Meaning-making and the challenge of translation have long been critical matters for the maintenance and fruitful interaction of cultures. In a globalised world, under the pressures of the hegemony of English, these issues become more acute. No form of education can remain unaffected.

In relation to this general theme, we shall discuss the following five issues:

1. What are the attractions of a single world language? Some examples of ways this attraction has been manifested.

2. What are the challenges of translation? What do these reveal about the nature of meaning?

3. How are questions of language and translation, on the one hand, and of understanding of other cultures, on the other, mutually implicated?

4. With the large numbers of Asian students coming to Europe to study, in what ways are these matters evident in educational policy in such countries – concerning, for example, foreign language education and “study abroad” programmes?

5. What do the above imply about democracy, education, and citizenship in a globalised world?

In finding answers to these questions, we shall draw on the philosophies of Stanley Cavell and Jacques Derrida. They discuss from different angles the question of language and the understanding of other cultures. For both philosophers, the idea of philosophy as translation is crucial. “Translation” here, however, is to be understood in ways beyond the most literal. We take that “most literal” to connect with assumptions about the nature of meaning (understood simplistically as involving the exchange of one word for another in a simple correspondence between terms.) We want to explore the extent to which translation can be connected with the experience of transcendence, where this is understood as involving a relocation of the relations of the self, the other, language and culture. We shall explore its implications for citizenship education and education for political literacy.

The theme of translation has received renewed attention in the philosophy of education in recent years. It is also a topic that is particularly pertinent to a conference in which language is in some sense an issue. It is an issue, in the first place, in that English is taken as the lingua franca. For the majority of those participating in the conference, this is not their first language, while there is also a disproportionate number of participants whose first language is English. It is not uncommon to hear the comment that this latter group can be excessively vocal! Of course, ECER is not unique in this respect, and we do not believe that we are dealing with a problem of purely local interest.

We shall argue that an alertness to the risks and challenges of translation can be a crucial factor in the education of human beings. An ironic outcome of this, which has its own political and cultural consequences, is that those in the dominant position – the native English-speakers – may suffer from “a lack of education” in this respect. We ponder, amongst other things, the consequences of this for research and publication in education.

Stanley Cavell, “The Politics of Interpretation (Politics as Opposed to What?” in Themes Out of School: Effects and Causes (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1983). Stanley Cavell, The Senses of Walden (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1992). Stanley Cavell, “Walden in Tokyo.” (Paper presented at the colloquium, “Stanley Cavell and the Education of Grownups” (October 29, 2006, Harvard University) Derrida, J. (2002) The Eyes of Language, in: Acts of Religion, ed. and trans. G. Anidjar (New York and London, Routledge), pp. 189-227. Derrida, J. (2004) The Principal of Reason: the university in the eyes of its pupils, in: Eyes of the University: Right to Philosophy II (Stanford, CA, Stanford University Press), pp. 129-155.