Garrido Maria Rosa
University of Lausanne, Lausanne, Switzerland.
Bâtiment Anthropole, Université de Lausanne, section d'anglais, 1015 Lausanne, Switzerland.
Lang Policy. 2022;21(1):47-73. doi: 10.1007/s10993-021-09586-0. Epub 2021 Jun 27.
This article traces the evolution of the ideological construction of elite multilingualism, with a focus on the values accorded to French and English, under transforming socioeconomic and institutional conditions at the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC). The ICRC, a major humanitarian agency based in Geneva, opens a window onto the construction of "internationalisation" and its accompanying language ideologies, resulting in fluctuating hiring requirements for "delegates" (expatriate representatives). The data include job advertisements for delegate posts from 1989 to 2020 complemented by interviews with different generations of delegates and ethnographic fieldwork in a recruitment fair. The analysis of language ideological debates at the ICRC illuminates the articulations and tensions between "roots" in Geneva, symbolised by French, and "routes" in its delegations worldwide, with English as a lingua franca, in dominant discourses about multilingualism. The requirements for ICRC delegates include English as a must and at least a second ICRC working language. Concerning the latter, there are tensions between the desired language regime at headquarters, privileging French as the "parent" language, and the current needs in key operations, with a shortage of Arabic speakers. The analysis shows that French requirements for generalist delegates have fluctuated from perfect command and good knowledge to an optional second working language. In the 2020 recruitment campaign, elite multilingualism is hierarchically stratified into English as a global language, other "working languages" including Arabic, and non-European languages such as Pashto or Dari as newly-introduced "assets".
本文追溯了精英多语制意识形态建构的演变，重点关注在红十字国际委员会（ICRC）不断变化的社会经济和制度条件下，赋予法语和英语的价值。红十字国际委员会是一家总部位于日内瓦的主要人道主义机构，它为“国际化”的建构及其伴随的语言意识形态打开了一扇窗口，这导致了对“代表”（外派代表）不断变化的招聘要求。数据包括1989年至2020年代表职位的招聘广告，并辅以对不同代际代表的访谈以及在一次招聘会上的民族志实地调查。对红十字国际委员会语言意识形态辩论的分析揭示了在关于多语制的主导话语中，以法语为象征的日内瓦“根基”与以英语作为通用语的全球各地代表团的“路径”之间的联系和紧张关系。红十字国际委员会代表的要求包括必须会英语以及至少掌握一门红十字国际委员会的第二工作语言。关于后者，总部期望的语言制度以法语为“母语”，与关键行动中的当前需求之间存在紧张关系，因为会阿拉伯语的人短缺。分析表明，对外派通才代表的法语要求从完美掌握和良好掌握波动到一门可选的第二工作语言。在2020年的招聘活动中，精英多语制被分层为作为全球语言的英语、包括阿拉伯语在内的其他“工作语言”以及作为新引入“资产”的非欧洲语言，如普什图语或达里语。
