The Portuguese language in the United Nations – framing policy design

Abstract

Using the example of the Portuguese language at the United Nations, this article argues that language planning matters. More specifically, without proper language status planning, the present political discourse aiming at making the Portuguese language official at the United Nations (UN) has very limited probabilities of being successful. This article applies a language policy and planning (LPP) theoretical framework and uses qualitative research methods to identify the set of key variables that may help bridge political discourse with a political goal. In this sense, the authors propose a research agenda toward the design of a status planning strategy for the Portuguese language within the context of the most representative international and multi-lateral organization. This prospective strategy is viewed as a decisive tool to bridge the current gap between the volatile political discourse of the Community of Portuguese Speaking Countries (CPLP) defending Portuguese as an official UN language and a concrete policy design or action plan toward that same goal.