Actions for Social Justice in Multilingual Societies
Hosted by MIRCo-UAM Research Center at La Cristalera Centre
15–16 May 2025
The symposium was organised by the Executive Committee of the European Civil Society Platform for Multilingualism (ECSPM – https://ecspm.org/), which used the occasion to celebrate 10 years of development, expansion and enlargement as an organisation, independent from the DG Education and Culture of the European Commission that initially launched it. The symposium was co-organised by the research centre on Multilingualism, Discourse, and Communication (MIRCo-UAM), represented by Luisa Martín Rojo and Miren Otxotorena.
It was hosted at La Cristalera, a residence and conference centre of UAM, at the Sierra de Guadarrama, near Madrid, which offers an exceptional setting for collective thinking and knowledge generation, for discussions and collaborative work across linguistic, national and disciplinary boundaries
What is ECSPM? The European Civil Society Platform for Multilingualism (ECSPM) is a network of institutions, organisations and experts committed to advancing multilingualism as a foundation for social cohesion, justice, and democracy in Europe. More information.
View from La Cristalera
About 60 scholars from all over Europe, from Canada and the USA particpated in the event in person, and only a couple of people presented online. Invited discussants commented on the presentations of keynote speakers, others took part in panels and roundtable sesssions. There were only a couple of online presentations. All speakers’ PPT presentations and summaries of panel/roundtables are on the symposium webpage: https://ecspm.org/ecspm-events/conferences-symposia/actions-for-social-justice-in-multilingual-societies/.
During the event an automatic translation system via Zoom facilitated the active use of Spanish, Galician, Catalan, and other languages, thus avoiding the imposition of English as the sole language of knowledge production. This decision embodied one of ECSPM’s core principles: the promotion of multilingualism as both a human right and social practice.
📍 Day One: Theoretical, Methodological and Ethical Shifts in Sociolinguistic Research
Participants in the opening session at La Cristalera, UAM.
After an introduction to the Symposium by ECSPM President, Bessie Dendrinos, the first keynote address on “A Sociolinguistics Committed to Social Transformation” was delivered by Luisa Martín Rojo and Maite Puigdevall, researchers who took part in MIRCo’s EquiLing project. They outlined the theoretical, methodological, and ethical challenges of participatory approaches, emphasising action research, epistemic communities, and collective critical consciousness.
The next session featured a panel on “EquiLing – Linguistic Inequality and Agency in Multilingual Contexts” in which Estibaliz Amorrortu, Gabriela Prego Vázquez, and Joan Pujolar took part and spoke about the collaborative research with young speakers of Basque, Galician and Catalan, focusing on minoritisation, symbolic surveillance, and transformative agency. The panel was moderated by Jos Swanenberg, who acted as discussant.
Participants during the debates on the second day.
TThe panel that followed on “Action Research for Social Justice in Education” explored the potential of action research to transform educational practices through linguistic justice. Panel participants, including Ben Rampton, Virginia Unamuno, Christina Hedman, and Miren Otxotorena, drew on experiences from London, Sweden, Madrid, and the Argentina’s Chaco region to discuss key concepts such as university linguistic citizenship, the methodological challenges of collaboration, the aesthetics and ethics of multilingual education, and agency as an interactive and situated process. The panel was moderated by Júlia Llompart.
The keynote on “Legislation as (In)action: Relevance and Limits of the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages” by Fernando Ramallo offered a critical analysis of the Charter’s shortcomings and called for a reform, prioritising linguistic justice over hegemonic hierarchies in the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages, adopted by the Council of Europe in 1992, which aims to protect and promote regional or minority languages in Europe. Though it is symbolically significant, its implementation varies across states and lacks effective implementation mechanisms.
European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages Adopted by the Council of Europe in 1992, this treaty aims to protect and promote regional or minority languages in Europe. Though symbolically significant, its implementation varies across states and lacks effective enforcement mechanisms.
Following this, the keynote on “Language Policy, Social Justice and Multilingualism in Canada” by Nikolay Slavkov examined ideological labels tied to official bilingualism and proposed a transition towards linguistic pluralism, including the recognition of Indigenous languages. Shelley Taylor, who was online, acted as a discussant in this session and provided her own point of view supporting the position of the keynote speaker.
Clara Molina ended the first day’s sessions with an impressive roundup and summary of the day’s work.
📍 Day Two: Policies, Alliances and Collaborative Initiatives
The second day began with a keynote address on “Language, anticipation, and the (un)making of futures: The university as a terrain of struggle” delivered by Miguel Pérez-Milans, and the discussant was Eva Codó Olsina. This talk explores how language, desire, and future anticipation become key terrains of struggle within the internationalized universities, particularly in the UK context. Through speculative narratives and models of professional becoming, students (un)learn ways of being that shape possible futures. It reflects on the implications for critical sociolinguistics and linguistic citizenship in imagining alternative forms of sociability.
Presenting “The CoARA Multilingualism WG” were Janne Pölönen and Josep M. Cots, who introduced the work the WG is doing in the context of the Coalition for Advancing Research Assessment (CoARA – https://coara.eu/). Actually, its main aim is to advocate multilingualism and combat language biases in research assessment. It is concerned with language diversity and biases in assessment, while it supports European institutions in fulfilling their duty to enhance, promote, and uphold linguistic equity, diversity and non-discrimination. The session was moderated by Rafaella Lenoir, representing the Autonomous University of Madrid, a member institution of CoARA.
The panel on “Language Policies and Multilingual Practices in European University Alliances”, was organised and coordinated by Theo Marinis, a member of the EUniWell university Alliance. Irini Tsamadou-Jacoberger of the EPICUR Umiversity Alliance, María Luisa Pérez Cafiado of the NEOLAIA University Alliance, Ulrike Jessner-Schmid, member of the Aurora University Alliance, ans Bernadette O’Rourke, member of the CIVIS University Alliance discussed how each of these transnational consortia promote mobility, multilingualism, and innovation in higher education. They unite universities from different countries to develop joint curricula and inclusive European citizenship.
What is CoARA? The Coalition for Advancing Research Assessment is a European initiative that promotes research evaluation based on principles of quality, equity, and diversity. It supports multilingualism, open science, and responsible practices. More information.
The session on “The Impact of Language Policies on Translation, Interpretation, and Cross-Linguistic Practices”, featured Loredana Polezzi, Péter Szabó, Effie Fragkou, and a text by Maria Roccaforte. The discussion which included issues on judicial and migratory procedures as well as linguistic justice activism, was the first event organised by the ECSPM WG who will be taking part in developing a knowledge hub on Crosslingual Communication, Translation, and Interpretation. It was moderated by Héctor Grad.
The final roundtable, “Teacher Education for Linguistic and Social Justice”, coordinated by Andrea Young, included Kia Karava, Bessie Mitsikopoulou, Silvia Melo-Pfeifer, Monica Barni, Silvia Minardi, Agnieszka Gadomska, Hélène Le Levier, Gunhild T. Alstad and Marte Nordanger. They reflected on the sustainability of Erasmus+ Teacher Academies – the initiative of the European Commission supporting networks of educational institutions to improve teacher training, with a focus on inclusive competencies, multilingualism, and social justice.
What is Erasmus+? An initiative of the European Commission supporting networks of educational institutions to improve teacher training, with a focus on inclusive competencies, multilingualism, and social justice.
Linda Fisher presented a summary of the day’s work and outlined paths for future collaboration by expanding the network around multilingualism, linguistic citizenship, and social justice.
The symposium ended as the ECSPM president announced that the 2026 ECSPM symposium will be hosted by the Language Council of Saarland, in the Saarland region in Germany.
