“Militantisme” or activism, nidâl or “nashitiyya”: Some remarks on the circulation of words between French, English and Arabic

The words used in recent and ongoing research on mobilizations, in the Arab world and elsewhere, and in different languages, are loaded with meaning that relates to particular historical experiences. This paper attempts to highlight certain aspects of the circulation of these words (in French, English, and Arabic), of the ideas and conceptions embedded within them, and of the consequences and implications of this circulation. It examines their history, their uses, their supposed equivalences, and the possible mismatches from one language to another. The research draws upon two materials: the corresponding sections in several dictionaries and a short corpus of texts written in the three languages, with a focus on those that have been translated from and to one or more of these three languages.