Language and Power 18 entries
001 Language and Power
Linguistic capital
ling-GWIS-tik KAP-ih-tul noun
Turn it over
001 Linguistic capital
The social and economic value you get from speaking a language, or a way of speaking, that powerful people reward.
Where the word came from
French sociologist Pierre Bourdieu, "The Economics of Linguistic Exchanges," Social Science Information, 1977.
Turn it back
002 Language and Power
Diglossia
dye-GLOSS-ee-uh noun
Turn it over
002 Diglossia
When a community uses one form of a language for formal things like news and religion, and a different everyday form at home and on the street.
Where the word came from
The Greek writer Emmanuel Roidis used the word in 1885, and Jean Psichari spread it in French. The Arabic scholar William Marcais applied it to Arabic in 1930. Charles Ferguson made it famous in English with his 1959 article "Diglossia" in the journal Word, though he's often wrongly called the coiner.
Turn it back
003 Language and Power
Code-switching
KODE-swich-ing noun
Turn it over
003 Code-switching
Moving between two or more languages or ways of speaking inside one conversation.
Where the word came from
Linguist Hans Vogt is credited with first using the term, in a 1954 review in Word. Uriel Weinreich had written of "switching codes" in 1953.
Turn it back
004 Language and Power
Linguistic imperialism
ling-GWIS-tik im-PEER-ee-uh-liz-um noun
Turn it over
004 Linguistic imperialism
The spread of a powerful language, often English, in ways that push other languages down and keep unequal power in place.
Where the word came from
Robert Phillipson popularized the term with his 1992 book Linguistic Imperialism.
Turn it back
005 Language and Power
Glottophobia
GLOT-oh-FOH-bee-uh noun
Turn it over
005 Glottophobia
Contempt for people, or discrimination against them, because of their accent or dialect.
Where the word came from
French sociolinguist Philippe Blanchet popularized it, notably in his 2016 book Discriminations: combattre la glottophobie.
Turn it back
006 Language and Power
Language ideology
LANG-gwij eye-dee-OL-oh-jee noun
Turn it over
006 Language ideology
The beliefs people hold about languages, such as which one is "logical," "backward," "modern" or "pure."
Where the word came from
Linguistic anthropologist Michael Silverstein is widely credited with defining "linguistic ideology" in a 1979 paper. Kathryn Woolard and Bambi Schieffelin built out the field in the 1990s.
Turn it back
007 Language and Power
Standard language ideology
STAN-dard LANG-gwij eye-dee-OL-oh-jee noun
Turn it over
007 Standard language ideology
The belief that a language has one correct version and every other version is a broken copy.
Where the word came from
Linguist Rosina Lippi-Green defined it in 1994 as a bias toward an abstract, idealized, uniform language that dominant institutions impose and maintain.
Turn it back
008 Language and Power
Glottopolitics
GLOT-oh-POL-ih-tiks noun
Turn it over
008 Glottopolitics
Every action a society takes on language, from national laws down to a parent correcting a child's accent.
Where the word came from
Louis Guespin and Jean-Baptiste Marcellesi, "Pour la glottopolitique," Langages, 1986.
Turn it back
009 Language and Power
Arabization
air-uh-bih-ZAY-shun noun
Turn it over
009 Arabization
Government policies that replace other languages, especially French, with Arabic in schools, courts and public life.
Where the word came from
From the Arabic "ta'rib." It became a state program after Morocco and Tunisia won independence in 1956.
Turn it back
010 Language and Power
Francophonie
frahn-koh-foh-NEE noun
Turn it over
010 Francophonie
The worldwide community of French speakers. It's also the name of the international organization of French-speaking states.
Where the word came from
French geographer Onesime Reclus coined it around 1880 in France, Algerie et colonies. He openly supported colonial expansion. Some sources date the word's spread to the 1886 edition.
Turn it back
011 Language and Power
Darija
DAR-ee-juh noun
Turn it over
011 Darija
Moroccan Arabic, the everyday spoken language most Moroccans use.
Where the word came from
From the Arabic "darija," usually translated as "common" or "everyday" speech.
