Some would say that it means ‘citizens of nowhere’. Yet it has been a belief held by both philosophers and activists from Socrates to Mandela. In the Spring of 2022, when faced with the monstrous consequences of extreme nationalism in Europe people throughout the world are coming together to support their fellow human beings, this idea has never been so important.
It is a belief which is central to the calling of the linguist, for this is not just about helping people to use language for functional exchanges or for making deals. It is about understanding what it is to be human, and appreciating the ‘other’. This is why in recent years, The Languages Company has been working with colleagues across Europe to try to combat Online Hate Speech – which is the antithesis of what we stand for. Although a new departure for us, it has been a moving and enlightening experience.
The language of hate
In the UK the number of officially recorded hate crimes increased to over 124,000 in 2020/21 (compared with less than 40,000 in 2012/13). All of these involved hatred of others – 74% were race hate and 15% hatred of sexual orientation. As for online hate speech – using Twitter, Facebook and on line news feeds – this too has expanded massively. According to DEMOS in a study of online Islamophobia in 2016, an average of 6943 anti-Islamic tweets per day were sent that year, many of them spiking following events such as the EU Referendum or the Nice attacks.
An increasing number of organisations are working to oppose this online hatred, which is both a distortion of language and an attack on our humanity. There is more detail about the situation in the UK in this recent report.