Global Issues in Language Education: Issue 25. Dec. 1996. (p. 16 - 17)
I. INTRODUCTION
It is a great honour for me to speak of peace in Hiroshima on the
occasion of the 22nd International Conference of the Japan Association for
Language Teaching (JALT). In this city, reflections on peace are more
pertinent than in other parts of our planet and invitations for new peace
projects find their warmest welcome.
Dear friends: this is a particularly important moment in human
history. For many centuries we have lived immersed in the culture of war.
For as far back as our historical memory goes, we have used violence and
war as a means of resolving conflicts between human groups. Now we are in
a position to eliminate violence and war. The idea of a world at peace is
no longer utopian.
I am well aware that we are still witness to terrible wars in
different parts of the world. I come from Europe and am deeply affected by
the horrifying violence suffered by Bosnia. But we might also remember
other cases in every continent: Rwanda, the long war in the Sudan,
successive wars in Afghanistan, the violence of the Israeli-Palestinian
conflict, the revolution in Chiapas or the repression in Tibet.
These are examples of the ancient culture of war we have not yet
managed to replace with new practices of a democratic type, with appeals to
law or with options for dialogue and rational negotiations. But I am
convinced we can progress towards a culture of peace. I am pleased that our
conference theme is Crossing Borders for I think that the great border we
are "crossing" is the one separating the culture of war from the culture of
peace.
II. AN EMERGING CULTURE OF PEACE1. Growing Universal Interdependence
It is only a few years since we began to see ourselves as citizens
of Planet Earth. Before that, we were conscious only of our condition as
members of our countries and thought we had a moral obligation to defend
the interest of our national community. But in 50 years, the relations of
interdependence between all countries have multiplied and are still growing
spectacularly.
Modern communication technologies have contributed
decisively to this. Today, any disorder at any point of the universal
geography has a negative effect on all the nations of the world. For this
reason, international political and economic structures are being
established on every continent. In Europe, for example, we are in the
middle of a transition from the old nation states to the new structures of
the European Union. In the same way, we shall have to make the United
Nations into a truly effective political authority capable of resolving
global problems. The recent United Nations conferences have produced very
important documents. Remember Agenda 21, passed at Rio de Janeiro in 1992
by the UN Conference on Environment and Development. Remember the World
Conference on Human Rights (Vienna, 1993), on Population and Development
(Cairo, 1994), on Women (Beijing, 1995) and on Housing (Istanbul, 1996). We
have many ideas but have not yet set up the political and juridical
mechanisms. I think lucidness and responsibility will triumph and we shall
set up these necessary international structures. We can all contribute:
politicians, businessmen, teachers, non-governmental organizations, the
mass media, scientists and technicians. I think we prefer reason and
solidarity to chaos and violence.| ". . . a large part of scientific and technological activity is directed towards the war industry. In spite of this, the prestige of democracy is growing." - Felix Marti |
2. The Growing Wish to Participate
One positive development of our times is the growing prestige of
democratic political structures in the face of authoritarian systems. On
every continent, we see how dictatorial regimes are steadily giving way to
new experiences that allow citizens to take part in the running of public
life. In countries with a long democratic tradition, there is reflection on
the need to extend democratic processes so that new areas of power do not
escape democratic control. I can think of three areas in which democracy
needs to be perfected: economic power, media power and technological power.
Remember that speculative financial operations are qualitatively larger
than those arising from the productive economy. Remember that the
communications media, which has so much influence over the transmission of
ideas, symbols and values, operate exclusively according to market
criteria. Remember that a large part of scientific and technological
activity is directed towards the war industry. In spite of this, the
prestige of democracy is growing. For some years, UNESCO has been drawing
up programmes of technical aid for many countries making the transition to
democracy. Other organizations in the United Nations system have helped
safeguard electoral processes in countries with little or no experience of
democracy. I think there is a substantial relationship between democracy
and the culture of peace. Under democratic regimes, people only decide on
war in exceptional circumstances. Authoritarian regimes, however, can lead
their countries to war at the drop of a hat. We must therefore look with
great hope on the progress towards democracy being made by the countries of
Eastern Europe, South Africa and Latin America. 3. Growing Environmental Awareness
Our new environmental sensibilities reflect a profound change in
the way we look on the relationship between human beings and nature. For
centuries, what we call Western culture has imposed a relationship
characterized by aggressiveness. Man owned nature, considering it an
inexhaustible source of resources, and showed no concern for the
consequences of industrial development that generated pollution. We now
know that we cannot consider ourselves as separate from nature and that any
damage to the delicate balance of the biosphere will affect us the same as
it will other living species. We have also very recently discovered the
limited nature of vital resources. In its 1996 report, the Worldwatch
Institute in Washington informed us that we no longer know how to increase
world food production. And for some time we have been worried by the
decrease in biodiversity and by our contribution to climactic change. We
shall have to organize new industrial cultures on the basis of
sustainability. The patterns of production and consumption we consider
normal in the United States, the European Union and Japan will have to be
dramatically modified. We shall have to construct philosophies or paradigms
that allow a harmonious relationship between the human species and nature.
