37.1802, Confs: Plurilingualism and Language Education, an Invisible Pillar of Democracy? Critical Perspectives and Contemporary Perspectives (France)

Tue May 19 10:05:02 UTC 2026

LINGUIST List: Vol-37-1802. Tue May 19 2026. ISSN: 1069 - 4875.

Subject: 37.1802, Confs: Plurilingualism and Language Education, an Invisible Pillar of Democracy? Critical Perspectives and Contemporary Perspectives (France)

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Date: 15-May-2026
From: José Aguilar [jose.aguilar at sorbonne-nouvelle.fr]
Subject: Plurilingualism and Language Education, an Invisible Pillar of Democracy? Critical Perspectives and Contemporary Perspectives

Plurilingualism and Language Education, an Invisible Pillar of
Democracy? Critical Perspectives and Contemporary Perspectives

Date: 12-May-2027 - 14-May-2027
Location: Paris, France
Contact Email: plurilingdemo at sciencesconf.org
Meeting URL: https://plurilingdemo.sciencesconf.org/

Linguistic Field(s): Applied Linguistics; Discipline of Linguistics;
Discourse Analysis; Philosophy of Language; Sociolinguistics

Submission Deadline: 10-Oct-2026

Contemporary democracies face political and social crises fueled by
discriminatory and xenophobic ideologies that challenge the legitimacy
of diversity and the recognition of the other (Piccardo, 2017;
Dalgalian, 2017; Spaëth, 2010; Rancière, 2005). In this context of
growing nationalism (Billig, 1995), this conference proposes to
examine, from a critical perspective and in light of recent global
events, the role of multilingualism and language education in the
construction and preservation of democratic systems (Dănişor, 2025;
Diagne, 2024; Brudermann, Aguilar Río & Abouzaïd, 2019).
Institutional and Personal Links Between Languages and Democracy:
Democracy is a polysemous concept, the meaning of which varies
according to the contexts and ideological interpretations to which it
refers. For example, for C. Taylor (2019, 2014), it can be considered,
in light of pluralism, as a system of sharing based on a form of
reciprocity within societies. According to this view, the principles
of equality-participation and equality-redistribution governing social
relations would then rest on productive diversity, implying a
systematic circulation of knowledge, resources, and services.
Furthermore, the institutional recognition of this diversity and its
inclusion in political practices would constitute one of the
foundations of democracy, a political regime that the Council of
Europe (2019) considers a culture that can be taught through
multilingual and intercultural education . In this case,
multilingualism describes the linguistic practices of people capable
of using several languages, registers, or linguistic varieties
(Juillard, 2007), but not only that, because “language is at the heart
of the individual, both a personal expression—and their means of
communication—with the Other. From this perspective, language is for
each person—far more than their social, professional, or economic
status—inseparable from their being in the world, from their
personality” (Dalgalian, 2017, p. 83). Beyond the social phenomenon,
multilingualism is a political and scientific concept that aims to
promote linguistic plurality (Nelde, 2004).
Representativeness of Democracies and the Agency of Plural Populations
on a Given Territory:
The issue of recognition and appreciation by political bodies of the
diversity of people within democratic systems relates in particular to
the question of the agency (Bandura, 2001) of minority populations in
our societies: speakers of endangered languages, social groups
marginalized for political and cultural reasons, foreign nationals,
refugees, etc. (Wei & Schnell, 2025). It also refers to the modalities
of their inclusion (whether through integration or assimilation
(Schnapper, 2007) via language teaching and learning, as well as the
mechanisms of linguistic capital hierarchy in the “language market”
(Heller 2023 [2002]; Calvet, 2002; Bourdieu, 1982), where certain
languages are assigned a higher political and economic value than
others. It is worth recalling here that every speech act—whether
produced in a first, second, or foreign language—is inseparable from
its conditions of performance. A performative utterance, for example,
can only acquire social existence if it is supported by the
institution that confers legitimacy upon it; outside this framework,
it loses its social significance (Bourdieu, 1982, p. 71).
Consequently, speakers of regional or foreign languages see Their
power to act is weakened, and they find themselves relegated to
inferior positions in the civic sphere. As S. Breidbach (2003)
emphasizes, legal rights can only be exercised if individuals have the
