Albert Bastardas-Boada
Professor of "Sociolinguistics" and "Language ecology, language sustainability, and language policy".
Coordinator of the research group of "Complexity, Communication and Socio/Linguistics", and director of the project "Globalization, Intercommunication, and Medium-Sized Language Communities".
Right now my main research interests are (socio)complexity theory, and language ecology and policy for a sustainable multilingualism in the global era.
ICREA Academia researcher (2010-2015). Director of the CUSC - University Center of Sociolinguistics and Communication, UB, from its foundation in 1998 to 2010. Member of the UBICS (Universitat de Barcelona Institute of Complex Systems).
Supervisors: William F. Mackey (Université Laval, Quebec, Canada)
Phone: 34 93 4035657
Address: Department of General Linguistics
University of Barcelona
Gran Via, 585
08007 Barceona
Spain
Coordinator of the research group of "Complexity, Communication and Socio/Linguistics", and director of the project "Globalization, Intercommunication, and Medium-Sized Language Communities".
Right now my main research interests are (socio)complexity theory, and language ecology and policy for a sustainable multilingualism in the global era.
ICREA Academia researcher (2010-2015). Director of the CUSC - University Center of Sociolinguistics and Communication, UB, from its foundation in 1998 to 2010. Member of the UBICS (Universitat de Barcelona Institute of Complex Systems).
Supervisors: William F. Mackey (Université Laval, Quebec, Canada)
Phone: 34 93 4035657
Address: Department of General Linguistics
University of Barcelona
Gran Via, 585
08007 Barceona
Spain
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ECOLOGY OF LANGUAGE by Albert Bastardas-Boada
Following in the footsteps of bio-ecology, the book also propose adopting the concept of ‘sustainability’ within the fields of sociolinguistics and language policy in order to respond to the escalating rise in language contact, pushed strongly by the spread of English and other major languages in the context of globalization. The goal is to rethink the linguistic organization of humanity – and, therefore, to make language continuity possible – in a frame marked by a clear increase in human polyglotism. How to make compatible the maintenance and development of most of human language communities and the individual plurilingualism that can enable their inter-communication – this is the big question. From this approach, a sustainable linguistic contact will be that which does not produce linguistic exposure or linguistic use in allochthonous language at a speed and/or pressure so high as to make impossible the stable continuity of the autochthonous languages of human groups.
The application of metaphors or theoretical images from ecology, complexity and figurational or processual sociology in understanding language and sociocommunication phenomena is of great use. By visualizing, for instance, the different levels of linguistic structure not as separate entities but rather as united and integrated within the same theoretical frame, by seeing their functional interdependencies, by situating them in a greater multidimensionality that includes what for a long time was considered ‘external’ – the individual and his mind-brain, the sociocultural system, the physical world, etc. – and expanding in this way our classical view, we should be able to make important, if not essential, theoretical and practical advances.
The fundamental ideas that this book contains can help us to gain a better understanding of processes of language contact – especially those involving minoritization and revitalization or normalization – and be useful not only for human communities aspiring to reverse language shift but also in the attainment of a linguistic organization of humanity marked by greater justice, sustainability and solidarity.
Understanding this phenomenon is often no easy task, due to the range of elements involved and their interrelations. The absence of valid, clearly developed paradigms adds to the problem and means that the theoretical conclusions that emerge may be unclear on certain points. It is true that in the last fifty years sociolinguistic studies have advanced considerably, and today we have access to an impressive set of data and a wide variety of theoretical reflections. But as a discipline sociolinguistics does not yet have unified, powerful theoretical models able to account rigorously and clearly for the phenomena it studies. Sociolinguistic studies are today a diverse set of contributions in which certain and theoretical schools and lines of research emerged; but as is to be expected in a relatively new field, there is not enough communication between the various schools and they cannot yet be said to be integrated in terms of their conceptual and theoretical postulates.
Against this background, our work aims to contribute to the overall, integrated understanding of the processes of language contact. Via an interdisciplinary, eclectic approach, it also aims to aid the theoretical grounding and integration of a unified, common sociolinguistic paradigm. Our strategy will not be merely to combine the contributions from ongoing research lines, but to address the question from a more global viewpoint which, together with the more innovative contemporary scientific disciplines, permits a harmonious integration of the various sociolinguistic perspectives in a broad, deep and unitary approach to the reality. The materials used to construct this unified approach are taken from many sources: Theoretical physics, ecology, the philosophy of science and mind, anthropology, phenomenological and process sociology, cognitive sciences, political science, pragmatics, history, systems theory, approaches to complexity and obviously sociolinguistics, are all involved in a dialogue in this desire for integration.
Unlike the traditional perspective that separates linguistic varieties from their bio-psycho-socio-politico-cultural contexts and makes of them specialized objects existing in a vacuum, the eco-sociolinguistic perspective is based on the fact that linguistic structures do not live in isolation from their social functions – the existence of matter is indissoluble from its activity, says Einstein. Equally, linguistic structures must be situated ecologically in relation with the sub- and supra-systems that determine their existence if we are to understand their vicissitudes – the unit of survival is the organism-in-its-environment, says Bateson. So our proposal aims to provide the basis of an integrative focus from the perspective of complexity – distinguer sans disjoindre (Morin) – which draws on the contributions of traditional approaches to the study of language systems, but goes beyond them to establish a vision that is more interrelated with the other coexisting sociocultural factors, thus permitting a better understanding of the linguistic phenomenon as a whole.
If biological objects are controlled fundamentally by genetic chance and the biosphere, linguistic objects are also controlled by the sociocultural experiences of their speakers; this fact differentiates clearly between the reproductive aspects of the two. In their struggle to survive through history organisms are affected by their natural environments, while linguistic systems are additionally affected by the socioeconomic and politicocultural conditions of individuals, who are able to decide personally on the language to be transmitted to their successors. Similarly, given the greater flexibility of cultural reproduction, language change will be faster than genetic change. Since linguistic varieties are the products of human social mechanisms, they may be constricted to the decisions –conscious or unconscious– of humans, in the framework of their personal autonomy, whereas non-human biological species will be in general much more subject to instinctive programming. The reproduction of biological diversity is a matter in which the protagonists –the species – have little say, controlled as they are by contextual conditions. But in the reproduction and preservation of linguistic diversity the main actors are human beings themselves, humans endowed with awareness and emotions who, confronted with change in their sociocultural context, have to take decisions which will ultimately affect the continuity or demise of the linguistic diversity that has built up over human history. The existence of important differences between natural and cultural objects does not necessarily mean that we cannot find interfaces of connection between the two theoretical fields or useful conceptual suggestions or adaptations for a fuller understanding of the nature of the level of language and communication.
the degree of disturbance of the traditional sociocultural habitats. The current era is characterized by a high increase in linguistic contact. The great challenge, therefore, appears to be not so much to avoid this contact, which is inevitable in the vast majority of cases, but how to manage it to ensure that it does not destroy a large part of the linguistic diversity. In many cases, the level of contact that has been reached requires the creation of a “restoration ecology” (Allen & Hoekstra, 1992, p. 265) to reinstate the lost equilibrium and thus to ensure a sustainable continuity of linguistic diversity.
