Harbouring Francophone Public Administration in an International Congress: Challenges, Benefits, and a Glance Forward

authors

  • Turc Emil
  • Mattijs Jan

keywords

  • Language and culture of public administration
  • Anglosphere Francosphere
  • International academic meetings
  • Center-periphery cultural and scientific relations

document type

COUV

abstract

In acknowledgment of its two founding languages, EGPA decided in 2011 to re-install a French-speaking area of scientific debate alongside its main English-speaking study groups. This raises several questions among which (a) the role of languages as media of scientific exchange in context-bound disciplines such as public administration, (b) the existence of a public administration “Francosphere” apposite to an established “Anglosphere”, (c) the risks of center-periphery homogenization of concepts induced by cultural and linguistic artefacts in the anglophone and the francophone world, and (d) the potential benefits of scientific exchange in a dual-language setting. A discussion ensues as to the capacity of the French-speaking seminar to act as moderator between research networks of different languages; the circulation of scientific concepts and public administration hot topics between EGPA and francophone networks is analyzed through a retrospective discussion of the themes of scientific gatherings and special issues over five years.

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