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Daniel PRADO
Executive Secretary, MAAYA Network;
Director, Terminology and Language Industries, Latin Union
(Paris, France)
It Is Time to Place Multilingualism and Linguistic Diversity
at the Heart of the International Debate
Our world is not the same as it was after the Second World War, when two
different ways of seeing the world faced up to each other, when international
relations were based on military, political and economic criteria and no
thought at all was given to valuing culture as the basis of society. It is not the
same either as the world we knew from the late 1990s, with a single dominant
culture becoming more hegemonic.
By 2011 the world has become multipolar, supranational alliances based
on respect for culture have become stronger, alliances between regions of
different nations sharing a language or a culture are being born every day.
And although political and economic issues are still present in international
relations, cultural aspects are taking a larger place. Religion, ethnicity, customs
and language now play a part in the formulation of international policies,
and even though they can be, unfortunately, a factor of discord, culture is
increasingly perceived as a major vector in sustainable development and fair
growth facilitating harmony among peoples and respect for their dignity.
The adoption of the Convention on the Protection and Promotion of the
Diversity of Cultural Expressions was the very symbol of culture’s changing place
in international relations. It emphasized that culture should be seen not as a mere
economic value but above all as an essential condition of human beings’ existence
and the best motor for development that respects the future of the planet.
The Convention is an opening that activists working for multilingualism and
respect for linguistic diversity have seized upon as it is high time to consider
language as closely associated to free expression and self-development, equal
opportunities and promotion of understanding among peoples on fair and
balanced foundations.
Language does have an implicit place in the Convention but implicit is not
obvious to everyone. The Millennium Development Goals, having omitted to
include culture as a goal in its own right, also failed to refer to the language
of individuals. The Convention for the Safeguarding of the Intangible
Heritage does make a careful reference and, then, both the Recommendation
concerning the Promotion and Use of Multilingualism and Universal Access
to Cyberspace, and the World Summit on the Information Society gave body