Neoliberalism, Social Inequalities, and Multilingualism: The Exploitation of Linguistic Resources and Speakers

Abstract

The aim of this paper is to show how multilingualism emerges as a market value within the new globalized economy. More specifically, it seeks to explore not only the links between the structures of the neoliberal market, but the relationship between ideologies and practices of late capitalism and the valorization and devalorization of languages and speakers. To do so, it draws on an ethnography of a passenger-and baggage-management company located in an international airport in Switzerland. This paper shows how powerful institutions exploit the linguistic skills of their least qualified employees in the name of productivity and flexibility. It also demonstrates how the linguistic skills of migrants in particular, which constitute an asset during the recruitment process, are utilized by these companies without the producers of these resources (i.e., the workers) deriving any benefits from them, whether in terms of salary or professional mobility. Based on the findings of this study, the paper will argue that multilingualism emerges as a central component of both the productivity and the flexibility of workspaces. That is, instead of being vilified, multilingualism has come to be recognized by companies as providing added value, but, crucially and above all, multilingualism benefits powerful institutions when they can see an economic interest in it.