International relations, sociolinguistics and the ‘everyday’: a linguistic ethnography of peace-building through language education

Abstract

ABSTRACT Focusing on the role that language and language education can play in peace-building, this paper examines everyday practice through the lens of linguistic ethnography. It investigates Greek Cypriot teenagers learning Turkish, the language of the (former) enemy, and it asks: how were the Turkish language’s associations with violent conflict handled in the practices and institutional organisation of schooling, and how far and in what ways can we say that the Turkish lessons contributed to peace-building? Our findings address the institutional structures and routines of secondary schooling, pedagogic and interactional practices in class, and the links between school and home. The paper concludes with a discussion of what this study might contribute to the notion of ‘de-securitisation’ and to research on ‘hybrid’ and ‘everyday peace’.