Turn it back
012 Language and Power
Tamazight
tah-mah-ZEET noun
Turn it over
012 Tamazight
The Amazigh (Berber) languages of North Africa. In Morocco, the name also covers the standardized official version.
Where the word came from
Tamazight is the Amazigh name for the language itself. The Royal Institute of Amazigh Culture (IRCAM) built the Moroccan standard from three regional varieties: Tashelhit, Central Atlas Tamazight and Tarifit.
Turn it back
013 Language and Power
Tifinagh
tee-fee-NAHG noun
Turn it over
013 Tifinagh
The alphabet used to write Tamazight, with roots in ancient Libyco-Berber rock inscriptions.
Where the word came from
King Mohammed VI approved it as the official script on 10 February 2003, on IRCAM's recommendation. Where the word itself comes from is debated. A common theory links it to "Punic," but that isn't settled.
Turn it back
014 Language and Power
Lingua franca
LING-gwuh FRANK-uh noun
Turn it over
014 Lingua franca
A shared language people use when they don't speak each other's first languages.
Where the word came from
Italian for "Frankish language." It first named a Mediterranean trade language that mixed Italian, Spanish, Arabic and other languages.
Turn it back
015 Language and Power
Language shift and revitalization
LANG-gwij shift / ree-VY-tuh-lih-ZAY-shun nouns
Turn it over
015 Language shift and revitalization
Shift is when a community gradually stops using its language and switches to another. Revitalization is an organized effort to bring a weakened language back.
Where the word came from
Uriel Weinreich discussed shift in 1953. Joshua Fishman's 1991 book Reversing Language Shift set the framework for revival.
Turn it back
017 Language and Power
Linguistic landscape
ling-GWIS-tik LAND-skape noun
Turn it over
017 Linguistic landscape
All the visible language in a public space, like street signs, shop fronts and graffiti.
Where the word came from
Rodrigue Landry and Richard Bourhis defined it in a 1997 article.
Turn it back
018 Language and Power
Substrate and superstrate
SUB-strayt / SOO-per-strayt nouns
Turn it over
018 Substrate and superstrate
A substrate is an older language that leaves traces in a newer one. A superstrate is a dominant language laid on top.
Where the word came from
The substrate idea is usually credited to Italian linguist Graziadio Isaia Ascoli in the late 1800s.
Turn it back
Media Literacy 7 entries
019 Media Literacy
Framing
FRAY-ming noun
Turn it over
019 Framing
Choices about what to emphasize, what to leave out and which words to use. Those choices shape how an audience understands a story.
Where the word came from
Erving Goffman's 1974 book Frame Analysis laid the groundwork. Robert Entman gave the standard media definition in 1993.
Turn it back
020 Media Literacy
Agenda-setting
uh-JEN-duh SET-ing noun
Turn it over
020 Agenda-setting
The power news outlets have to shape what the public thinks is important, just by choosing what to cover.
Where the word came from
Maxwell McCombs and Donald Shaw, Public Opinion Quarterly, 1972. They interviewed 100 undecided voters in five Chapel Hill precincts between 18 September and 6 October 1968.
Turn it back
021 Media Literacy
Propaganda
prop-uh-GAN-duh noun
Turn it over
021 Propaganda
Information spread on purpose to push people toward a belief or action, often through emotion rather than evidence.
Where the word came from
From the Congregatio de Propaganda Fide, a Catholic missionary body founded by Pope Gregory XV in 1622. It meant "spreading the faith" before it turned negative.
Turn it back
022 Media Literacy
Misinformation, disinformation, malinformation
mis- / dis- / mal-in-for-MAY-shun nouns
Turn it over
022 Misinformation, disinformation, malinformation
Misinformation is false and shared by mistake. Disinformation is false and shared on purpose. Malinformation is true but shared to cause harm.
Where the word came from
Claire Wardle and Hossein Derakhshan set out this "information disorder" framework in a 2017 Council of Europe report. "Disinformation" is usually traced to the Russian "dezinformatsiya," though its first use is debated.