In this respect, Western culture will have to learn to be humble and value
other traditions which have never lost a loving relationship with nature.
Our ecological awareness seems to me more favourable to peace than the
culture of technological aggressiveness, so long as it does not take the
form of prescientific and pretechnological fundamentalism.4. Growing Respect for Diversity
Scientific and technological culture was until very recently held
up as the only valid culture. We now realise that the cultural experience
we attribute to white, Anglo-Saxon, English-speaking Protestant males is
only one of many legitimate cultural traditions and that there are hundreds
of human communities with other cultural values that are equally valuable.
At UNESCO, we like to say that all cultures and languages are equally
worthy. This implies not only in the recognition of the diversity of people
and of human communities but a positive appraisal of intellectual, ethical
and aesthetic diversity. Opposing this standpoint are the fundamentalist
trends which would impose a single interpretation of truth, a single code
of conduct, a single authority, a single aesthetic. I think that the
recognition and appreciation of diversity are gaining ground all over the
world and that this change in mentality is one of the most fascinating
crossing of borders taking place in our day. Before, diversity was a cause
of fear. Now, we enjoy it. The recent UNESCO report by the World Commission
on Culture and Development (1995) has as its title "Our Creative Diversity"
and proposes an effective commitment to pluralism. The same ideas are at
the heart of the recent Declaration on Tolerance approved by UNESCO in
1995, which begins "Tolerance consists in respecting, accepting and
appreciating the rich diversity of cultures in our world."| ". . . constructing international political structures is not enough if we cannot agree on ethical values to provide a basis for future political structures." - Felix Marti |
5. Growing Intercultural Dialogue
In an interdependent world, respect for diversity is not enough. We
must be able to establish consensus on the basis of international
coexistence. For this reason, international governmental and
non-governmental organizations are establishing platforms for dialogue
between the world's various cultures to discover shared concerns, common
ethical orientations and the possibility of sharing responsibilities. I
would like to mention two important texts in this search. First of all, the
"Declaration toward a Global Ethic", approved in 1993
by the Parliament of the World's Religions in Chicago and published by Hans Kung and Karl-Josep
Kuschel. Secondly, the "Declaration on the Role of Religion in Promoting
the Culture of Peace", signed in Barcelona in 1994 by eminent
representatives of the great universal religious traditions. I think
constructing international political structures is not enough if we cannot
agree on ethical values to provide a basis for future political structures.
Young people all over the world are asking what our values are. On every
continent, we are threatened by nihilism, scepticism and pragmatism. To
construct peace, values of another kind must triumph, I think there are
three which, under different names, can be found in all cultures: freedom,
justice and solidarity. We must be honest and recognize that on a global
level the predominant values are others: systems of dominance, the rule of
the strongest and group selfishness. I have already pointed out how
democratic freedoms are becoming more widespread. But there still remains a
lot to be done in the field of justice and almost everything in the field
of solidarity. I also believe that many people and human groups are
prepared to opt for justice and solidarity. I believe these will be the
values of the international ethic of the future.6. New Political and Economic Structures
The political system of states, with their armies, borders,
currencies and sovereignties, is becoming outdated. There are continents in
which state borders were laid down according to the interests of the
colonial powers and do not take into account ethnic or cultural realities.
There are states comprising more than one nation and nations divided
between several states. This whole political system will have to be
reformed so as to recognize the right of all nations to self-determination,
respecting the principle of subsidiarity and creating continental and
universal political structures. I would like to quote a passage from the
recent report for UNESCO by the International Commission on Education for
the 21st Century, published this year, 1996. In it, the Mexican researcher
Rodolfo Saenghen says, "The world has surely acquired sufficient maturity
to be able to bring about a democratic civic culture based on the rights of
the human being and at the same time encourage mutual respect between
cultures on the basis of the recognition of the collective rights of all
the peoples of the world, large or small, each as valuable as the others".
In the economic sphere also, we cannot make do with the achievements of
liberalism and the market economy. We now have a good understanding of the
mechanisms which on one hand lead to an excessive concentration of wealth
and on the other generate marginalization, unemployment and hardship. We
are also aware of the economic failure of countries under so-called real
socialism. But we have a political and moral duty to change the present
economic system so that the economy is placed at the service of human
development, takes into account the job shortage resulting from the new
technologies and shares universal wealth more fairly.| "Peace movements today are not romantic utopias, but reliable and competent lines of thought." - Felix Marti |
7. New Concepts of Security
Until the fall of the Berlin Wall, the security of states and,
especially, international security was thought of in military terms. The
countries of the UN Security Council still maintain militaristic concepts
of security and are themselves the chief arms exporters. But ideas on
security are changing. I have already said that the security of states does
not always coincide with the security of the peoples who live within them
while in states with authoritarian regimes the security forces are used to
repress democratic aspirations. In general, we prefer today to assess
security in terms of food, health, housing, education and the environment.
