Multilingualism, Conflict and Conflict Resolution in Africa

Challenges and Opportunities of Linguistic Practice and Policy

However, a focus on differences in primary languages overlook how many individuals can speak more than one language, and individuals with distinct primary languages can often have access to shared languages.

One of the most linguistically diverse regions of the world is Africa. Made up of over 50 countries, with a population of approximately 1.4 billion people (as of 2021), Africa is home to several thousand recognised languages, many of which cross national borders.

This 4-year project, funded by the Economic and Social Research Council, will develop new insights on multilingualism and conflict, focusing on how multilingual practice as well as language ideologies and policies can affect the prospects for outbreaks of violent conflict and conflict settlement or resolution.

The project will conduct comparative analyses leveraging existing data to consider multilingualism develop new more detailed data on multilingualism in Africa, and conduct linguistic ethnography, interviews, focus groups, surveys and experiments to shed new light on practised multilingualism, conflict and its resolution. 

The project team combines linguists and political scientists at the University of Essex as well as co-investigators at the ODI Global (formerly Overseas Development Institute) and local collaborating consultants in Cameroon, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Mozambique, Nigeria and Uganda.

Funding

This project has been funded by the Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC).