Language, Ethnicity, and the State: Minority Languages in the EU

1
Language, Ethnicity, and the State Minority
Languages in the EU

• Ch8 Old and New Lesser-Used Languages of
  Europe Common Cause?
• By Tom Cheesman

2
Europes non-European and non-white migrants

• 20M non-European migrants in EU 13M Muslims of
  various ethnicities, in contrast with the
  traditionally white Christian base of the EU
  nation-states
• 1993 European Charter for Regional or Minority
  Languages is contested in places, but lays the
  groundwork for supporting linguistic diverstiy in
  the EU

3
The language of the citizen vis-à-vis the
language of the migrant

• European Charter protects only languages spoken
  by minorities who are citizens/nationals -- does
  not protect official languages, dialects of
  official languages, or languages of migrants
• But migrants soon become citizens and then the
  languages should fall under protection

4
The language of the citizen / the language of the
migrant, contd.

• Two versions of multicultrualism
• Strong Minorities make a strong contribution to
  a multicultural society -- but the reality is
  that they tend to assimilate rather than
  influencing majority culture
• Moderate limited recognition of minority
  cultures for a transition of 3-4 generations,
  after which ethnic identity is merely symbolic,
  and tougher issues like language are not dealt
  with -- This is what most policy assumes
• But there are millions of speakers of
  non-European languages in the EU, and they are
  NOT temporary

5
Europes new minority languages

• Some are big Arabic, Chinese, Hindi/Urdu,
  Malay, Russian
• Some are languages of various states Bengali,
  Japanese, Korean, Somali, Turkish
• Some lack a motherland Kurdish
• Though they lack protections, they are de facto
  important languages of Europe and are developing
  European cultural heritages

6
Juxtaposition of lesser languages

• Indigenous minority languages of Europe, like
  Welsh
• Risk of extinction for some
• Issues of local cultural recognition
• Ancient European ancestry/autochthony
• Territory essential (except Romany)

• Immigrant diaspora languages
• No risk of extinction
• No local issues

7
Old and new cultural minorities

• European original minorities are promoted,
  while others are invisible
• Lack of territorial definition makes it hard for
  new minorities to mimick nationalism on a smaller
  scale (like the old minorities)
• No support for media and education in the
  languages of the new minorities -- leads to
  alienation from majority cultures, a situation
  that is getting worse, not better

8
Old and new cultural minorities, contd.

• Non-EU minorities are not disappearing via
  assimilation
• New immigrant continue to replenish these groups
• Increased ease of travel and communication have
  strengthened ties to societies of origin
• Internet makes local communication globally
  accessible

9
Old and new cultural minorities, contd.

• Heritage bilinguals have real advantages in the
  global economy
• Access to multiple markets, networks of kinship
  and trust
• Incentive to cultivate languages, both own and
  others

10
Old and new cultural minorities, contd.

• Bilinguals enjoy educational, psychological, and
  social benefits -- but only when supported by
  bilingual education
• Pressures to support biingual education for more
  and more languages are mounting
• Language rights is a growing political issue
• Gains made by idigenous territorial minorities
  motivate aspriations of new minorities

11
Old and new cultural minorities, contd.

• State policymakers are beginning to recognize
  value of minority language skills
• USA is developing Heritage Language Initiative
• Professionalized language diversity is a valuable
  resource

12
Cultural and linguistic change?

• What is the trend?
• Continued loss of minority languages?
• Increasing multilingualism for economic
  opportunity, with heritage speakers at the
  vanguard?
• It does seem to be the case that immigrants
  prefer biingualism when race and religion
  preclude full assimilation

13
Cultural and linguistic change?, contd.

• Subnational community languages are increasingly
  often also transnational community languages
• European community fears the Balkan nightmare
  associated with excessive diversity
• 1996 Universal Declaration of Linguistic Rights
  covers immigrants, refugees, diaspora, etc. and
  may come to challenge the exclusions of the
  European Charter

14
Conclusions

• Notions of language rights and cultural justice
  as universal are spreading
• In a sense, all languages other than English are
  becoming minoritized, and most of the worlds
  languages are becoming extinct
• Could English become associated with
  industrialization, destruction of cultures,
  infringement of basic human rights, global
  cultural imperialism and widening social
  inequality?

15
Conclusions, contd.

• Internet supports and favors diversity
• A European Union which legislates and passes
  budgets to protect its aboriginal languages,
  while still discriminating against all the
  languages of relative newcomers, must seem simply
  unjust, and the premises of its policy
  untenable. -- and this discrimination has racial
  implications
• Old and new minorities should work together to
  build a new Europe more open to cultural
  diversity both within and beyond the region