CAPS blog- Carly Ficke

Our identity is arguably the most influential thing in our lives. It guides our perceptions, our actions, and our beliefs. Our text states that "identity is a core issue for most people" (Martin, Nakayama 170). Identity can be viewed by several different perceptions and theories. One prominent one is the Social Science perspective. This suggests that our identity is formed from group belonging and relating and is emphasized by the cross-cultural perspective, which includes familial, individual, and spiritual identities. It is this vast compilation of identities that overtime come to form a sense of self. We see this displayed in the current cultural issues affecting the people of Thailand.

The hours passed. They waited in line with tense anticipation. Thailand's people came out by the millions to cast their vote for political leaders. Many were fervent in recognizing their democratic right and would stop at nothing to exercise it. However, there were several protesters that made voting nearly impossible in certain areas of Thailand. These protesters believe that the election process is flawed and should be reconstructed before allowing the public to vote. They blocked the entrances to many polling stations, resulting in incidents of violence and division among the Thai people. It is this struggle of rights within the Thai culture that calls to attention the cultural identity crisis and socio-economic issues at play. The concept of cultural identity is quite apparent in both political stances and can be viewed through a Social Science perspective. The Thai people are forming self-identities by relations to groups. Those that want to vote and exert their democratic right are coming out to vote, no matter the resistance. They find identity in their beliefs and ideals. On the other hand, the protesting movement (led by Suthep Thaugsuban) finds their identity through the belief in need to reform the voting system. They display this by physically blocking thousands of voters from casting their ballots. Thaugsuban comments that "...the election is a waste of time and money." Therefore, it is quite evident that this election has the political and social identities of the Thai people at odds.

The implications of these facts lead us to several findings. We can conclude that cultural identity has many facets of communication. For some, it is displaying their right to vote. For others, they physically communicate resistance by blocking the voters. Ms. Yingluck (the candidate favored to win) attempts to communicate democracy and change in her campaign. These views that each group holds causes them to behave accordingly. All feel a certain loyalty to their country and all have push for an end result that would (by their standards) benefit Thailand and its people. These implications strengthen the Social Science perspective by showing the influence of group belonging. 

Sources:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-26003995

Martin, Judith N., and Thomas K. Nakayama. "Intercultural communication in contexts." (2004).