Language conflicts and securitization in multilingual societies

Abstract

Societal multilingualism is an essential aspect of political communication. This applies in particular to the management of security issues and language conflicts in multilingual states. As this article demonstrates, these processes of securitization set in much earlier than just in situations of open conflict. They can lead to a spiral of competitive securitization. It is therefore surprising that so far hardly any theoretical considerations have been made to explore the intersection between conflict dynamics, securitization processes and multilingualism. This article therefore examines this theoretical gap and identifies questions and requirements for future theoretical work. The aim is to open new avenues for studying multilingualism through the prism of securitization and conflict theory.