necessary means to claim and access them. Consequently, those excluded
from social, linguistic, and cultural capital find themselves
marginalized in the exercise of their rights: a situation that
underscores the crucial role of language teaching and learning. Faced
with these challenges, the question then arises of the legitimacy of
linguistic norms, their transmission, and their variations—often
rooted in institutionalized cultural habits—and the corollary question
of the marginalization of norms originating from minority groups
(Guerin, 2023; Costa, 2022). Such ideological processes are likely to
produce a feeling of linguistic insecurity among speakers and to fuel
discriminatory and/or xenophobic social representations, thus
contributing to the reproduction of relations of domination (Francart,
1997). On this basis, by questioning the role of multilingualism and
language education in the construction and stability of democracies,
this colloquium ultimately aims to instill pluralistic values into
linguistic, educational and migration policies, as well as into
teaching practices that lack them, while revitalizing those that are
currently weakened by extremist drifts.
Prospective Themes of the Conference:
Proposals should align with at least one of the following themes:
 - Language Education, Democracy, and Inclusion. This theme aims to
explore how language teaching and learning can contribute to the
emergence of an inclusive democratic society. What connections can be
established between language education, democracy, and inclusion? How
do current approaches foster the development of learners' agency in
the classroom and in society? How can language teaching contribute to
citizenship education? To what extent does considering learners'
emotional experiences allow for a renewed reflection on living
together through languages?
 - Democracy and Minority Languages. This theme examines the
challenges related to the preservation and promotion of minority
languages and populations in the sustainability of democracies. To
what extent are these populations, as well as their linguistic and
cultural practices, represented and included in democratic systems by
political institutions, and according to what mechanisms? What are the
obstacles to the revitalization of their languages and cultures? How
do speakers' experiences of linguistic domination or marginalization
influence their relationship to democracy? The role of language
transmission as a link between minority populations and political
institutions can then be examined.
 - Language Policy and Democracy. This theme focuses on the active
roles of language and education policies in the establishment and
preservation of democracies, as well as the methods of their
implementation. To what extent does language education promote
democratic participation in a given territory? What mechanisms allow
language and education policies to influence the dynamics of inclusion
or exclusion within democratic frameworks (Pradeau, 2025, 2021; OECD,
2025)? Finally, it seeks to determine the extent to which language
policies explicitly or implicitly embody democratic values.
 - Language Practices and Migration. This research area focuses on
language practices developed in situations of voluntary or forced
migration, embedded within complex processes of globalization,
particularly those linked to (de)colonization, wars, and climate
change. It adopts a critical perspective attentive to power relations,
linguistic inequalities, and the conditions for the effective
democratization of language education. To what extent do language
practices promote or hinder democratic participation and the agency of
people in migration situations? What are the democratic challenges
related to access to civic participation and the recognition of
migrants' multilingual repertoires?
 - Multilingualism and digital citizenship. Democracies can be
challenged by the lack of regulation of institutional bodies and by
the dynamics of deterritorialization and
reterritorialization inherent in the digital realm (De Lespinois,
2017). This research area focuses both on tensions between languages
in digital spaces (Aguilar Río and Brudermann, 2024; Faucompré and
Putsche, 2023) and on digital citizenship education within the
framework of language teaching and learning, considered from a
pluralist perspective (Ollivier & Jeanneau, 2023). How do individual
and community ideologies circulating in digital spaces interact with
the principles of digital citizenship, and what trends emerge? In what
ways do these spaces contribute to the revitalization of minority
languages, and what representations and experiences of multilingualism
do they help to shape?

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