It seems clear that it must not be the simple fact of bi- or multilingualization and asymmetric distribution of functions what can lead to intergenerational language shift,
but rather the socio-politico-economic context in which this bi- or multilingualization takes place and the meanings and representations that its protagonists associate with it.
Therefore, the restorative and sustainable multidimensional intervention must be conducted from a holistic perspective, (almost) simultaneously done at the social and personal levels. More specifically, it is argued it should be based on the following seven factors:
(1) convince the community (cognition/emotion);
(2) increase and restore the social functions of language, which includes introducing new interpersonal habits (interactional), ensuring intergenerational language transmission, and convincing new families not to leave the code, or get it to talk to their children;
(3) reach a growing collective consensus and group identification with the language, valuing differentiation and singularization (collective identity);
(4) language and economy: ensuring occupational uses (earn a living, very important) (economic utility);
(5) use all available media to spread the language and make positive associations with modernity (not just make something ‘folk’);
(6) political authorities’ support in their speech practices, and in the administration, education, linguistic landscape;
(7) sustainable distribution of functions with the other languages in presence.
In sum, this article provides evidence for the subsidiarity principle: everything that the local language can (reasonably) do should not be done by the more general one.
References
Timothy F. A., A., & Hoekstra, T.W. (1992). Toward a Unified Ecology. New York: Columbia University Press.
Brown, J. H. (1995). Macroecology. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.
1. Introducción
2. La perspectiva ecológica
3. Una aproximación desde la complejidad socio-cognitiva
4. Una propuesta multidimensional e integradora para el estudio del contacto lingüístico
5. Dinamicidad y procesualidad
6. Una nueva propuesta: la ‘sostenibilidad lingüística’
7. Hacia ecosistemas multilingües sostenibles
8. Conclusión""
Professor Albert Bastardas bases this paper on the lecture he gave at the Seminar Hizkuntzaekologia eta lurralde euskaldunak (Language Ecology and Basque Territories) organised by ueMA (Association of Basque-speaking Town Councils) and the Sociolinguistics Cluster. In it the professor presented the main aspects of language ecology, and explained the difficulties and strong points that one may encounter on the road between language ecology and language sustainability. In his paper he explains what fails and how the language management situation can be compared with the biodiversity management situation. •
Following in the footsteps of bio-ecology, the book also propose adopting the concept of ‘sustainability’ within the fields of sociolinguistics and language policy in order to respond to the escalating rise in language contact, pushed strongly by the spread of English and other major languages in the context of globalization. The goal is to rethink the linguistic organization of humanity – and, therefore, to make language continuity possible – in a frame marked by a clear increase in human polyglotism. How to make compatible the maintenance and development of most of human language communities and the individual plurilingualism that can enable their inter-communication – this is the big question. From this approach, a sustainable linguistic contact will be that which does not produce linguistic exposure or linguistic use in allochthonous language at a speed and/or pressure so high as to make impossible the stable continuity of the autochthonous languages of human groups.
The application of metaphors or theoretical images from ecology, complexity and figurational or processual sociology in understanding language and sociocommunication phenomena is of great use. By visualizing, for instance, the different levels of linguistic structure not as separate entities but rather as united and integrated within the same theoretical frame, by seeing their functional interdependencies, by situating them in a greater multidimensionality that includes what for a long time was considered ‘external’ – the individual and his mind-brain, the sociocultural system, the physical world, etc. – and expanding in this way our classical view, we should be able to make important, if not essential, theoretical and practical advances.
The fundamental ideas that this book contains can help us to gain a better understanding of processes of language contact – especially those involving minoritization and revitalization or normalization – and be useful not only for human communities aspiring to reverse language shift but also in the attainment of a linguistic organization of humanity marked by greater justice, sustainability and solidarity.
Understanding this phenomenon is often no easy task, due to the range of elements involved and their interrelations. The absence of valid, clearly developed paradigms adds to the problem and means that the theoretical conclusions that emerge may be unclear on certain points. It is true that in the last fifty years sociolinguistic studies have advanced considerably, and today we have access to an impressive set of data and a wide variety of theoretical reflections. But as a discipline sociolinguistics does not yet have unified, powerful theoretical models able to account rigorously and clearly for the phenomena it studies. Sociolinguistic studies are today a diverse set of contributions in which certain and theoretical schools and lines of research emerged; but as is to be expected in a relatively new field, there is not enough communication between the various schools and they cannot yet be said to be integrated in terms of their conceptual and theoretical postulates.
Against this background, our work aims to contribute to the overall, integrated understanding of the processes of language contact. Via an interdisciplinary, eclectic approach, it also aims to aid the theoretical grounding and integration of a unified, common sociolinguistic paradigm. Our strategy will not be merely to combine the contributions from ongoing research lines, but to address the question from a more global viewpoint which, together with the more innovative contemporary scientific disciplines, permits a harmonious integration of the various sociolinguistic perspectives in a broad, deep and unitary approach to the reality. The materials used to construct this unified approach are taken from many sources: Theoretical physics, ecology, the philosophy of science and mind, anthropology, phenomenological and process sociology, cognitive sciences, political science, pragmatics, history, systems theory, approaches to complexity and obviously sociolinguistics, are all involved in a dialogue in this desire for integration.
Unlike the traditional perspective that separates linguistic varieties from their bio-psycho-socio-politico-cultural contexts and makes of them specialized objects existing in a vacuum, the eco-sociolinguistic perspective is based on the fact that linguistic structures do not live in isolation from their social functions – the existence of matter is indissoluble from its activity, says Einstein. Equally, linguistic structures must be situated ecologically in relation with the sub- and supra-systems that determine their existence if we are to understand their vicissitudes – the unit of survival is the organism-in-its-environment, says Bateson. So our proposal aims to provide the basis of an integrative focus from the perspective of complexity – distinguer sans disjoindre (Morin) – which draws on the contributions of traditional approaches to the study of language systems, but goes beyond them to establish a vision that is more interrelated with the other coexisting sociocultural factors, thus permitting a better understanding of the linguistic phenomenon as a whole.
If biological objects are controlled fundamentally by genetic chance and the biosphere, linguistic objects are also controlled by the sociocultural experiences of their speakers; this fact differentiates clearly between the reproductive aspects of the two. In their struggle to survive through history organisms are affected by their natural environments, while linguistic systems are additionally affected by the socioeconomic and politicocultural conditions of individuals, who are able to decide personally on the language to be transmitted to their successors. Similarly, given the greater flexibility of cultural reproduction, language change will be faster than genetic change. Since linguistic varieties are the products of human social mechanisms, they may be constricted to the decisions –conscious or unconscious– of humans, in the framework of their personal autonomy, whereas non-human biological species will be in general much more subject to instinctive programming. The reproduction of biological diversity is a matter in which the protagonists –the species – have little say, controlled as they are by contextual conditions. But in the reproduction and preservation of linguistic diversity the main actors are human beings themselves, humans endowed with awareness and emotions who, confronted with change in their sociocultural context, have to take decisions which will ultimately affect the continuity or demise of the linguistic diversity that has built up over human history. The existence of important differences between natural and cultural objects does not necessarily mean that we cannot find interfaces of connection between the two theoretical fields or useful conceptual suggestions or adaptations for a fuller understanding of the nature of the level of language and communication.
the degree of disturbance of the traditional sociocultural habitats. The current era is characterized by a high increase in linguistic contact. The great challenge, therefore, appears to be not so much to avoid this contact, which is inevitable in the vast majority of cases, but how to manage it to ensure that it does not destroy a large part of the linguistic diversity. In many cases, the level of contact that has been reached requires the creation of a “restoration ecology” (Allen & Hoekstra, 1992, p. 265) to reinstate the lost equilibrium and thus to ensure a sustainable continuity of linguistic diversity.
