Echoes of linguistic internationalism: voice, access and (ir)responsibility in the internationalising Swedish humanities

This article interrogates echoes of linguistic internationalism in Swedish university life, where internationalisation is a political priority. It historicises internationalism and internationalisation as a backdrop for examining the experiences of academics in an internationalising university context. Empirically, the article draws on the interview accounts of six scholars, offering insights into how communicative repertoires are responded to, and how they shape career trajectories. Their narratives highlight the need to reconceptualise communicative repertoires through voice, access, and language responsibility. While linguistic internationalism lowers the threshold for using English, it can also constrain international scholars’ career prospects. Linguistic internationalism diminishes the desire of and for international recruits to learn Swedish, thereby contributing to broader processes of opportunity gatekeeping. This dynamic relates to sociolinguistic closure rather than internationalisation. Nevertheless, advancing a Derridean politicised ethics, the article also works to reveal the political and ethical obstacles found within scholars’ narratives, pointing to paths that lead beyond this ideological process. Advancing ‘language responsibility’, we contribute to language policy and planning by rethinking the communicative repertoire in ways that call for a new internationalism yet to be thought.