Whiteness, Technological Capital and Platformed Interculturality: COIL Experiences in Latin America
Journal
Journal of Intercultural Studies
ISSN
1469-9540
Publisher
Informa UK Limited
Date Issued
2026
Author(s)
Domenack-Bracamonte, Wendy
Bacca Rozo, Julia Esperanza
Type
text::journal::journal article
Abstract
The internationalisation of higher education in Latin America has increasingly incorporated internationalisation-at-home initiatives, among which Collaborative Online International Learning (COIL) has become central. Often framed as a democratising strategy for fostering intercultural competence, these initiatives operate within platform-mediated environments shaped by symbolic hierarchies, technological inequalities, and regimes of professional visibility. This article examines how whiteness – understood not as a phenotypic attribute but as an ethos of modernity and legitimation – is performed within digitally mediated intercultural encounters. The study analyses a tri-national COIL experience involving communication students from private universities in Peru, Mexico, and Colombia, conducted through the professional networking platform LinkedIn. Using a mixed-methods approach, the research combines survey data from 119 students with qualitative analysis of 15 group-based digital self-presentation artefacts. Findings indicate that technological capital functions as a key symbolic divider, privileging visibility linked to technical fluency and professional respectability. A dissonance emerges between students’ declared commitments to intercultural openness and their interactional practices, which remain limited and exhibition-oriented. Cultural difference is frequently articulated through depoliticised and affectively safe repertoires, notably gastronomy. The article argues that digital internationalisation reconfigures interculturality as a regulated and aspirational practice aligned with global professional norms. ©The authors ©Taylor and Francis Ltd.
License
Acceso Restringido
How to cite
Domenack-Bracamonte, W., Romero-Delgado, C. I., Bacca Rozo, J. E., & Martínez-Velasco, A. (2026). Whiteness, Technological Capital and Platformed Interculturality: COIL Experiences in Latin America. Journal of Intercultural Studies, 1–16. https://doi.org/10.1080/07256868.2026.2636884