Language, politics and power in German-speaking countries

Welcome to the website of the conference 'Language, politics and power in German-speaking countries' to be organised in July 2025 by the German Section, Faculty of Modern & Medieval Languages, University of Cambridge.

The main theme of the conference is ‘Language, politics and power in German-speaking countries.’ The conference will focus on three key issues: these concern (i) the issue of minority and heritage languages in the German-speaking countries, (ii) the impact of migration on the linguistic diversity in Germany and (iii) the problem of language endangerment. In view of the newer linguistic realities that have emerged as a result of migration in Germany, the role of politics and policies is crucial, especially in devising measures that can do justice to both older and newer languages. More often than not, protection of endangered languages is not always the focus of official language policies, as the policymakers do not necessarily have the same interests as researchers, and policies are instrumentalized to dismantle or establish patterns of domination and subordination.

Against this background, it is important to explore the areas in which language and power interact because they create and strengthen numerous social hierarchies and cultural and economic inequalities in their interactional spaces. Using examples from German-speaking countries, we aim to discuss the role of state (macro-level policies) in maintaining dominance and the individual (micro-level efforts) in resistance and appropriation of such policies. A final key focal point of the conference will be to discuss how to devise policies that serve the needs of different stakeholders in the society.

The conference will be organised on 7 July 2025 in Cambridge and will feature keynotes by Professor Katharina Brizić (Freiburg) and Professor Heike Wiese (Berlin).

Dr Abhimanyu Sharma FHEA

University of Cambridge

aks71@cam.ac.uk