It seems clear that it must not be the simple fact of bi- or multilingualization and asymmetric distribution of functions what can lead to intergenerational language shift,
but rather the socio-politico-economic context in which this bi- or multilingualization takes place and the meanings and representations that its protagonists associate with it.
Therefore, the restorative and sustainable multidimensional intervention must be conducted from a holistic perspective, (almost) simultaneously done at the social and personal levels. More specifically, it is argued it should be based on the following seven factors:
(1) convince the community (cognition/emotion);
(2) increase and restore the social functions of language, which includes introducing new interpersonal habits (interactional), ensuring intergenerational language transmission, and convincing new families not to leave the code, or get it to talk to their children;
(3) reach a growing collective consensus and group identification with the language, valuing differentiation and singularization (collective identity);
(4) language and economy: ensuring occupational uses (earn a living, very important) (economic utility);
(5) use all available media to spread the language and make positive associations with modernity (not just make something ‘folk’);
(6) political authorities’ support in their speech practices, and in the administration, education, linguistic landscape;
(7) sustainable distribution of functions with the other languages in presence.
In sum, this article provides evidence for the subsidiarity principle: everything that the local language can (reasonably) do should not be done by the more general one.
References
Timothy F. A., A., & Hoekstra, T.W. (1992). Toward a Unified Ecology. New York: Columbia University Press.
Brown, J. H. (1995). Macroecology. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.
1. Introducción
2. La perspectiva ecológica
3. Una aproximación desde la complejidad socio-cognitiva
4. Una propuesta multidimensional e integradora para el estudio del contacto lingüístico
5. Dinamicidad y procesualidad
6. Una nueva propuesta: la ‘sostenibilidad lingüística’
7. Hacia ecosistemas multilingües sostenibles
8. Conclusión""
Professor Albert Bastardas bases this paper on the lecture he gave at the Seminar Hizkuntzaekologia eta lurralde euskaldunak (Language Ecology and Basque Territories) organised by ueMA (Association of Basque-speaking Town Councils) and the Sociolinguistics Cluster. In it the professor presented the main aspects of language ecology, and explained the difficulties and strong points that one may encounter on the road between language ecology and language sustainability. In his paper he explains what fails and how the language management situation can be compared with the biodiversity management situation. •
If we treat what we traditionally call languages as simple and decontextualized objects, we can advance in understanding some of their more mechanical aspects, but we can completely ignore their conditions of existence, functionality, maintenance, variation, change or disappearance. One of the first tasks we have is to realize the difficulty of being able to say a reality that is dynamic, processual and changing, in terms of our languages that are based on a rather static and stable view of the phenomena of the world. We must move, in fact, from a ‘noun’ science to a 'verb' science.
The complexity perspectives promoted, for example, by Edgar Morin encourage this integrated vision to account for what happens autonomously at the level of interactions and situations of the agents. Thus, we see at the same time how all these factors are dynamically intertwined and inter-influenced, as occurs in the political, ideological, economic, and technological contexts in which individuals live.
As a result of the appearance of cybernetics and computers, not only are there theoretical ideas about how a complex perspective should be articulated, but new forms of research and thought are beginning to appear that take advantage of the new computational potentialities, especially using modeling and simulation. The sciences of complexity do not, therefore, only have a philosophical and epistemological aspect but also another that is renewing the forms of scientific work.
Computational modeling seems adequate to take into account the adaptive changes that result from the model itself, that is, the changes that correspond to the conditions and rules initially programmed in the software. However, what the software cannot predict is maybe the appearance of new meanings in a situation, much less the introduction of external events that can influence it.
In this ideological-political and interpretive field, the self-representations of linguistic groups play an important role. These are derived from the sociopolitical and economic history of each group. For example, within the linguistic area in which Catalan is used in its various variants, we find significant differences that can help shed light in this regard. The comparison between Catalonia and the Valencian Community shows how important it is to introduce the historical element when examining linguistic behaviors in contact situations and studying such situations case by case.
From the sociocomplexity perspective, a complex, eco-co-dependent and processual vision of socio-communicative facts —languages are in societies/cultures and in brains/minds that are in languages— can help us make great progress in their general understanding.
The data obtained shows that family language organization is not always the result of a conscious decision but also often the result of a spontaneous self-organized process. Moreover, it may be variable over time, depending on the changes at the individual level or in the family environment. These results are relevant to language policy, as these mechanisms of interpersonal linguistic habits should be taken into account.
Regarding the medium-sized languages, data shows a tendency to use a major language in interaction with a partner but this does not mean that the medium-sized language is not transmitted to children. This is an important fact because it has a direct influence on medium-sized language skills of new generations.
This article also presents a theoretical approach from the standpoint of complexity. In addition, it points out the advantages and disadvantages of considering the family language organization as a “bottom-up” or “top-down” phenomenon, as well as the accuracy and appropriateness of the term "family language policy".
procedural models to get to grasp the complex functioning of human-beings-in-society. An ecological complexity approach could be useful to advance our knowledge. How can we think of a sociolinguistic “ecosystem”? What elements do we need to put in such an ecosystem and what analogies could be applied? The
(bio)ecological inspiration is a metaphorical exercise to proceed toward a more holistic approach in dynamic sociolinguistics. However, a language is not a species and, therefore, we need to make our complex ecology socio-cognitive and multidimensional. We need to create theories and represent to ourselves how
language behaviour is woven together with its contexts in order to maintain language diversity and, at the same time, foster general human intercommunication on a planetary scale."
face today in organising this coexistence and the relations between different
national and language groups are acquiring even greater urgency in an
age that is marked by significant technological and economic changes, and
by major migratory movements. Thus the challenge we face is the identification
of the most convenient ways to organise the coexistence of different
human language groups in order that we might promote their solidarity as
members of the same culturally developed biological species.
As the sociologist Norbert Elias pointed out, there is a need of new procedural models to get to grasp the complex functioning of human-beings-in-society. An ecological complexity approach could be useful to advance our knowledge. How can we think of a sociolinguistic «ecosystem»? What elements do we need to put in such an ecosystem and what analogies could be applied? The (bio)ecological inspiration is a metaphorical exercise to proceed toward a more holistic approach in dynamic sociolinguistics. However, a language is not a species and, therefore, we need to make our complex ecology socio-cognitive and multidimensional. We need to create theories and represent to ourselves how language behaviour is woven together with its contexts in order to maintain language diversity and, at the same time, foster general human intercommunication on a planetary scale.
