Communication is linked to linguistic levels through their phonetic, lexical, syntactic, semantic, and pragmatic components, as well as the social, psychological, and cultural factors associated with them. It is therefore inseparable from the interaction that occurs between two or more parties and that unfolds in various directions determined by the nature of the context and the type of relationships involved. Communication may also occur through a social, educational, legal, political, or cultural mediator accepted by all parties because of their credibility and the objectivity of their positions.
On this basis, communication is framed within a cognitive, methodological, cultural, and legal context that makes it a foundational principle of human and social utopias. It constitutes a critical horizon that allows reality to be deconstructed from within its language, representations, and institutions. This perspective transforms utopia from a merely idealistic horizon or an unreal world into a mechanism that reflects the capacities of society and its ability to imagine representative models for itself, as well as its aspiration to achieve a possible equality. Such equality may be articulated through systems, conceptual frameworks, programs, projects, and communicative narratives aimed at improving social reality, reducing discrimination among its members, and establishing equality among human initiatives regardless of their referential backgrounds. This process seeks to create a desired form of justice beyond the domination of one discourse over another.
This desired horizon is not a dreamlike utopia nor an arbitrary imagination; rather, it is a rational and democratic practice through which human beings realize their existence by breaking artificial distinctions and establishing equality between the rights of different discourses and intellectual or existential choices. It thus becomes an open field for fair practices that differ from certain everyday or institutional practices that draw dividing lines between discourses and classify them according to criteria lacking a foundation in equality. These mechanisms extend to establish boundaries for each discourse in its relationship with power, law, economy, and institutions, as well as normative cultural limits governed by customs, general symbolic representations, and identity constructions. Such limits often remain far removed from any objective scientific consideration or equitable approach grounded in equality.
In this way, one discourse may be elevated at the expense of others, confining utopia to the realm of impossible dreams and reducing it to empty slogans, while paving the way for a single dominant discourse. As a result, communication itself is suppressed, even though it constitutes the most effective mechanism of dialogue that allows every discourse to defend itself and justify the validity of its positions within a horizon of competing projects, programs, and visions from which society may choose what it considers most appropriate.
Despite the relevance of these considerations, the transformations experienced by humanity in recent decades have produced a complex reality. One of its most visible manifestations is the digital transformation, which has become an open marketplace for all forms of discourse. Although this development was initially accompanied by optimistic claims about equality among citizens in producing discourse and information, subsequent developments have led to the emergence of discourses shaped by misinformation, boldness not grounded in knowledge or cultural values, inequality in access to information, and the erosion of trust between individuals and institutions. This situation has created a central tension between the promise of equality carried by communication as a social utopia and the limits that sometimes make discourse itself an instrument for reproducing inequality.
Within this theoretical background, the journal Soroud seeks to approach this topic from a scientific perspective by drawing on linguistics and discourse analysis, sociology, anthropology, philosophy, communication and media studies, cultural studies, literature and the arts, law, public policy, education, human rights, and literary and artistic creativity. The aim is to explore the complex relationship between communication and equality in contemporary societies from a critical utopian perspective that considers communication as a profound linguistic and social practice contributing to the construction of meaning, the establishment of recognition and trust, and the reconfiguration of the boundaries between inclusion and exclusion. It also seeks to elevate the question of equality from the level of slogans to the level of procedural conditions that make it achievable both communicatively and practically. This requires a careful analysis of participation rules, the distribution of discursive roles, the criteria for recognizing the right to speak, the conditions for the formation of symbolic legitimacy, and the mechanisms for managing differences and democratizing dialogue.
Based on the above considerations, the journal Soroud, which has chosen to dedicate its eleventh issue to this topic, invites academic researchers and cultural actors from different disciplines to contribute studies framed around the following thematic axes:
Conceptual Axis
This axis seeks to examine the relationship between the concepts of communication, discourse, society, utopia, and equality through the following questions:
Legal and Institutional Axis
This axis aims to study the mechanisms through which symbolic legitimacy is granted for the acceptance or exclusion of discourses, and to highlight the roles of the actors involved in this process.
Guiding questions include:
Axis of Actors in the Production of Discourse
This axis examines the role of actors in producing discourse through the following questions:
Axis of Classification Criteria
This axis seeks to classify discourses from the perspective of equality and to explore the relationship between social utopia and discourse through the following questions:
Axis of Digital Discourses
This axis aims to examine digital transformations from the perspective of equality values and the utopia of society through the following questions:
Deadline for submitting abstracts (250 words): April 10, 2026
Deadline for submitting full papers: June 20, 2026
Publication date: Winter 2027
General principles for publishing in the journal
https://scholarhub.univh2c.ma/soroud/