Marginalization

When a migrant devalues their own culture, as well as devaluing their host culture it is referred to as marginalization. Situations of marginalization are often created by both the culture that the migrant is leaving as well as the culture that is receiving the migrant. This is most easily encountered in domestic migration where the releasing and receiving culture are the same. Several historical examples of marginalization include when the U.S. government marginalized Native Americans, forcing them to live apart from members of their nation, and also with "war brides" where they abandoned their native culture, and fought barriers in their migrant culture.

This concept of marginalization in migrant-host relationships is very easily applicable to intercultural communication. It is one of the cases describing the boundary between communicating cultures and cultural transition. Marginalization, specifically, could be catalyzed by misunderstandings in non-verbal communication. Non verbal communication often leads to problems when it is not understood, and can factor in to setting up barriers for people who are entering a new culture. Language barriers and verbal communication would also aid in setting up the boundaries and creating an identity that either easily or painstakingly accepts migrants.

Perhaps marginalization could be viewed as a good thing, if both the minority culture and the majority culture are flawed in such a way that it would benefit everyone if migrants could overcome the barriers. Marginalization is most likely a good way to create a new independent culture. Personally, I think in most occasions, marginalization would mean that the migrant has been wronged by either their old or their new culture, and I think this offense is most likely not justified. I believe that my future intercultural interactions (and everybody's) should take place with at least the awareness of the causes of marginalization and do their best to making sure that is not the only choice. Because of it's potential as an improvement for the migrant, or a representative from either the old or the new culture, marginalization should not be forgotten. It should be studied as a possibility, and avoided if it is detrimental.

References:
Baker, D. (2012). Embracing marginalization.Communication Arts Columns, Retrieved from http://www.commarts.com/columns/embracing-marginalization.html

Martin, J. N., & Nakayama, T. K. (2009). Intercultural Communication in Contexts. McGraw-Hill Higher Education.