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In:60 Years of Applied Linguistics: Toward more engaged research
Edited by Grégory Miras, Isabel Colón de Carvajal, Nathalie Blanc and Shona Whyte
[AILA Applied Linguistics Series 22] 2026
► pp. 86–96

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Chapter 5
Arturo Escobar’s “Pluriversality” paradigm

Key issues for Applied Linguistics facing the organic crisis of the 21st century

ORCiD logo with link | Université Lumière Lyon 2
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Available under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives (CC BY-NC-ND) 4.0 license.

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Published online: 9 March 2026
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https://doi.org/10.1075/aals.22.05aco
Abstract
We introduce the theoretical approach of pluriverse, developed by Colombian anthropologist Arturo Escobar, to propose an epistemological reflection on the role of applied linguistics in the face of the structural challenges facing contemporary societies. We emphasize that anthropology and applied linguistics have a shared interest in the relationship between social and cultural practices, including language, and the environments in which these practices take place. Escobar’s proposal is therefore relevant to linguistics as it invites us to explore the role of the researcher in the field and to take greater account of the environment as an actor in social life. Finally, we discuss some methods specific to linguistics. These could be used to study the upheavals in the relations between populations and their environment, in the context of the ecological crisis.
Article outline
  • 1.Introduction
  • 2.From multiculturalism to multinaturalism
  • 3.Pluriversality and place-based studies
  • 4.Horizons for applied linguistics
  • Acknowledgement
  • References
References (43)
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