37.2822, Confs: Panel at IPC20: Risk Discourse and Sustainability (Finland)

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LINGUIST List: Vol-37-2822. Fri Sep 04 2026. ISSN: 1069 - 4875.

Subject: 37.2822, Confs: Panel at IPC20: Risk Discourse and Sustainability (Finland)

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Date: 03-Sep-2026
From: Annelie Ädel [aal at du.se]
Subject: Panel at IPC20: Risk Discourse and Sustainability


Panel at IPC20 - Risk Discourse and Sustainability
Short Title: IPC20
Theme: Risk discourse and sustainability

Date: 27-Jun-2027 - 02-Jul-2027
Location: Helsinki, Finland
Meeting URL: https://pragmatics.international/page/IPC20Helsinki

Linguistic Field(s): Applied Linguistics; Discourse Analysis;
Pragmatics; Semantics; Text/Corpus Linguistics

Submission Deadline: 15-Oct-2026

We are pleased to invite submissions for a panel on the theme of Risk
discourse and sustainability.
Recent work has stressed the need for Risk Discourse as an approach in
discourse analysis and pragmatics (e.g. Ädel & Östman, 2023; 2025;
forthc.). ‘Risk discourse’ has been defined as referring to “texts,
whether spoken, written or signed, that are concerned with matters of
risk and related concepts (such as security and safety), whether
involving experts and/or lay people, whether explicitly or implicitly
dealt with, whether synchronously or asynchronously communicated, and
whether framed as relatively negative or positive risk” (Ädel &
Östman, 2025, p. 743). Risk Discourse has been discussed based on
different languages, through different types of linguistic analyses,
and in relation to concepts like responsibility and ideology. In this
panel, we would like to explore the concept of sustainability in
relation to Risk Discourse.
Existing research on risk clearly foregrounds the ‘harm’ dimension,
but there is another important side of the concept, viz. the ‘gain’
dimension of risk, which appears to be key particularly in a
sustainability context. Sustainability as a concept raises our
awareness that risks that are ignored are likely to lead to ‘harm’
and, conversely, risks that are dealt with are likely to lead to
‘gain’. Essentially, sustainability can be seen as based on the idea
that the right kind of risk mitigation and risk management will lead
to a positive outcome for society at large.
Both risk and sustainability involve a contrast between the present
and the future. A risk is prototypically seen as something which may,
but need not, happen. Participants in risk scenarios need to be
mindful of potential futures that involve ‘harm’ or that involve
‘gain’. Sustainability also implies a focus on potential futures,
through the general goal to meet the needs of the present in ways that
do not to compromise the needs of future generations. Here we also see
the need to be attentive to hypothetical futures that involve ‘harm’
or ‘gain’.
For this exploratory panel, we invite presentations on all aspects of
sustainability in relation to aspects of risk, whether ‘harm’-oriented
and/or ‘gain’-oriented. We especially welcome projects that consider
not just negative, but also positive aspects of risk. Contributions
may cover for example issues of climate change, the revitalization of
and threat against minority languages and peoples, metaphorizations of
risks and sustainability, aspects of responsibility in relation to
risks and sustainability, and more theoretically the very concept of
sustainability in (and outside of) language studies.
Interested researchers are invited to submit an abstract (250-500
words) through the conference website
(https://pragmatics.international/page/CfP2027) by 15 October, 2026.
When submitting the abstract, please ensure that you select the panel
"Risk discourse and sustainability".
For inquiries concerning this panel, contact the panel organizers:
Annelie Ädel (aal at du.se) and Jan-Ola Östman
(jan-ola.ostman at helsinki.fi).
References:
Ädel, A. & J.-O. Östman (eds.), 2023 Risk Discourse and
Responsibility. John Benjamins.
Ädel, A. & J.-O. Östman, 2025. Positive and negative risk in adventure
tourism discourse: Adrenaline hunting in “arctic Lapland”. Text & Talk
45(6): 725–748.
https://doi.org/10.1515/text-2023-0237.
Ädel, A. & J.-O. Östman, forthc. The construction of the Arctic in
tourism discourse: Sápmi, Svalbard and Greenland from the perspective
of risk. In The European North in Linguistics. Brill.



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