Past Events

This is a record of completed events planned or affiliated with Beyond Truth and Lies.

13 December 2023: "Donald Trump, Conspiracy Theories, and Professional Wrestling"
Aaron James Goldman gave a public lecture at LUX läsesalen. You can read more at this page: https://www.ht.lu.se/om-fakulteterna/vara-hus/lux/lasesalen/

27 November 2023: "The truth of Implausible Conspiracy Theories: Myth, Taboo, and Critique of Power." Aaron James Goldman, Research Fellow at Lund University's Centre for Theology and Religious Studies, and core researcher for Beyond Truth and Lies, gave a webinar presentation open to the public. More information, including an abstract, can be found on this page.

"Translating Crises. Trust and Mistrust in Multilingual Wonderland"

Alexandre Duchêne, Professor of Sociology of Language, University of Fribourg (CH), gave a public lecture in Lund.
Time: 16 November 2023, 17:15–18:30 (Sweden time)
Place: LUX building room C121, Helgonavägen 3, Lund

Abstract:
Translation has always been a crucial tool for the state management of a multilingual population. In has proven to be even more salient in crisis situations, such as the pandemic we all recently experienced. In a multilingual wonderland, such as Switzerland, composed of four national languages and where an important part of the population is of migration background, the state, and many other actors (NGO, grassroots organizations), were extremely active in terms of translation during the pandemic. Some state documents were translated in a maximalist way (up to 26 languages for certain documents), others in a targeted way (in specific languages supposed to reach specific communities), and some were not translated at all.

In this talk, I will scrutinize why, what, and for whom “texts” are translated. I will show that language choices, as well as the choice of which documents should be translated – or not – underline the role of translation as an instrument of governmentality. Indeed, while migrant languages had been rarely the subject of state translations, these languages were strategically mobilized during the pandemic. Trust was among the arguments for doing so. First, through translation the state aimed at providing trustful information, in contrast to information provided by the migrant population’s countries of origin, that were considered, by the Swiss state, as potentially unreliable. Second, trust was part of the “making people do things in a Swiss way” strategy of the communication crises. In order to make people obedient and compliant, addressing them in their languages and thus displaying inclusiveness through a certain politics of recognition, was considered to maximize the immigrant population’s trust. However, as I will show, language choices and translation choices are never neutral, they index people and groups and potentially stigmatize certain communities. The translation logic also undermines the complex relationship of marginalized groups of people with the state. They do not necessarily trust the state, nor endorse the idea that it provides trustful information. Trust and mistrust, hence, become a crucial part of the politics of translation and, subsequently, part of our understanding of the debated communication crisis.

Alexandre Duchêne is Full Professor of the Sociology of Language and Co-Director of the Institute of Multilingualism at the University of Fribourg. His research is situated at the interface between linguistics and social science and is concerned with the role of language in the production of differences and social inequalities. He was invited professor at ENS Lyon (France), the University of Jyväskylä (Finland), the Université Laval (Canada) and the Graduate Center of the City University of New York (USA). He is the General Editor of the International Journal of the Sociology of Language and a member of numerous editorial boards of international journals. Together with Deborah Cameron, he co-edits the Routledge series The Politics of Language.

This event was supported by the Oscar and Signe Krook's Foundation.

16 November 2023:"Theoretical Approaches to Discourse and Power." Alexandre Duchêne, Professor of Sociology of Language, University of Fribourg (CH), led a workshop at Lund University, hosted and facilitated by Beyond Truth and Lies. The event was open to participation by all interested parties.

This event was supported by the Oscar and Signe Krook's Foundation.

16 September 2023: Dr. Aaron James Goldman, researcher at the Lund University Centre for Theology and Religious Studies and for Beyond Truth and Lies, gave a public lecture at Kulturnatten in Lund titled "Donald Trump, Conspiracy Theories, and Professional Wrestling." Further information about Lund's HT-Faculties' contributions to Kulturnatten, including a short abstract for the presentation, can be found here: https://www.ht.lu.se/samverkan/kulturnatten/

7 September 2023: Dr. Shannon Bow O'Brien, Associate Professor of Instruction at University of Texas, Austin, gave a presentation titled "Political Performance: How Donald Trump Uses Professional Wrestling Strategies to Construct Loyalty." More information, including an abstract, can be found on this page.

9 May 2023: Patrik Fridlund, Rickard Andersson, and Aaron James Goldman hosted a Zoom seminar under the umbrella of Populism and Religion. Antje Jackelén gave a seminar paper titled “Populism and Its Four Poisonous Companions – A Theological Riposte”.

17 April 2023: A Swedish-language panel discussion titled Konspiration och politik. Perspektiv på konspirationsteorier idag took place at Lund University's LUX building, featuring Patrik Fridlund, Mia-Marie Hammarlin, and Björn Lundberg – moderated by Sofia Ulver. Organized by Fridlund, Rickard Andersson, and Aaron James Goldman.

14 April 2023: Lund University’s Humanities-Theology Faculties’ Days (HT-Dagarna). Patrik Fridlund and Aaron James Goldman presented research related to the project.

22 March 2023: "'Citizens from all nations': Lumen Gentium 13 as Counterpoint to Identitarian Concepts of Religion," a Zoom seminar with Franz Gmainer-Pranzel, PhD, Director of the Centre for Intercultural Theology and Study of Religions at Universität Salzburg.

25 January 2023: "Into the Arms of the Far Right: The New Temptation of French Catholicism," a Zoom seminar with Anne Guillard, PhD. Populism and Religion seminar series.

You can find a list of events for our Populism and Religion seminar series, and a list of other upcoming events, on our website.