Turn it back
023 Media Literacy
On the record, off the record, on background
phrases
Turn it over
023 On the record, off the record, on background
"On the record" means you can quote the person by name. "Off the record" means you can't use the information at all. "On background" means you can use it without naming the source.
Where the word came from
Long-standing newsroom conventions with no single documented coiner.
Turn it back
024 Media Literacy
Embargo
em-BAR-goh noun
Turn it over
024 Embargo
An agreement not to publish information until a set date and time.
Where the word came from
From the Spanish "embargar," to seize or restrain. It first meant trade bans on ships.
Turn it back
025 Media Literacy
Large language model (LLM)
larj LANG-gwij MOD-ul noun
Turn it over
025 Large language model (LLM)
An AI system, like ChatGPT, trained on huge amounts of text to predict and produce language.
Where the word came from
The term spread in AI research in the late 2010s. OpenAI released ChatGPT publicly on 30 November 2022.
Turn it back
Empire and Globalization 12 entries
026 Empire and Globalization
Protectorate
proh-TEK-ter-it noun
Turn it over
026 Protectorate
A form of colonial control where a foreign power runs a country's key affairs while a local ruler stays on the throne.
Where the word came from
From the Latin "protegere," to protect. The name itself flatters a relationship of control.
Turn it back
027 Empire and Globalization
Decolonization
dee-kol-uh-nih-ZAY-shun noun
Turn it over
027 Decolonization
Colonized countries winning independence. More broadly, it also means the work of undoing colonial habits in culture and thinking.
Where the word came from
Its first use is debated. German economist Moritz Julius Bonn is often credited with spreading it in the early 1930s, but a French use from 1836 exists.
Turn it back
028 Empire and Globalization
Neocolonialism
nee-oh-kuh-LOH-nee-uh-liz-um noun
Turn it over
028 Neocolonialism
Control of a formally independent country through money, debt, trade or culture instead of direct rule.
Where the word came from
Kwame Nkrumah popularized it with his 1965 book Neo-Colonialism: The Last Stage of Imperialism. He did not invent the word.
Turn it back
029 Empire and Globalization
Orientalism
or-ee-EN-tuh-liz-um noun
Turn it over
029 Orientalism
The Western habit of picturing the Middle East, North Africa and Asia as exotic or backward, in ways that justified domination.
Where the word came from
Edward Said gave it this critical meaning in his 1978 book Orientalism. Before that, the word just meant the academic study of "the East."
Turn it back
030 Empire and Globalization
Hegemony
heh-JEM-uh-nee noun
Turn it over
030 Hegemony
Power that works mostly through consent, where people come to accept the ruling group's values as common sense.
Where the word came from
From the Greek "hegemonia," leadership. Antonio Gramsci developed the cultural meaning in his Prison Notebooks (1929 to 1935).
Turn it back
031 Empire and Globalization
Sharp power
SHARP POW-er noun
Turn it over
031 Sharp power
Influence that works through manipulation, censorship and distraction rather than through attraction or force.
Where the word came from
Christopher Walker and Jessica Ludwig of the National Endowment for Democracy, writing in Foreign Affairs on 16 November 2017.
Turn it back
032 Empire and Globalization
Cultural diplomacy
KUL-chur-ul dih-PLOH-muh-see noun
Turn it over
032 Cultural diplomacy
A government using arts, language and exchange programs to build goodwill and influence abroad.
Where the word came from
A 20th-century policy term with no single coiner. Milton Cummings's 2003 definition is widely quoted.
Turn it back
033 Empire and Globalization
Public diplomacy
PUB-lik dih-PLOH-muh-see noun
Turn it over
033 Public diplomacy
A government talking directly to foreign publics, not just their governments, to shape how it is seen.
Where the word came from
Edmund Gullion, dean of Tufts's Fletcher School, gave it its modern meaning in 1965. Historian Nicholas Cull traced the phrase back to a London Times editorial in January 1856.
Turn it back
034 Empire and Globalization
Global South
GLOH-bul SOWTH noun
Turn it over
034 Global South
A political label for countries shaped by colonialism and still disadvantaged in the world economy, rather than a strictly geographic one.
