THE PHENOMENON OF INFORMATION HIGHWAYS IN THE FRANCOPHONIE

The 'globalization' phenomenon has infiltrated many societies and cult ures, promoting the creation of 'global villages' where the risks of c ultural levelling are evident. The Agence de la Francophonie (ACCT), s ecretariat of the Francophone Summits, has raised awareness about this issue, through information gathered by its Banque internationale d'in formation sur les Etats francophones (BIEF) programme. The last Franco phone Summit (Cotonou, 1996) adopted a recommendation recognizing the global impact of the 'information highway' while urging the Francophon ie to promote the cultural specificities and diversities of its Member States. The information and communication technologies and the inform ation highway seem to favor the linguistic imperialism of certain soci eties and cultures. This trend triggers two types of reaction: (1) an accelerated merger of cultures into one single conventional universe a nd (2) an assertion of national cultural identities. The Francophonie has chosen the latter and has developed strategies to support its posi tion. (C) 1996 Academic Press Limited.