CATALÀ: El sociòleg Norbert Elias assenyalava que les ciències socials es trobaven en una cruïlla que havien de saber superar. Per una banda, havien de distanciar-se de les categories conceptuals corrents de la vivència quotidiana de les persones -tot i que, és clar, havien de ser tingudes en compte- i per l’altra havien potser de ser crítiques i anar en compte si adoptaven els models de ‘cientificitat’ que els oferien les més experimentades ciències de la matèria, ja que aquests podien ser inadequats per al tipus de realitat que hom volia tractar d’entendre i explicar. Elias era ja conscient de la necessitat de noves eines de pensament i de nous models processuals si algun dia volíem arribar a capir el funcionament força complex dels éssers-humans-en-societat.
Durant la segona meitat del segle XX especialment, des de distints camps han anat sorgint diverses eines conceptuals i noves imatges que sembla que ens poden fer avançar en la direcció que demanava Elias. Autors com ara Gregory Bateson, Edgar Morin, David Bohm, o Fritjof Capra, entre d’altres, obren perspectives capaces d’anar produint una comprensió més adequada dels fenòmens sociomentals humans, basades en l’ecologia sistèmica. Altres autors, centrats més en la modelització de xarxes i dels sistemes dinàmics no-lineals des de perspectives més generals, van aportant també noves possibilitats de representació i comprensió d’aquest tipus de fenòmens. És a tot això que hem anat convenint d’anomenar perspectives o teories de la ‘complexitat’, tot cercant un rètol general que ens permeti integrar el conjunt d’aquestes innovacions. L’aplicació d’aquests enfocaments a la comprensió de diversos fenòmens socials, comunicativo-cognitius i lingüístics, resulta, doncs, plenament adequada ja que ens permet visualitzar molt més encertadament esdeveniments quotidians com ara les converses i, en general, la interacció social, les interrelacions lingüístiques de grups humans diferents, l’ús i el desús social de formes i varietats lingüístiques, el canvi històric d’aquestes, o bé els seus sociosignificats segons els distints grups i subgrups socioculturals. Alhora, podem construir una imatge multidimensional molt més integrada i coherent del propi sistema lingüístic tot connectant-lo, tal com cal, amb els individus i les seves cognicions i els seus comportaments socials, dins de l’ecosistema físicosocial en què tots aquests elements existeixen. La ‘mirada complexa’ se’ns ofereix com un camí per explorar, engrescador i plenament útil per a l’avenç dels nostres coneixements del nivell humà.
As the sociologist Norbert Elias pointed out, there is a need of new procedural models to get to grasp the complex functioning of human-beings-in-society. An ecological complexity approach could be useful to advance our knowledge. How can we think of a sociolinguistic «ecosystem»? What elements do we need to put in such an ecosystem and what analogies could be applied? The (bio)ecological inspiration is a metaphorical exercise to proceed toward a more holistic approach in dynamic sociolinguistics. However, a language is not a species and, therefore, we need to make our complex ecology socio-cognitive and multidimensional. We need to create theories and represent to ourselves how language behaviour is woven together with its contexts in order to maintain language diversity and, at the same time, foster general human intercommunication on a planetary scale.
The discipline that we have agreed to call «language policy and planning» sees to the study of decision-making processes and public intervention in the linguistic organization of society. It also studies the structures that such an organization may adopt and its evolutionary effects on sociomeanings and language behaviors, both public and private. Ideally, it would differentiate itself from sociolinguistics in the sense that sociolinguistics would project a global perspective on the phenomena being studied, while language policy and planning could be an applied, more pared down, perspective, specializing in the most political aspects of the situation.
Contrary to the predominant tradition,we must stress the need to apply a comprehensive eco-socio-significant vision in this field also. Such a view would include all the factors that contribute to the determination and development of the phenomena dealt with here, going beyond a «technocratic» conception. «Eco» — from «ecology» — to indicate an ecosystemic vision of the facts observed, in order to overcome a purely legalistic or a purely linguistic perspective. «Socio» to indicate that clearly, at the center of the phenomen of language planning and policy are human beings and their sociocultural organization. «Significant», in order to remind us, as we have already indicated for sociolinguistics, that we must not move forward with a mindless sociology, and to alert us to the great importance of processes and structures for the representation of reality in deciding human behaviors. "
The current sociolinguistic situation in Catalonia is no longer a typical case of what has traditionally been referred to as "language normalization", but, rather, a complex situation in which the coexistence of two large language groups has become a factor that shall determine the outlook and future development of the situation. Consequently, one must complement traditional approaches with other perspectives based on similar cases, the main point of commonality being the territorial coexistence of two different language groups. These cases should also be framed in such a way that both groups have official recognition for their languages and the public authorities implement language equality policies.
An example of this situation may be found in Francophone Canada outside of Quebec. There, the language rights of the French-speaking population are guaranteed by the Constitution. However, the majority of the Francophone population outside Quebec is integrated in societies and commercial and media environments which are predominately Anglo. A close look at this situation shows that the weakening of the integenerational continuity of French in these areas cannot be understood without taking into account the fundamental role of social relationships.
Speaking of the continuity of the Catalan language community, the author maintains that one cannot ignore informal language behaviours and at the same time expect language policy measures to ensure the future and guarantee the stability of Catalan use.
Just as sustainable development does not negate the development and the desire for material improvement of human societies but at one and the same time wants to maintain ecosystemic balance with nature, so linguistic sustainability accepts polyglottisation and intercommunication among groups and persons yet still calls for the continuity and full development of human linguistic groups. Just as in the general sustainability framework we think and act in ways intended not to destroy our very biospheric context and intended to save the natural resources we depend on, in linguistic sustainability we want to develop ourselves and intercommunicate with each other without destroying the linguistic and cultural resources that identify us. From a sustainability ethics, the diversity of the ways different groups of the species communicate is clearly a value to protect, and not as an ‘anthropological’ curio but because of the intrinsic and inalienable dignity of human persons and societies.
We are aware that even though the aims and principles of the philosophy of sustainability are by nature universal, their application must be differentiated according to given situations, their particular constrictions, and their evolutionary moments. Certainly, linguistic sustainability will require different actions according to the degree of, for example, the group’s techno-industrial development, its political organisation, the composition of its populations, collective self-images, the general force of the languages present, etc. But for each case we are sure that we can go forward towards creating ‘good practices’ that will lead us to the application of a sustainable multilingualism. Probably the priorities will be different: in economically underdeveloped groups, for example, swift action would be necessary to keep their own languages from falling into discredit with their own speakers. But in groups with greater economic development but with an already important loss of their language it might be necessary to intervene in the intergenerational transmission still capable of being saved. And in other small countries with a strong presence of an international language, it may turn out to be necessary to replace the functions of the latter in order to halt its abusive and unbalancing uses, etc. Much work still remains to be done to be able to reach a clear assessment of the models, their phases, the different situations to which they correspond, the priorities and interventions, and the most adequate action and evaluation strategies.
