Flavia Monceri
An interest in the concept of power is relatively recent in the field of Intercultural Communication. This chapter aims to show that such an interest has not yet had relevant implications on the theoretical level. After a brief introduction, in the first and second sections two different conceptions of power are considered. The third section is devoted to the theoretical relation between power and Intercultural Communication, showing how only one of those conceptions has also become mainstream within this field of study, without causing a proper revision of the commonly accepted theoretical paradigm of the discipline. The intrusion of power has had more disruptive effects in Intercultural Communication, especially in the form of a reconsideration of the role of the researcher. However, the concluding section suggests that if a radical shift towards a different conception of power does not take place, things will not change that much even in terms of truly disruptive, innovative ways of practising research.