Words to divide, words to share. A dialogue between linguistics and anthropology

Words that offend, wound, express hate. We are surrounded by them in public and private communication, in every kind of discourse and in every single context. They arrogantly force their way into our private lives through social media. Serial haters, political agitators, media speculators: divisiveness has become a business for many people, a product that can change our habits. It ranges from explicit hate with insults directed again women, children, migrants, coloured people, homosexuals, people with disabilities and students to a more subtle kind of hate, made up of victimisation and rhetoric. There are people who enjoy doing this, those who make money, those who suffer in silence (the victims), those who turn the other cheek. But there are also people who try to fight back with tools such as indignation, laws and the construction of a real dialogue. There are people who propose words that build bridges, which unite around shared values and rights. Different words to give us back content that seemed lost. Words that aim far afield, exalted words.