In general people are not very aware of linguistic inequality, which is, however, rife. Think, for example, of the speakers of minority languages who are not able or not allowed to use their language in school or at work, immigrants who because of their language find it difficult to enter into the new society and find work, people who could work in an international organisation, where, however, native knowledge of English or French is required, people who would like to study in their native language but have to learn through a language that they do not understand so well. Consequently, protecting languages is important not only culturally but above all practically, politically and economically. It is a matter of protecting the concrete interests of individuals in social, political and economic life.

Everyone accepts that for practical reasons in some circumstances it is not possible to use all languages and that it is sometimes necessary to restrict the languages used. However, if in some cases a restriction on the use of languages is accepted then it is necessary to establish the principle that a privilege for one language over others must be matched by specific and precise compensation (financially, for example) in favour of the speakers of the excluded languages. This is the general principle of linguistic justice proposed in the 1990s by the outstanding Esperantist Prof. Jonathan Pool. New interpretations of linguistic justice were added in the following decade and the debate is becoming ever more intense, but at the same time ever more confusing.

Although it is becoming evident that, in general, linguistic justice fits with the modern values of freedom and equality, it is still relatively little-known. One of the reasons for this ignorance is precisely the various and occasionally contradictory definitions of it. Another reason is that the concept of linguistic justice is still not measurable. That is probably the most important problem today, because if one is unable to evaluate the language policies in a particular country or region according to the principle of linguistic justice then it is not possible to improve those language policies and thus people's living conditions.

The presentation aims to address precisely this problem. Firstly, the results of the current debate on linguistic justice in the academic world will be presented and discussed. Secondly, we will look at what features a suitable definition should have for empirically evaluating language policies. That means, among other things, considering some indicators that could be used to evaluate or measure linguistic justice in a country or region. Thirdly, one example will be proposed for evaluating linguistic justice in Europe, based on a statistical database provided by Eurostat, the EU statistical office.

The lecture will present the first results from a research project financed by the Esperantic Studies Foundation (ESF) on an index of linguistic justice in the world and some results from a research project on linguistic justice in Europe financed by the European Commission ("LAPO").