The choice of languages at home, within families, is one of the keys to the linguistic socialization of the new generations, and this is the topic of five chapters of the book. The data collected indicate that in Catalonia, Catalan first language speakers have considerable subjective ethnolinguistic vitality, as evidenced by the fact that the majority maintain the use of Catalan in raising their children. There are even cases of L1 Spanish-speakers who adopt Catalan (they are new speakers) as the main language of the family, while Spanish is still used. On the other hand, research on intergenerational language transmission in other Catalan-speaking territories is more discouraging: Spanish predominates in bilingual families, a tendency that contributes to general use of Spanish both in the Valencian cities and in the Bay of Palma de Mallorca.
In this context, language policies are of major importance to continue or reverse the loss of the uses of minoritized languages. The question still becomes more complex with the current process of globalization, which affects societies and can bring into crisis the traditional ecosystems in which human language diversity exists. This book also studies language policy in depth in the academic field and highlights the importance of micro actions as a tool to promote interpersonal uses.
--- //
Los autores proponen el concepto de lenguas medianas (medium-sized languages) para aquellas comunidades con dimensiones demográficas bastante amplias (entre 500.000 y 25 millones de hablantes) como para poder disponer de recursos administrativos, académicos, comunicativos y políticos, sean o no totalmente independientes. Desde esta categorización, el catalán no es una lengua pequeña, razón por la cual se compara su situación con la de otras lenguas europeas similares (como el danés, el holandés, el finés, el noruego, el sueco, el checo, el lituano, el estonio, etc.).
La elección de lenguas en el hogar, en el seno de las familias, constituye una de las claves de la socialización lingüística de las nuevas generaciones, y de ello se ocupan cinco capítulos del libro. Los datos recogidos señalan que en Cataluña los hablantes de catalán como primera lengua tienen una considerable vitalidad etnolingüística subjetiva, como lo prueba el hecho de que la mayoría mantienen el uso del catalán en la crianza de los hijos. Incluso se observan casos de castellanohablantes de origen que adoptan el catalán (son nuevos hablantes) como lengua principal en la familia, al tiempo que se mantiene el castellano. En cambio, las investigaciones sobre transmisión lingüística intergeneracional en los otros territorios de lengua catalana son más desalentadoras: el castellano predomina en las familias bilingües, tendencia que contribuye a la castellanización generalizada tanto en las ciudades valencianas como en la bahía de Palma.
En este contexto, las políticas lingüísticas toman una importancia primordial para continuar o para revertir la pérdida de los usos de las lenguas minorizadas. La cuestión aún se hace más compleja con el actual proceso de globalización, que internacionaliza las sociedades y puede hacer entrar en crisis los ecosistemas tradicionales en que se solía mantener la linguodiversidad humana. El libro también estudia a fondo las políticas lingüísticas en el ámbito académico y destaca la importancia de las actuaciones micro como herramienta para impulsar los usos interpersonales.
If we compare language shift processes with the cases of stable balance, such as for example the diglossia typical of German Switzerland, we find that very probably the reason for the relative stability of the cases of diglossic distribution must be sought inthe politico-cognitive dimension. The perception of dependence and, in consequence, of self-deprecation, taking a group or foreign cultural elements as a main referent of behaviour and of values, simply doesn’t need to take place.
In order to be able to avoid or to act on the abandonment of languages by its bilingual or polyglot speakers, the main need will be to achieve an impact on their representations of reality. In cases where the speakers have arrived at an interiorising of negative evaluations regarding their L1, they will need to be exposed to a discourse and a situation that present alternatives which promote and dignify their language and their group.To promote the linguistic sustainability of a language in already bilingualized groups requires the maintenance and development of a language’s normal functions within its own geo-social space so that those who speak it retain a highly positive image and feel assured and rewarded as regards their identity.
One of the basic principles underlying linguistic sustainability could be funcional subsidiarity, i.e., whatever can be done by the local or group language should not be done by another one which is more global. In other words, the native languages of human communities should, by default, carry out the majority of daily functions, while only those functions of a strictly supra-group nature should be addressed through more widely shared languages. From this point of view, the sustainable character of a massive bilingualisation comes from the comparison between the degree of valuation and functions of the Language that is not originally that of the group (L2) and that of the language that is originally that of the group (L1). If the first is lower, the contact massive and the bilingualisation are sustainable. If it is greater, the bilingualisation is not sustainable and the language original to the group will degrade and disappear in a few decades.
Headings such as status/normative/institution vis-à-vis others such as solidarity/normal/individual seem to imply a basic distinction in the definition of sociocultural reality. To discover and understand the dynamics of the interaction between these two major categories is, in fact, one of the most important subjects waiting to be addressed by language planning and policy strategies and more broadly by sociolinguistics. An interrelated set of guiding questions for the field could thus be stated as follows: What group or organisation, in pursuit of what overall objective or intention, wants to achieve what, where, how and when; and what do they actually achieve, and why? With this approach, even if how a group or organisation obtains its desired goal – that is, its actual intervention – is included as one of the main elements in a piece of research, the research will not focus exclusively on this topic, but will frame the intervention and identify how it is interrelated with all the other elements involved globally in this phenomenon, trying to establish a clear theoretical understanding of the entire interwoven set of events and processes.
Processes of economic and political integration currently in motion are seeing increasing numbers of people seeking to become polyglots. Thus, English is establishing itself as the usual world supra-language, although it coexists with other lingua francas that are widely used in certain parts of the globe.
All this communicative reorganization of the human species may very well pose new problems and aggravate existing tensions as regards language and identity. It would seem that these processes comprise at least four major conceptual dimensions which must be taken into account above all else, as they are both widespread and, left unaddressed, may lead to significant social instability. These dimensions concern linguistic recognition, communicability, sustainability and integration.
While accepting the utility of having an inter-national language, the keystone of the system is clearly that it must ensure the linguistic sustainability of each group. The basic principle is likely to be functional subsidiarity, i.e., whatever can be done by the local language should not be done by another one which is more global. As in the quote from Paracelsus --“the dose alone makes the poison”-- contact between languages is not ‘poisonous’ per se, but when the correct dose is exceeded it can prove harmful to the language whose position is weaker. A multilingual and communicated humanity is possible.
Processes of economic and political integration currently in motion are seeing increasing numbers of people seeking to become polyglots. Thus, English is establishing itself as the usual world supra-language, although it coexists with other lingua francas that are widely used in certain parts of the globe.
All this communicative reorganization of the human species may very well pose new problems and aggravate existing tensions as regards language and identity. It would seem that these processes comprise at least four major conceptual dimensions which must be taken into account above all else, as they are both widespread and, left unaddressed, may lead to significant social instability. These dimensions concern linguistic recognition, communicability, sustainability and integration.
While accepting the utility of having an inter-national language, the keystone of the system is clearly that it must ensure the linguistic sustainability of each group. The basic principle is likely to be functional subsidiarity, i.e., whatever can be done by the local language should not be done by another one which is more global. As in the quote from Paracelsus --“the dose alone makes the poison”-- contact between languages is not ‘poisonous’ per se, but when the correct dose is exceeded it can prove harmful to the language whose position is weaker. A multilingual and communicated humanity is possible.