A nation is safe when its security in these fields is guaranteed. Arms
cannot solve the basic problems of food security or environmental security.
This is what UNESCO set out to promote a few months ago at a meeting of
ministers of defence from countries in Central America. We have also made
good progress in techniques for preventing and solving conflicts. Peace
research institutions are managing to change old habits in the field of
conflict handling. Peace movements today are not romantic utopias, but
reliable and competent lines of thought. Never like today have people
turned to the United Nations for mediation, dialogue and peace agreements.
For the first time in human history, violence is becoming discredited as a
method of solving conflicts
III. LANGUAGES AND PEACE1. The Treasure of Languages
Each language expresses one of many possible human wisdoms.
Languages are at once interpretations of reality, mythical and symbolic
constructs, settings for rational life, expressions of community
identities, territories for communication and dialogue. Languages are the
most prodigious productions of human creativity. They must therefore be
considered a common treasure of humanity. Each language is the heritage of
the community that expresses itself in that language, but it is also the
heritage of the whole of humanity. The differences between languages must
not be interpreted in a way that allows the establishment of hierarchies
between them. All languages are equally worthy regardless of the number of
people who speak the language, of the political and economic power of the
linguistic community that expresses itself in it, of the legal status of
the language or of its presence in education or the media. Love for all
languages is one of the basic conditions for peace in the world. In the
course of human history, violence has often been exerted in the linguistic
field. I myself have experienced it in my own lifetime. I belong to the
Catalan linguistic community. Catalan is a language derived from Latin and
spoken by 10 million people. I was born during the dictatorship of General
Franco, who governed Spain for almost 40 years. I was not able to learn my
language at school and never saw a newspaper written in my language until I
was 38. My language was banned and persecuted. Many languages, in many
parts of the world, have experienced or still experience similar
situations. To construct peace, we must love all languages and create the
conditions for them to live in freedom.2. Linguistic Diversity
We have not yet made a rigorous inventory of human linguistic
diversity. In his book, "A Guide to the World's Languages" (Edward Arnold,
1987), Merrith Ruhlen says there must be about 5,000 living languages in
the world. According to Michel Malherbe, in his book "Les langues de
l'humanite", published by Seghers in Paris in 1983, the most widely spoken
languages are the Chinese of Beijing (Mandarin), English, Hindi-Urdu,
Spanish, Russian, Indonesian, Arabic, Portuguese, Bengali, French, Japanese
and German. 47 countries have English as their official language, 21 have
Arabic and 20 have Spanish. With figures of this sort, we can see that the
real problem lies in the weakness of languages spoken by linguistic
communities with small populations and with little or no political or legal
recognition. Some linguistics have warned of the probable disappearance of
1,000 languages in the next 20 years. This linguistic disaster is as
serious as the loss of biodiversity. I would say it is even more serious
because languages are the most valuable expression of the human spirit. The
protection of weak or threatened languages is one objective of the
philosophy of peace. Protection of diversity seems to me to be a
peace-bearing principle. A world without diversity would be less
interesting, less exciting. The beauty of life lies in its fascinating
diversity. UNESCO has decided to draw up a regular world report on the
state of languages so as to contribute to the awareness by all countries of
the need to protect linguistic diversity. UNESCO hopes that you, as
language teachers, will be the most enthusiastic defenders of human
linguistic diversity.3. Linguistic Rights
If we are determined to protect the world's languages, we must
create legal mechanisms to make this protection effective. At the moment,
we have no efficient international instrument in this field. For this
reason, on the initiative of Pen Club International with the collaboration
of many non-governmental organizations, amongst which I would like to
mention the World Federation of Modern Language Associations (FIPLV), a
Universal Declaration of Linguistic Rights has been drawn up which was
officially approved in Barcelona on June 6, 1996 and presented to UNESCO so
as to become an International Convention approved by the United Nations.