Where the word came from
Activist Carl Oglesby is credited with first using it in a 1969 Commonweal article on the Vietnam War.
Turn it back
035 Empire and Globalization
World-systems theory
WURLD SIS-tumz THEER-ee noun
Turn it over
035 World-systems theory
The idea that the world economy is one system, with a rich "core," a poor "periphery" and a "semi-periphery" in between.
Where the word came from
Immanuel Wallerstein, The Modern World-System, volume one, 1974.
Turn it back
037 Empire and Globalization
Enclosure and Fortress Europe
en-KLOH-zhur / FOR-tris YOOR-up nouns
Turn it over
037 Enclosure and Fortress Europe
Enclosure is fencing off shared land and turning it into private property. Fortress Europe is a critical name for the EU's hard-line border policies.
Where the word came from
England's enclosures ran from roughly the 1500s to the 1800s. Karl Marx made them central to his history of capitalism.
Turn it back
Global Justice and Human Rights 15 entries
038 Global Justice and Human Rights
Genocide
JEN-uh-side noun
Turn it over
038 Genocide
Acts committed with intent to destroy, in whole or in part, a national, ethnic, racial or religious group.
Where the word came from
Raphael Lemkin coined the word in his 1944 book Axis Rule in Occupied Europe, from the Greek "genos" (race, tribe) and the Latin "-cide" (killing). The UN adopted the Genocide Convention on 9 December 1948.
Turn it back
039 Global Justice and Human Rights
Crimes against humanity
krymz uh-GENST hyoo-MAN-ih-tee noun
Turn it over
039 Crimes against humanity
Widespread or systematic attacks on civilians, like murder, enslavement or persecution, in war or peace.
Where the word came from
France, Britain and Russia first used the phrase diplomatically in a May 1915 declaration condemning the massacres of Armenians. It was first prosecuted at Nuremberg in 1945.
Turn it back
040 Global Justice and Human Rights
War crimes
WOR krymz noun
Turn it over
040 War crimes
Serious violations of the laws of war, like deliberately attacking civilians or torturing prisoners.
Where the word came from
Rooted in the Hague Conventions of 1899 and 1907 and in the Geneva Conventions. The ICC's founding treaty, the Rome Statute, took effect on 1 July 2002.
Turn it back
041 Global Justice and Human Rights
Jus ad bellum
yoos ad BELL-um noun
Turn it over
041 Jus ad bellum
The rules on when a country may go to war at all.
Where the word came from
The Latin sounds ancient, but historian Robert Kolb showed the paired terms were coined in the League of Nations era, rarely used before the late 1940s.
Turn it back
042 Global Justice and Human Rights
Jus in bello
yoos in BELL-oh noun
Turn it over
042 Jus in bello
The rules on how a war must be fought once it starts, no matter who started it.
Where the word came from
It shares its history with jus ad bellum, as Robert Kolb's 1997 study in the International Review of the Red Cross showed.
Turn it back
043 Global Justice and Human Rights
International humanitarian law and the Geneva Conventions
in-ter-NASH-uh-nul hyoo-man-ih-TAIR-ee-un law noun
Turn it over
043 International humanitarian law and the Geneva Conventions
The law that protects people who aren't fighting, or can no longer fight, during armed conflict.
Where the word came from
The first Geneva Convention came in 1864. The four modern Conventions were adopted on 12 August 1949, with two Additional Protocols in 1977.
Turn it back
044 Global Justice and Human Rights
Responsibility to Protect (R2P)
ree-spon-sih-BIL-ih-tee tuh pruh-TEKT noun
Turn it over
044 Responsibility to Protect (R2P)
The principle that states must protect their people from atrocities, and that the world should step in when a state fails to.
Where the word came from
The International Commission on Intervention and State Sovereignty set it out in a December 2001 report. World leaders endorsed a narrower version in the 2005 World Summit Outcome.
Turn it back
045 Global Justice and Human Rights
Atrocity prevention
uh-TROS-ih-tee pree-VEN-shun noun
Turn it over
045 Atrocity prevention
Spotting warning signs of mass violence early and acting before the killing starts.
