different, often opposing, cultural premises, such as individualism-collectivism and high-low context communication. Based upon the holistic worldview and Taoist dualism of the East, this study proposes that intercultural communication scholars should pay more attention to the dynamic processes in which two seemingly opposite forces such as collectivism and individualism interact with each other to maintain homeostasis in society. This study does not intend to mitigate the importance of studying cultural differences or similarities, but aims to steer researchers away from regarding culture as a completely static or dummy variable, claiming that a certain culture is a high-context culture or an individualistic culture.