Rethinking ’Acculturation’ in Relation to Diasporic Cultures and Postcolonial Identities
Author(s)
Bhatia, Sunil; Ram, Anjali
Abstract
Reexamines the concept of “acculturation” in cross-cultural psychology, especially with respect to non-western, non-European immigrants living in the US. By drawing primarily on postcolonial scholarship, the authors specifically reconsider the universalist assumption in cross-cultural psychology that all immigrant groups undergo the same kind of “psychological” acculturation process. In so doing, the authors (1) consider some of the historical and political events related to immigration in the US, (2) question the conflation of nation with culture that emerges in many theories of acculturation, and (3) use the notion of diaspora as theorized in postcolonial studies to rethink the concept of “integration strategy” as developed in cross-cultural psychology. It is contended that this article has implications for general issues of culture and self in human development, and particular issues in the area of acculturation.