Where the word came from
It grew into a policy field after Rwanda and Srebrenica. The UN's 2014 Framework of Analysis for Atrocity Crimes is a core tool.
Turn it back
046 Global Justice and Human Rights
Dehumanization
dee-hyoo-muh-nih-ZAY-shun noun
Turn it over
046 Dehumanization
Describing a group of people as less than human, such as animals, insects or disease.
Where the word came from
A general English term with no single coiner. Genocide researchers began studying it closely after the Holocaust.
Turn it back
047 Global Justice and Human Rights
Incitement and hate speech
in-SITE-ment / hate speech nouns
Turn it over
047 Incitement and hate speech
Incitement is speech that pushes others to commit a crime. Hate speech attacks people for who they are.
Where the word came from
Article III(c) of the 1948 Genocide Convention bans "direct and public incitement to commit genocide." The UN adopted a Strategy and Plan of Action on Hate Speech in 2019.
Turn it back
048 Global Justice and Human Rights
Ethnic cleansing
ETH-nik KLEN-zing noun
Turn it over
048 Ethnic cleansing
Forcibly removing an ethnic or religious group from an area through terror, expulsion or killing.
Where the word came from
It entered English in the early 1990s as a translation of the Serbo-Croatian "etnicko ciscenje," used during the Yugoslav wars.
Turn it back
049 Global Justice and Human Rights
Transitional justice
tran-ZISH-un-ul JUS-tis noun
Turn it over
049 Transitional justice
The ways societies deal with past mass abuses, through trials, truth commissions, reparations and memorials.
Where the word came from
Legal scholar Ruti Teitel says she coined the term in 1991. Neil Kritz's 1995 volumes helped spread it.
Turn it back
050 Global Justice and Human Rights
Self-determination
self-dih-ter-mih-NAY-shun noun
Turn it over
050 Self-determination
The right of a people to choose their own political status and shape their own development.
Where the word came from
It was written into the UN Charter in 1945, Article 1(2), and strengthened by General Assembly Resolution 1514 in 1960.
Turn it back
051 Global Justice and Human Rights
Linguistic human rights and linguicism
ling-GWIS-tik HYOO-mun ryts / LING-gwih-siz-um nouns
Turn it over
051 Linguistic human rights and linguicism
Linguistic human rights are rights tied to language, like schooling in your mother tongue. Linguicism is discrimination based on language.
Where the word came from
Tove Skutnabb-Kangas coined "linguicism" in 1986, though many sources give 1988. She and Robert Phillipson edited the 1994 volume Linguistic Human Rights.
Turn it back
052 Global Justice and Human Rights
Refugee, asylum seeker, migrant
ref-yoo-JEE / uh-SY-lum SEE-ker / MY-grunt nouns
Turn it over
052 Refugee, asylum seeker, migrant
A refugee has fled persecution and is legally recognized. An asylum seeker is still waiting for that protection. A migrant is anyone who moves across borders.
Where the word came from
The 1951 Refugee Convention and its 1967 Protocol define "refugee." The word entered English from French in the 1680s, describing Huguenots who had fled France.
Turn it back
Culture and Identity 13 entries
053 Culture and Identity
Amazigh (plural Imazighen)
ah-mah-ZEEG / ee-mah-ZEE-ghen noun and adjective
Turn it over
053 Amazigh (plural Imazighen)
The Indigenous peoples of North Africa, and their preferred name over "Berber."
Where the word came from
It's the name Amazigh speakers use for themselves, and its exact origin is uncertain. The UN adopted the Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples on 13 September 2007.
Turn it back
054 Culture and Identity
Intangible cultural heritage
in-TAN-jih-bul KUL-chur-ul HAIR-ih-tij noun
Turn it over
054 Intangible cultural heritage
Living traditions like music, oral poetry, crafts and rituals, as opposed to buildings and objects.
Where the word came from
UNESCO's 2003 Convention for the Safeguarding of the Intangible Cultural Heritage.
