Global Humanism’s Language-Barrier: A Consideration
Author(s): Scott Douglas Jacobsen
Publication (Outlet/Website): The Good Men Project
Publication Date (yyyy/mm/dd): 2024/03/06
Something important came out of last attending the World Humanist Congress in Copenhagen, Denmark, in 2023 after attending the General Assembly of Humanists International in 2019.
English is the proverbial lingua franca of the humanist world, generally speaking. These are contingent facts based on a Western European grounding of the modern history of humanism. We should not mistake the aspects of this history and the organic impacts on the current humanist moment.
Many societies continue to be in transition. Some are more authoritarian and patriarchal structures. I do not know the reason much for, sometimes, strong pushback against terms like “patriarchy.” Certainly, it can be vague if undefined because the construct involves a lot of analysis in one.
Yet, when we state patriarchal structures, we tend to understand. Political and social systems left women historically at a disadvantage, with contingent leftovers leaving them at a disadvantage in some places today. Something like that.
Other societies continue to move towards more majoritarian; when unhealthy, they lean into the populist. When healthy, they move into an enlightened, self-interested majority. I do not know of a society entirely composed of the latter.
Even with these shifting landscapes, more democracies or pseudo-democracies exist today as they continue on with the traditions of mini-revolutions called elections. Humanists emerge more in the health mentioned before. They come out of democratic traditions and reinforce them. In extreme cases, they can help form them.
When I arrived in Keflavik and went to Reykjavik and intermingled with global humanist leaders in Iceland, I did not notice it. Our common language was English. Granted, it can be considered the language of the empire in some sense. Not only the American one but the one before it, the British.
If we lived in the time of Romans, humanists would speak eloquent Latin, whether native tongue or internally translated from a mother tongue into the second or Third language of Latin. These all seem like balanced and middle-road positions to me. Yet, at the same time, they’re grounded in a secular philosophical system.
Most of the world does not adhere to these tenets or premises. Thus, it is, indeed, decidedly not common sense in a world bound to different senses of “sense.” And when I went to Copenhagen, once more, we spoke English.
A comment arising from the interactions among the many global leader humanists at the events, workshops, and speeches was the character of the interactions. Individuals from the Global South, particularly, came at a linguistic disadvantage.
They are capable, eloquent activists and political commentators with a zest for scientific knowledge. Yet, here we were, presenting in English, speaking in English, and writing in English, and this created boundaries or difficulties for them.
Certainly, there’s nothing wrong with the historical contingency of English as the lingua franca or individual speakers from those backgrounds. Some movements work to shame people into conformity in leftwing politics over words at the moment. That seems misaligned with humanist values.
What does align with humanist values? Education of individuals who may use inaccurate terminology or non-scientific concepts to describe known phenomena. We live to understand and compassionately express this to people. Satire and barbed humour are another matter.
What about the people who come to global humanist events after overcoming the other hurdles to engage? Language becomes a barrier. It occurred to me, as it was expressed to organizations and the community, that English isn’t the issue. It is pacing one’s speech and using the clarity of word selection when presenting, talking, and writing to a global humanist community.
This goes with the historical current of English as the lingua franca while providing context for understanding. The point of most English language use is clarity of thought, deliverance of a message, and navigation of social norms.
It is an interesting consideration. To think about English language use among many Global North countries in interaction with Global South nationals, it might be something to take into account when hosting events posting communications, and reaching out.
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