-See the English version: http://www.academia.edu/2380117/Language_and_identity_policies_in_the_glocal_age_New_processes_effects_and_principles_of_organization
Also published in: Llengües i dialectes. Esperances per al català, gallec i basc (E. Boix-Fuster i M. P. Perea, eds., 2020).
Les polítiques i intervencions dutes a terme fins ara mostren els seus límits, i cal de manera urgent estudiar i reflexionar sobre les causes d’aquesta evolució, i ser imaginatius en la invenció de noves estratègies que poguessin facilitar i promoure un grau més alt d’ús del català que en el moment present. Fruit d’aquesta preocupació surt la necessària distinció entre macro i micropolítiques, i proposo que aquesta darrera aproximació sigui imaginada, estudiada, experimentada i duta a la pràctica
en general, si volem intentar avançar a partir de la situació actual. Vol dir això que no només s’ha de fer atenció a les comunicacions «institucionalitzades» –les de les organitzacions oficials i no oficials– sinó també a les «individualitzades» –les que tenen lloc entre els individus particulars en la vida diària. De fet és aquí on es juga l’augment o la reducció dels usos de les llengües i, per tant, ha de ser el centre d’intervenció prioritària.
The choice of languages at home, within families, is one of the keys to the linguistic socialization of the new generations, and this is the topic of five chapters of the book. The data collected indicate that in Catalonia, Catalan first language speakers have considerable subjective ethnolinguistic vitality, as evidenced by the fact that the majority maintain the use of Catalan in raising their children. There are even cases of L1 Spanish-speakers who adopt Catalan (they are new speakers) as the main language of the family, while Spanish is still used. On the other hand, research on intergenerational language transmission in other Catalan-speaking territories is more discouraging: Spanish predominates in bilingual families, a tendency that contributes to general use of Spanish both in the Valencian cities and in the Bay of Palma de Mallorca.
In this context, language policies are of major importance to continue or reverse the loss of the uses of minoritized languages. The question still becomes more complex with the current process of globalization, which affects societies and can bring into crisis the traditional ecosystems in which human language diversity exists. This book also studies language policy in depth in the academic field and highlights the importance of micro actions as a tool to promote interpersonal uses.
--- //
Los autores proponen el concepto de lenguas medianas (medium-sized languages) para aquellas comunidades con dimensiones demográficas bastante amplias como para poder disponer de recursos administrativos, académicos, comunicativos y políticos, sean o no totalmente independientes. Desde esta categorización, el catalán no es una lengua pequeña, razón por la cual se compara su situación con la de otras lenguas europeas similares (como el danés, el holandés, el finés, el noruego, el sueco, el checo, el lituano, el estonio, etc.).
La elección de lenguas en el hogar, en el seno de las familias, constituye una de las claves de la socialización lingüística de las nuevas generaciones, y de ello se ocupan cinco capítulos del libro. Los datos recogidos señalan que en Cataluña los hablantes de catalán como primera lengua tienen una considerable vitalidad etnolingüística subjetiva, como lo prueba el hecho de que la mayoría mantienen el uso del catalán en la crianza de los hijos. Incluso se observan casos de castellanohablantes de origen que adoptan el catalán (son nuevos hablantes) como lengua principal en la familia, al tiempo que se mantiene el castellano. En cambio, las investigaciones sobre transmisión lingüística intergeneracional en los otros territorios de lengua catalana son más desalentadoras: el castellano predomina en las familias bilingües, tendencia que contribuye a la castellanización generalizada tanto en las ciudades valencianas como en la bahía de Palma.
En este contexto, las políticas lingüísticas toman una importancia primordial para continuar o para revertir la pérdida de los usos de las lenguas minorizadas. La cuestión aún se hace más compleja con el actual proceso de globalización, que internacionaliza las sociedades y puede hacer entrar en crisis los ecosistemas tradicionales en que se solía mantener la linguodiversidad humana. El libro también estudia a fondo las políticas lingüísticas en el ámbito académico y destaca la importancia de las actuaciones micro como herramienta para impulsar los usos interpersonales.
The data obtained shows that family language organization is not always the result of a conscious decision but also often the result of a spontaneous self-organized process. Moreover, it may be variable over time, depending on the changes at the individual level or in the family environment. These results are relevant to language policy, as these mechanisms of interpersonal linguistic habits should be taken into account. Regarding the medium-sized languages, data shows a tendency to use a major language in interaction with a partner but this does not mean that the medium-sized language is not transmitted to children. This is an important fact because it has a direct influence on medium-sized language skills of new generations.This article also presents a theoretical approach from the standpoint of complexity. In addition, it points out the advantages and disadvantages of considering the family language organization as a “bottom-up” or “top-down” phenomenon, as well as the accuracy and appropriateness of the term "family language policy".
El sistema educatiu és central en una situació com la catalana en què s’ha modificat tant i tant la composició de la població. Degut a la desproporció que ha anat prenent la població immigrada –la d’abans més la d’ara- respecte de la d’origen autòcton, l’escola ha de ser el gran instrument comú de socialització lingüística. Abans, fins i tot en ple franquisme, els factors demolingüístics podien fer aquesta tasca de bilingüització oral en català de la població desplaçada. Avui, el llindar de la bilingüització ‘espontània’ s’ha depassat de totes totes i ha de ser l’organització educativa del país la que faciliti el desenvolupament adequat dels coneixements lingüístics comuns de la població que avui resideix a Catalunya.
En aquests moments, però, el català té més persones que el tenen com a llengua segona que no pas inicial, cosa que produeix una diferència substancial respecte de les altres llengües mitjanes europees. El català, això no obstant, disposa d’uns 5.300.000 parlants que el tenen com a llengua inicial, xifra que l’acosta als que tenen com a llengua primera el danès, i supera als que tenen el finès, l’hebreu, l’eslovè, l’estonià, o el letó, per exemple.
El fet que els successius desplaçaments de població de llengua inicial no catalana, del s. XX i de l’actual, hagin produït aquest canvi en la configuració sociolingüística de les terres catalanòfones, demana polítiques eficaces de promoció de l’ús social del català per tal de contrarestar i equilibrar les grans influències existents a favor del castellà, tant en el pla oficial com mediàtic, comercial, publicitari, tecnològic, etc.
ja van advertir fa temps que el reformador
social ha d’actuar coneixent les
propietats dels seus objectes –subjectes,
en aquest cas– si vol tenir èxit en
la seva empresa, aquell ha de tenir
també present de respectar i d’aprofitar
les tendències noves que es dibuixin
en la societat i conduir-les, en la
mesura en què sigui possible, cap als
objectius que cerca d’aconseguir. Si les
tendències socioculturals són fortes i
ben arrelades pot ser més contraproduent
anar-hi en contra que no pas
aprofitar-les. Com que tot és en canvi constant i en reequilibris dinàmics, les
modificacions tecnològiques, ideològiques,
polítiques, econòmiques, demogràfiques, etc., han de ser utilitzades
intel•ligentment per a afaiçonar el nou
equilibri sortint. Cal, doncs, una alerta
constant i una disposició a la innovació
discursiva. Si el món canvia i hom es
queda quiet, de fet es va enrere.