Turn it back
055 Culture and Identity
Cultural appropriation
KUL-chur-ul uh-proh-pree-AY-shun noun
Turn it over
055 Cultural appropriation
A dominant group taking parts of a marginalized group's culture, often without credit, understanding or benefit to that group.
Where the word came from
No single person coined it. The OED's earliest citation is a 1945 essay by Arthur E. Christy. Kenneth Coutts-Smith's 1976 paper on "cultural colonialism" shaped the modern idea.
Turn it back
056 Culture and Identity
Spectacle
SPEK-tuh-kul noun
Turn it over
056 Spectacle
In cultural theory, a society where images and media events stand in for real life and real participation.
Where the word came from
Guy Debord, La Societe du spectacle (The Society of the Spectacle), 1967.
Turn it back
057 Culture and Identity
Bread and circuses (panem et circenses)
bred and SUR-kus-iz / PAH-nem et keer-KEN-sayz noun phrase
Turn it over
057 Bread and circuses (panem et circenses)
Keeping people quiet with cheap food and entertainment instead of real political power.
Where the word came from
The Roman poet Juvenal, Satire 10, line 81, early 2nd century CE. He was mocking Romans who had traded their political voice for handouts and chariot races.
Turn it back
058 Culture and Identity
Political theater and agitprop
puh-LIT-ih-kul THEE-uh-ter / AJ-it-prop nouns
Turn it over
058 Political theater and agitprop
Political theater is performance meant to push political thought or action. Agitprop is its most direct, message-driven form.
Where the word came from
"Agitprop" comes from the 1920s Soviet term "agitatsiya-propaganda." Erwin Piscator's 1929 book Das politische Theater helped define political theater.
Turn it back
059 Culture and Identity
Counterculture
KOWN-ter-kul-chur noun
Turn it over
059 Counterculture
A group whose values and lifestyle openly reject the mainstream culture around it.
Where the word came from
Sociologist J. Milton Yinger used "contraculture" in 1960. Theodore Roszak's 1969 book The Making of a Counter Culture popularized the term.
Turn it back
060 Culture and Identity
Beat Generation (and beatnik)
BEET jen-er-AY-shun / BEET-nik noun
Turn it over
060 Beat Generation (and beatnik)
Postwar American writers like Jack Kerouac, Allen Ginsberg and William S. Burroughs who rejected conformity and experimented with form, spirituality and drugs.
Where the word came from
Kerouac used the phrase with John Clellon Holmes around 1948. Holmes put it in print in the New York Times Magazine on 16 November 1952. Columnist Herb Caen coined "beatnik" in 1958.
Turn it back
061 Culture and Identity
Folk revival
FOHK rih-VY-vul noun
Turn it over
061 Folk revival
A movement to collect, perform and celebrate traditional music, often led by people from outside the communities it came from.
Where the word came from
It gained momentum with Harry Smith's 1952 Anthology of American Folk Music and the first Newport Folk Festival in 1959.
Turn it back
062 Culture and Identity
Dialect and vernacular
DY-uh-lekt / ver-NAK-yoo-ler nouns
Turn it over
062 Dialect and vernacular
A dialect is a regional or social version of a language. The vernacular is the everyday language ordinary people actually speak, as opposed to an official one.
Where the word came from
"Dialect" comes from the Greek "dialektos," a way of speaking. "Vernacular" comes from the Latin "verna," a slave born in the household.
Turn it back
063 Culture and Identity
Appalachian English
ap-uh-LAY-chun ING-glish noun
Turn it over
063 Appalachian English
The varieties of English spoken in the Appalachian mountain region of the United States.
Where the word came from
A descriptive term used by linguists such as Walt Wolfram and Michael Montgomery.
Turn it back
064 Culture and Identity
Matriarchy and matrilineality
MAY-tree-ar-kee / MAT-rih-lin-ee-AL-ih-tee nouns
Turn it over
064 Matriarchy and matrilineality
Matriarchy is a society where women hold primary power. Matrilineality means family descent passes through the mother's line.
