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Interculturality in Flux is an audacious and self-reflexive interrogation of intercultural scholarship and education.
Redefining intellectual retrospection as a process of fundamental critique, Fred Dervin turns his analytical lens inward, exposing the contradictions, weaknesses and evolving tensions within his own work. At its core, the book addresses the tension between polished academic language and the uncomfortable truths beneath. The author reveals how power imbalances are often obscured by self-complacency, diplomacy and/or theoretical sophistication in intercultural research and education. Through its dynamic, non-linear structure, the book invites readers to engage not just with ideas, but also with the lived complexities behind their production and dissemination. Spanning a decade of scholarship, it revisits and scrutinises key themes such as Eurocentrism, neoliberal commodification and methodological rigidity. Rejecting static knowledge, the author frames interculturality instead as an ever-shifting terrain of ideological and linguistic negotiation. Rather than offering a mere retrospective, this work demands that scholars interrogate their own intellectual trajectories, confront the limitations of dominant paradigms and embrace the messy and often contradictory realities of intercultural communication, education and research.
With its distinctive features of reflexivity, epistemic humility and willingness to challenge established norms, this book will appeal to educators, students and researchers alike.
List of contents
1.
Dervin vs. Dervins: Self-
other-interrogation on interculturality 2. Deconstructing the 'toolbox': (Partly) disowned convictions 3. Criticality as a neoliberal spectacle? Beyond the 'intercultural checklist'... 4. Against Coherence: Piecing together the unfixable 5. Out-of-the-boxing: A former non-essentialist's
mea culpa 6. Penrose staircase communication: The ascent that descends 7. Beyond best intercultural teaching practices 8. InterculturologiesTM as an ethics of unknowing 9. ICER as thought control: Towards radical interculturality? 10. Who profits from interculturality? 11. AI as a critical bosom friend 12.
Post-mortem of a decade: Confessions, corrections and (further) provocations 13. Concluding thoughtprints
About the author
Fred Dervin is a world-renowned interculturalist who has made a strong impact on Intercultural Communication Education and Research over the past 25 years. A Full Professor at the University of Helsinki (Finland), Dervin proposes original and refreshing approaches to understanding the politics of global interactions by challenging conventional paradigms and blending interdisciplinary insights. His work aims to inspire practitioners, researchers and students to rethink and reshape the notion of interculturality. With over 300 publications, Dervin is included in the Stanford Elsevier List of the world's best scientists.
Summary
Interculturality in Flux is an audacious and self-reflexive interrogation of intercultural scholarship and education.