The obtained data shows that the language family organization is not only a result of a conscious decision but also often from a spontaneous and self-organized process. Moreover it may be variable over time, depending on the changes at the individual level or in the family environment. These results are relevant to language policy because these mechanisms of linguistic interpersonal habits must be taken into account.
Regarding the medium-sized languages, data shows a tendency to use a major language in interaction with a partner but this does not mean that the medium-sized language is not transmitted to children. This is an important fact because it has a direct influence on medium-sized language skills of new generations.
The chapter also presents a theoretical approach from the point of view of complexity. In addition, it points the advantages and disadvantages of considering the familiar political organization as a 'bottom-up' or 'top-down' phenomenon, as well as the accuracy and appropriateness of the term ' family language policy '.
darrerament un impuls excepcional amb la incorporació convençuda de científics provinents de la física, la biologia, la matemàtica i la computació, que aporten
nous models i eines conceptuals molt vàlids per a avançar en la comprensió
de determinats sistemes fisicoquímics, biològics i neurològics. Així, l’estudi de
l’arquitectura de les xarxes que defineix la interacció entre gens, individus o
neurones ha revelat sorprenents similituds entre sistemes aparentment molt
dispars. El coneixement d’aquesta arquitectura ens permet de comprendre el
funcionament de molts sistemes, com aconsegueixen d’organitzar-se i quins
són els seus punts febles, i ens confirma de nou la necessitat d’abandonar una
perspectiva reduccionista i d’abordar la complexitat del món sota una visió sistèmica
i complèxica.
Una de les classes de fenòmens més característics d’aquest pla, per exemple,
és la formada pel triangle «llengua-comunicació-societat» que presenta trets
singulars que desafien les aproximacions tradicionals i les més formalitzadores,
ja que demana clarament enfocaments complèxics, transdisciplinaris i qualitatius
integrats si hom vol avançar en el coneixement del seu funcionament. Cal,
doncs, avançar amb força cap a la construcció d’un cos teòric i metodològic
adequat a les propietats característiques dels fenòmens del pla humà, és a dir,
d’una sociocomplexitat cognitivoemotiva. ENGLISH: The cultivation of lines that qualify directly as "complex" has taken
recently an exceptional boost with the convinced incorporation of scientists from physics, biology, mathematics and computing, who contribute
new models and very valid conceptual tools to advance understanding
of certain physicochemical, biological and neurological systems. Thus, the study of
the architecture of the networks that defines the interaction between genes, individuals or
neurons has revealed surprising similarities between apparently very diferent systems. Knowledge of this architecture allows us to understand the
operation of many systems, how they manage to organize themselves, and which
are its weak points, and it confirms to us again the need to abandon a
reductionist perspective and to approach the complexity of the world under a systemic and complexical vision. One of the most characteristic classes of phenomena of this plan, for example, is the one formed by the "language-communication-society" triangle that presents singular features that challenge traditional and more formal approaches.
It clearly calls for complex, transdisciplinary and qualitative integrated approaches
if one wants to progress in the knowledge of its dynamics. We must,
therefore, move strongly towards the construction of a theoretical and methodological body appropriate to the characteristic properties of the phenomena of the human plane, that is to say of a socio-cognitive-emotional complexity.
intended for transversal application that are aimed at understanding and explaining the most interwoven and dynamic phenomena of reality. Our aim needs to be, as Morin says, not “to reduce complexity to simplicity, [but] to translate complexity into theory”.
New tools for the conception, apprehension and treatment of the data of experience will need to be devised to complement existing ones and to enable us to make headway toward practices that better fit complexic theories. New mathematical and computational contributions have already continued to grow in number, thanks primarily to scholars in statistical
physics and computer science, who are now taking an interest in social and economic phenomena.
Certainly, these methodological innovations put into question and again make us take note of the excessive separation between the training received by researchers in the ‘sciences’ and in the ‘arts’. Closer collaboration between these two subsets would, in all likelihood, be much more
energising and creative than their current mutual distance. Human complexics must be seen as multi-methodological, insofar as necessary combining quantitative-computation methodologies and more qualitative methodologies aimed at understanding the mental and emotional world of people.
In the final analysis, however, models always have a arrative running behind them that reflects the attempts of a human being to understand the world, and models are always interpreted on that basis.
As a meta-transdiscipline, ‘complexics’ would carry on the perspective of cybernetics: “Cybernetics deals with all forms of behaviour insofar as they are regular, or determinate, or reproducible. The materiality is irrelevant… The truths of cybernetics are not conditional on their being derived from some other branch of science. Cybernetics has its own foundations” (Ashby, 1956:1). Thus, it has a distinctly transdisciplinary mission to provide concepts, schema and possibilities of thinking and representation able to express the multidimensional and systemic interwovenness and interdependence of the many, highly significant phenomena of reality that have these characteristics.
On the level of theory, complexics needs to provide a set of principles, concepts and conceptual landscapes that can be applied transversally to distinct areas of knowledge and phenomena of reality, enabling us to gain a much firmer grasp of the complex aspects of their existence than we currently have. For this reason, our aim needs to be, as Morin says, not “to reduce complexity to simplicity, [but] to translate complexity into theory” (1994:315).
transdisciplinary focus to explore the structures, restrictions and possibilities of regulatory systems. It intends to provide concepts, schemata and possibilities of thought and representation capable of expressing the interweaving and the multidimensional and systematic interdependence of the many phenomena of reality. Linguistics is one of the fields of knowledge that is making great progress under the new paradigm of complexity. The amount of contributions from physics and other scientific disciplines to linguistics is large, under which natural language has been addressed with theoretical and practical methods, both quantitative and qualitative. However, the conceptual resources and tools that are available nowadays are not completely suitable to perform all the tasks. Due to this, it is necessary to keep developing new theoretical and methodological tools that help understanding the dynamic interrelations of linguistic and sociocultural events. Simultaneously, the lines of inter and transdisciplinary research that transcend the communicative and linguistic phenomenon, and that connect them and interrelate them with life and the world must be strengthened.
This goal is shared with other disciplines which recognize that many phenomena related to life are interwoven, self-organising, emergent and processual. Thus, we need to re-examine how we have conceived of reality, both the way we have looked at it and the images we have used to talk about it. Several approaches now grouped under the label of complexity have been elaborated towards this objective of finding new concepts and ways of thinking that better fit the complex organisation of facts and events.
The application of metaphors or theoretical images of complexity and figurational sociology in understanding language and sociocommunication phenomena is of great use, since language is not an ‘object’, but a ‘complex’; it exists simultaneously in and among different domains. ‘Languaging’ and interaction are co-phenomena. The former exists within the latter, and the latter within the former.
By visualizing, for instance, the different levels of linguistic structure not as separate entities but rather as united and integrated within the same theoretical frame, by seeing their functional interdependencies, by situating them in a greater multidimensionality that includes what for a long time was considered ‘external’ – the individual and his mind-brain, the socio-cultural system, the physical world, etc. – and expanding in this way our classical view, we should be able to make important, if not essential, theoretical and practical advances.
New complexity approaches allow us to rethink our limited and mechanistic images of human societies and create more appropriate emo-cognitive dynamic and holistic models. We have to enter into dialogue with the complexity views coming out of other more ‘material’ sciences, but we also need to take steps in the linguistic and psycho-sociological fields towards creating perspectives and concepts better fitted to human characteristics.
