Communication for Public Decision-Making in a Negative Historical Context: Building Intercultural Relationships in the British Columbia Treaty Process

LaFever, M.
Journal of International and Intercultural Communication

May 28, 2008

Encouraging involvement in local, regional and national communities in order to develop a healthy democracy is a laudable goal for society. However, culturally marginalized groups that have been historically excluded from such participation, and who utilize communication patterns that differ from the dominant culture, cannot take all the responsibility for becoming engaged. The aboriginal peoples of North America are one such marginalized cultural group. Utilizing data from the current British Columbia treaty process, this study posits communication structures, attitudes, and behaviors that dominant culture groups must adopt in order to build positive long-term relationships for public engagement with historically marginalized cultural groups.

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