The World Conference on Linguistic Rights has begun a process which will
culminate in the adoption of the Convention by the UN member states. One of
the key ideas of the Universal Declaration is that of simultaneously
considering individual linguistic rights and the linguistic rights of
communities, because the life of a language is not effectively protected
unless we take into account the rights of linguistic communities. I believe
the Universal Declaration of Linguistic Rights will contribute to peace in
the world. If we analyse the conflicts there are on every continent, we
shall discover that there are factors of a cultural and linguistic type in
all of them. The two chief trends in the world today are globalization and
the affirmation of community identities. These two trends can be perfectly
harmonized. I am convinced that the Universal Declaration is an important
step in the protection of cultural and linguistic identities. I do not
think it will go down well with those who want to maintain systems of
cultural or linguistic imperialism, but I think that to create world peace
the old cultural imperialism must be replaced by new forms of cultural
democracy. I invite all language teachers to help spread the letter and
spirit of the Universal Declaration of Linguistic Rights.4. Linguistic Policies
There are peaceful linguistic policies and linguistic policies that
generate conflict. In the last few years, we have seen very positive
changes in every continent. Let me mention a few examples: the Republic of
South Africa and Ethiopia in the African continent, Bolivia and other
Andean countries in Latin America; Australia, Cambodia, Russia, Spain and
many other countries that have recognized their linguistic plurality and
renewed laws and practices in a democratic and peaceful spirit. Linguistic
policy must set out to promote the self-esteem of the languages of each
community, access to the languages of neighbouring linguistic communities
and access to a language of universal scope. These objectives can be
achieved with a suitable judicial system, through political measures and
with a linguistic education adopted to each situation. In some African
countries, the excessive prestige given to the language of the colonizers
needs to be compensated through measures aimed at promoting self-esteem. In
other countries, monolingual English- Spanish- or French-speakers must be
encouraged to speak other languages. There is a general need to promote a
multilingualism not oriented exclusively in favour of the dominant
international languages. It would not be a good thing if learning foreign
languages in practice represented a step towards universal monolingualism.
The linguistic policy of each country and the linguistic policy of
international institutions must be directed at a linguistic diversity
compatible with the use of one or more universal languages (lingua
francas). In Europe, some intellectuals have put forward very interesting
ideas in this respect. Let me mention Miguel Siguan's book "L'Europa de les
llengues" (The Languages of Europe) (Barcelona, 1995), which proposes
multi-lingualism without renouncing one's linguistic identity. I think
ideas like this contribute to the peace of each continent and to world
peace.| "Multilingual education must be a way of fighting the prejudices, stereotypes and sectarianism that underpin the culture of war." - Felix Marti |
5. Multilingual Education
Multilingual education can be a valuable instrument for the culture
of peace. Crossing the border of the first language can mean empathizing
with another culture, with other communities, with another view of the
world and with other values. Language teachers are in a position to
exercise their trade with a definite idea in mind: to establish bridges of
friendship between different cultures, to present human diversity as
something positive, to arouse a taste for the complementarity of the
various traditions, to discover the cultural conditioning of our opinions,
options and values, to make a call for openness of spirit, to promote
tolerance, to learn to dialogue, to respect differences and to get on
together. And we must not be satisfied with a bilingual education either.
We must do everything possible to cross yet another border and advance
along the path of multilingual education. I would like to stress that what
can make language teaching into education for peace is a definite
intentionality. On the basis of this intentionality -- that is, having
specific aims in mind as regards intercultural understanding --,
straightforward language teaching can be enriched using methodologies that
help to modify students' attitudes. The aim, then, is to encourage a change
of mentality (I understand people who aren't like me) and a change of
attitude (I can be a friend and partner of people from other human
communities). Multilingual education must be a way of fighting the
prejudices, stereotypes and sectarianism that underpin the culture of war.
If we can speak other peoples' languages, we shall have a better chance of
understanding their points of view, their values and priorities. We shall
have access to their memory, their hopes and dreams. For all these reasons,
we at UNESCO want to honor all language teachers who see themselves as
educators for peace.
IV. LINGUAPAX
To end, I would like to remind you that UNESCO has created a
specific programme to help promote language teaching as a means to
education for peace. It goes under the name of the Linguapax Project.
Linguapax already goes back a few years, but recently the programme has
been made very dynamic because UNESCO itself wants to concentrate on
promoting the transition from the culture of war to the culture of peace.
Linguapax acts in three fields according to the three great challenges I
have mentioned. Linguapax advises UNESCO member states in matters of
linguistic policy or planning. Linguapax promotes the protection of the
world's linguistic diversity, for which it is preparing the first report on
the state of the world's languages, and supports the Universal Declaration
of Linguistic Rights. Linguapax promotes the creation and trial of teaching
materials to help language teachers and teachers of the social sciences
become educators for peace. These methods have been tested in Europe and
work groups have recently been set up in Australia and Latin America. I
hope these days in Hiroshima will lead to the creation of a Linguapax
Network in Asia and that in 1997 we shall be able to complete the network
with seminars in Africa. I would like to thank all the teachers who have
been kind enough to listen to me at the Japan Association for Language
Teaching, which has given special consideration to Linguapax at its 22nd
international conference. I am confident that Hiroshima will inspire us
with new projects and commitments for world peace.
Newsletter #25
Global Issues SIG Newsletter Index
| www.jalt.org/global/25Marti.htm |