Our understanding of complexity is different – but not opposed – to the one that is more commonly found in texts written by people working in physics or computer science, for example. The goal of this book is to extend the knowledge of these other more ‘human’ or socially oriented perspectives on complexity, taking account of the language and communication singularities of human agents in society.
On the one hand, the more epistemological and philosophical contributions lead us to postulate the inevitability of taking into the account the brain/mind and everything that arises bio-cognitively from it in order to understand complex human behaviours. On the other hand, the proposals put forward by physics and computer science move in the opposite direction, postulating the selection of a few ‘practical’ parameters that can computationally ‘explain’ the observed facts. It must be conceded that the practical and methodological applications of general complexic ideas need to be developed much farther in order to apply them to specific research. At the same time, the limits of complex adaptive systems as computational strategies must be accepted in the pursuit of a better understanding of the dynamic and evolutionary processes typical of human beings.
(Whole English translation: https://www.academia.edu/11118078/Toward_Complexics_as_a_Transdiscipline)
New complexity approaches allow us to rethink our limited and mechanistic images of human societies and create more appropriate emo-cognitive dynamic and holistic models. We have to enter into dialogue with the complexity views coming out of other more ‘material’ sciences, but we also need to take steps in the linguistic and psycho-sociological fields towards creating perspectives and concepts better fitted to human characteristics.
Our understanding of complexity is different – but not opposed – to the one that is more commonly found in texts written by people working in physics or computer science, for example. The goal of this book is to extend the knowledge of these other more ‘human’ or socially oriented perspectives on complexity, taking account of the language and communication singularities of human agents in society.
Intermediate phenomena of reality present particular characteristics of systemic self-organization, multilevel interrelations, recursivity, emergence of new «objects» with properties different from those of the elements that form them, and evolutionary dynamics, that probably need the formulation of new theoretical concepts and different paradigm principles. The sciences or perspectives of complexity, or the «complex» thinking, try to respond adequately to this complexity of reality. This approach adopts a multidimensional, integrated and dynamic view of reality: the world is made up of overlapping levels of different elements which produce new properties or new organizations at higher levels. If we conceive what we call languages as simple and decontextualized objects, we can understand some of the more mechanical aspects but we will ignore their conditions of existence, functionality, maintenance, variation, change and extinction.
Los fenómenos del nivel intermedio de la realidad presentan unas características particulares de autoorganización sistémica, de interrelación polinivelada, de recursividad, de emergencia de nuevos «objetos» con propiedades distintas a las de los elementos que los forman, y de dinamicidad evolutiva, que necesitan probablemente la formulación de nuevas concepciones teóricas y de principios paradigmáticos distintos. A esa «complejidad» de la realidad es a lo que intenta dar respuesta adecuada lo que se ha venido llamando perspectivas o ciencias de la complejidad o también pensamiento complejo. Esta aproximación adopta una manera multidimensional, integrada y dinámica de ver la realidad: el mundo está constituido por la sobreposición emergente de distintos elementos que van produciendo entrelazadamente nuevas propiedades o nuevas organizaciones a medida que se va complexificando en niveles más altos. Si tratamos lo que llamamos lenguas como si fueran objetos simples y descontextualizados, podemos avanzar en la comprensión de algunos de sus aspectos más mecánicos pero podemos ignorar totalmente sus condiciones de existencia, funcionalidad, mantenimiento, variación, cambio o desaparición.
Therefore, there is a need for the restricted and general complexity approaches to come to a meeting of the minds, and take steps toward a mutual integration based on the acceptance of the shortcomings of each approach, achieving progress through a non-contradictory complementarity of perspectives. It must be conceded that the practical and methodological applications of basic complexical ideas need to be developed much farther in order to apply them to specific research. At the same time, the limits of complex adaptive systems as computational strategies must be accepted in the pursuit of a better understanding of the dynamic and evolutionary processes typical of human beings.
New tools for the conception, apprehension and treatment of the data will need to be devised to complement existing ones and to enable us to make headway toward practices that better fit complexical perspectives. It seems obvious that human complexics must be seen as multi-methodological, insofar as necessary combining quantitative-computation methodologies and more qualitative methodologies aimed at understanding the historical mental and emotional world of people.
models, d) the tendency to dichotomise the categories about reality, e) the 'third excluded' Aristotelian principle (binary logic: if something is here it is not there), f) the disappearance of the mind in some 'higher' social sciences, g) an inadequate approach of the relationships between the whole and its parts, and, h) a
perspective on creativity too much based on logic and not on 'artistic' intuition and imagination in science.
También el físico David Bohm ejemplifica en su conceptualización del orden implicado la realidad como fluyente y dinàmica. No se hace muy difícil llegar a ver que la interacción comunicativa entre los humanos necesita también ser entendida desde estos parámetros, dado que un movimiento comunicativo visto como separado de su situación y de los movimientos precedentes puede resultar incomprensible y absurdo. Es en el flujo conversacional y social donde pueden entenderse -y, entonces, tratar de ser explicadas- las construcciones verbales -y no-verbales- de los humanos. Es en las reverberaciones de unos turnos conversacionales con otros, de unas formas lingüísticas con otras, o de unos sonidos y de unas entonaciones con otros, y en la transversalidad auto-eco-organizativa entre las propias partes, y las partes y la totalidad producida, donde desde el orden implicado y la complejidad ecológica, podemos tratar de entender mejor los mecanismos de la comunicación humana cotidiana.
lo estretament amb el fenomen mental i el fenomen sociocultural. Molt probablement, en aquesta línia interdisciplinària i integradora podem trobar
pistes, qüestions i respostes d'enorme interès, capaces de dur-nos a nous
avenços teòrics i aplicats al servei d'una comprensió més aprofundida i real dels
fets lingüístics. El que es planteja és, simplement, la necessitat d'adaptar els nostres
enfocaments teòrics i organitzatius a la realitat complexa i interrelacionada
— i no esperar pas que pugui ser a l'inrevés. Potser aquesta presa en consideració
en la lingüística d'elements pertinents de les ciències cognitives, de la fenomenologia,
de la sociologia i de l'antropologia —sense oblidar-nos de les bases biològiques—
permetria avançar no solament cap a una desitjable integració de les
ciències humanes sinó també —seguint l'exemple del programa unificador
d'Einstein per a la física— cap a una teoria global del llenguatge humà, que pugui
donar compte dinàmicament tant de les formes i de la seva organització com
també —i potser de manera fonamental— del fenomen de la significació i del de
l'ús social. En la perspectiva, doncs, de la teoria de sistemes, que ens permet el
tractament unificat de la complexitat, potser podríem aplicar amb èxit al fenomen
lingüístic l'aproximació holística que considera l'univers «com una teranyina dinàmica
d'esdeveniments relacionats entre si. Cap de les propietats de qualsevol
part d'aquesta teranyina és fonamental; totes segueixen l'exemple de les propietats
de les altres parts, i la consistència total de les seves interrelacions mútues
determina l'estructura de tot l'entramat» (CAPRA, 1975:324).