In the Name of Language: School-Based Language Revitalization, Strategic Solidarities, and State Power in the French Basque Country

Abstract

This article explores the mobilization dynamics of a school-based minority language revitalization initiative in the French Basque Country, known as the Ikastola Movement. Bringing the study of language revitalization into dialogue with social movement theory, I discuss how the solidarity of Basque language activists was influenced by state-level structures of power. Focusing on an early phase of mobilization from 1975 to 1981, I consider how political opposition to the Ikastola Movement created a series of ideological and institutional struggles for activists. I then examine how these experiences of struggle strengthened the solidarity of activists in the long run. Ultimately, I argue that the discursive and organizational solidarities mobilized by activists were crucial in allowing them to realize important political gains during the 1980s to 1990s. By way of conclusion I suggest avenues for future research on school-based revitalization movements that draw attention to the horizontal and vertical dynamics of collective action.

Keywords:

• language revitalization
• language policy
• education
• social movements
• Basque
• France

Notes

¹For the purposes of this article I focus my attention exclusively on revitalization initiatives targeting the institutional context of formal education or “schooling”’ at the primary and secondary levels. I thus exclude higher education, adult education, nonformal education, and forms of revitalization in noneducational settings, such as mass media and the arts.

²The study of solidarity within the social movement literature stems from a long legacy of scholarship linked to the work of pioneering scholars such as Emile Durkheim, Antonio Gramsci, and G. H. Mead (e.g., Bayertz, 1999).

³For a more extensive discussion of the legacy and landscape of minority language politics in France, see Ager, 1999; Cohen, 2000; Judge, 2007; Laborde, 2001; Safran, 1999, and Wright, 2000.

⁴It should be noted that during the 1980s other organizations emerged in the French Basque Country that also targeted the education system, such as Ikas-Bi (public schools) and Euskal Haziak (Catholic schools).

⁵The IM first emerged in the Spanish Basque Country around 1931 as part of a broader wave of modern Basque ethnic nationalism. During the oppressive years of the Franco regime (1936–1975), however, the Ikastolas were formally banned and the movement went into abeyance. The IM then resurfaced in the 1950s after a relative loosening of anti-Basque language policies. The movement later gained powerful momentum with the resurgence of Basque nationalism, the rise of democracy and regional autonomy during the 1960s–1970s. Under a series of Basque language laws passed during the early 1980s, the Ikastolas were normalized and gained substantial levels of governmental funding. Today, there are more than 50,000 students attending more than 100 Ikastolas in Euskadi as well as Navarra. For a more detailed discussion of the Spanish context see Basurko Montrico, 1989; Lopez Goñi, 2003; or http://www.ikastola.net/web/default.php.

⁶It should be noted that in the years following Seaska's emergence in 1969 similar initiatives arose in other parts of France such as the Catalan-language organization Bressola (est. 1975), the Breton association Diwan (est. 1977), the Occitan association Calandreta (est. 1979) and the Alsatian association ABCM-Zweisprachigkeit (est. 1992).

⁷For general information about Seaska and the Ikastolas in France, see www.seaska.net.

⁸Associative schooling was originally developed in 19th century France so as to both promote and regulate the freedom of religious education. Only about 10% of associative schools in France today are secular. By law, state-level funding of associative schools cannot exceed 49% of total operating costs (Auduc, 2002).

⁹At the time of this writing (December 2012), the Ikastolas continued to operate under a permanent contract of association with the MNE.

¹⁰For a thorough discussion of how these macro-level processes influenced the landscape of language politics in France, see Ager, 1999; Cohen, 2000; Heidemann, 2012; Judge, 2007; and Safran, 1999.

¹¹All interviews were conducted in French. To protect the identity of participants in accordance with IRB protocols, all names used in this article are pseudonyms.