Where the word came from
Johann Jakob Bachofen's 1861 book Das Mutterrecht started the modern debate. Most anthropologists now doubt a true matriarchy has ever been documented.
Turn it back
065 Culture and Identity
Sunim and Seon
SOO-neem / SUN nouns
Turn it over
065 Sunim and Seon
Sunim is a Korean title of respect for Buddhist monastics. Seon is Korean Zen.
Where the word came from
From the Korean "seunim." "Seon" is the Korean reading of the Chinese "Chan," which in Japanese is "Zen."
Turn it back
Field Notes 9 entries
066 Field Notes
Ethnography and participant observation
eth-NOG-ruh-fee / par-TIS-ih-punt ob-zer-VAY-shun nouns
Turn it over
066 Ethnography and participant observation
Ethnography is studying a community by living among its people over time. Participant observation is joining in daily life while taking careful notes.
Where the word came from
"Ethnography" comes from the Greek "ethnos" (people) and "graphein" (to write). Participant observation is tied to Bronislaw Malinowski's fieldwork, described in 1922.
Turn it back
067 Field Notes
Positionality and reflexivity
puh-zish-uh-NAL-ih-tee / ree-flek-SIV-ih-tee nouns
Turn it over
067 Positionality and reflexivity
Positionality is how your identity shapes what you see and how people respond to you. Reflexivity is openly examining that effect.
Where the word came from
Both grew out of feminist and anthropological scholarship in the 1980s and 1990s, with no single coiner.
Turn it back
068 Field Notes
Informed consent
in-FORMD kun-SENT noun
Turn it over
068 Informed consent
A person's clear, voluntary agreement to take part after they understand what you're doing and what the risks are.
Where the word came from
The 1947 Nuremberg Code set out the modern principle after the Nazi medical experiments.
Turn it back
069 Field Notes
Anthrojournalism
AN-throh-JUR-nul-iz-um noun
Turn it over
069 Anthrojournalism
Your name for pairing slow, rigorous ethnographic research with fast, accessible public journalism.
Where the word came from
No published coiner found, so this is presented as your own working term. That makes it yours to own.
Turn it back
070 Field Notes
General Assembly vs. Security Council
JEN-er-ul uh-SEM-blee / sih-KYOOR-ih-tee KOWN-sul nouns
Turn it over
070 General Assembly vs. Security Council
The General Assembly includes all 193 UN member states, each with one vote. The Security Council has 15 members, and five hold vetoes.
Where the word came from
The UN Charter, signed on 26 June 1945, created both bodies.
Turn it back
071 Field Notes
Side event
SIDE ih-VENT noun
Turn it over
071 Side event
A panel, reception or talk held alongside a major official meeting, often run by NGOs, companies or governments.
Where the word came from
Standard jargon at UN and other multilateral meetings, with no single coiner.
Turn it back
072 Field Notes
ECOSOC consultative status
EE-koh-sok kun-SUL-tuh-tiv STAT-us noun
Turn it over
072 ECOSOC consultative status
Official accreditation that lets NGOs take part in certain UN meetings and submit input.
Where the word came from
It rests on Article 71 of the UN Charter and is governed today by ECOSOC resolution 1996/31.
Turn it back
073 Field Notes
Track II diplomacy
TRAK TOO dih-PLOH-muh-see noun
Turn it over
073 Track II diplomacy
Unofficial dialogue among people outside government, like academics and religious leaders, meant to ease conflicts that official talks can't.
Where the word came from
US diplomat Joseph Montville coined it, with psychiatrist William Davidson, in "Foreign Policy According to Freud," Foreign Policy, Winter 1981-82.
Turn it back
074 Field Notes
B-roll and cinema verite
BEE-rohl / see-nay-MAH vay-ree-TAY nouns
Turn it over
074 B-roll and cinema verite
B-roll is supporting footage cut over interviews. Cinema verite is a documentary style that films real life with little staging.
Where the word came from
"B-roll" comes from old film editing, which used separate A and B reels. "Cinema verite" is tied to Jean Rouch and Edgar Morin's 1961 film Chronicle of a Summer.
Turn it back