![Sample our Politics & International Relations journals, sign in here to start your FREE access for 14 days]({"type":"image" , "src" : "/sda/5947/TOC-Subject-Sample-2021-Politics-International-Relations.jpg"})
Abstract
Minority language transmission is no longer based solely on family, associated networks and statutory education but is increasingly influenced by the so-called ‘legislative turn’. This paper focuses on some of the side-effects of this latter trend as they appear in two of the most advanced cases in that field (the Basque Country and Ireland). The aim is to identify the reach and significance of the appeal to law and to anticipate some of the more challenging aspects for official language policy in terms of professionalization, juridical relationship between the minority and the majority and between the individual citizen, the language community and the state.
Acknowledgements
This work was facilitated by a grant from the British Academy, ‘Official Language Commissioners’ (SG 50880) and an ESRC grant ‘The Office of Language Commissioner in Wales, Ireland and Canada’ (Ref ES/J003093/1) which are gratefully acknowledged. I am grateful to an anonymous referee and Prof. A. Cole, Cardiff University for their advice.
Notes
A case in point is POBAL's Citation(2006) draft Bill for an Irish Language Act in Northern Ireland, which was revised in 2012.
The case was D and H v. Czech Republic (2008) 47 EHRR 3, cited in Ahmed (Citation2011: 30).
As one of the chief components of group identity and the means by which the ideas and techniques of social development are diffused, language has become one of the most sensitive issues of the contemporary world. Mackey (1991: 51) estimated that there were some 6170 living languages exclusive of dialects. This rich inheritance has to be contained and managed within 195 or so sovereign states and, if we admit dependencies and semi-autonomous polities, the number rises to over 200. Consequently, there is a lack of congruence between the international political system and the cultural inheritance of its constituent citizens. This suggests that there will be a near-permanent crisis involving attempts to maintain linguistic diversity in the face of increasing linguistic standardization in many parts of the world.
At the same time the USA passed two Native American Languages Acts designed to promote the freedom of Native Americans to speak and develop their mother tongue. The Law on Languages of the Russian Federation enacted in 1991 conferred the status of a national property on all languages and placed them under the protection of the state. In 1991, the Colombian Constitution gave autochthonous languages official status in their own territories. UNESCO and the UN have also produced statements in support of linguistic and cultural diversity. Nic Craith (2007: 180) argues that such developments have enhanced the status of languages world-wide and generated a new interest in the concept of linguistic human rights.
Interview wtih Miren Azkarate (former Minister of Culture, Basque Government, 2000–08), Bilbao, 12 Oct 2011.
Aitzel's main aim was to promote and enrich the Basque language in a progressive manner for he was deeply involved with the Modernists and with writers such as Garcia Lorca. He adopted a largely pragmatic approach, shunning much of the conventional ideological doctrine. I was delighted to deliver the plenary address at the joint Basque Academy and UPV conference held in his honour in Bilbao on 14 Oct 2011.
A National Conference of the Congress had contacted individuals in Wales, Belgium, Switzerland, Canada and Luxembourg to ascertain what kind of bilingual education guidance could be adopted as best practice policies.
Information as given at interview by Miren Azkarate, Bilbao, 12 Oct 2011.
In the later period the activists did not follow this model, although Gipuzkoa did publish the writings of Aitzel, but hardly anyone had paid attention to him in the contemporary period until 2011 when an attempt was made to ‘revindicate’ his name.
Please see Hikuntza Politikarako Sailburuordetza (Citation2008: 55) for the 14 programme themes.
Gardner et al. (Citation2000: 326) report that the insistence by some nationalists to strengthen the differentiation between ‘them’ and ‘us’ (i.e. between Basque and Spanish) has had consequences in corpus planning, as it has led purism in vocabulary, neologism being coined on the basis of really or supposedly authentic Basque roots avoiding any Romance input. This purism, though satisfying for the élite proposing it, has not facilitated the spread of new vocabulary and has possibly alienated some users.
The Basque Government has frequently been a coalition, but until 2009 the dominant party has nearly always been nationalist, as reflected in the fact that the government's lehendakari or president has always been a nationalist.
For statistics, please visit the Basque Government website (www.euskara.euskadi.net) and select the EAS statistics bank: the text is also available in English.
It leaves asides specific schemes for education, health sector, police and the administration of justice.
A more positive finding is the numbers of permanent post holders in posts without dates of compulsion yet having a certified achievement of the required level and in the numbers of temporary post holders in posts of both types with certified achievement.
These failings were identified to me at successive interviews and by correspondence with senior civil servants and government Ministers, past and present. Of course, a counter-argument could be put, that given that so many of the bilingual citizens would probably opt for a Spanish form, then providing a bilingual version automatically at least provides the possibility that some might opt to return their correspondence in Basque.
For a prescient overview of Basque education, see Gardner and Zalbide Citation(2005).
The Official Languages Act is considered to be influenced by international experience, mainly the Official Languages Acts of Canada of 1969 and 1988, and the Welsh Language Act, 1993.
The Language Commissioner is appointed by the President of Ireland on the advice of government and the approval of the Houses of the Parliament. Mr Seán Ó Cuirreáin was appointed as the first Language Commissioner by the President on 24 Feb 2004 for a six-year period as set out in the legislation. The Commissioner was reappointed for a second six-year term on the 23 Feb 2010 after receiving full support from all political parties in the Parliament.
In addition to the reporting duties attached to conducting investigations the Commissioner is required by legislation to provide an annual report, in each of the official languages, of the activities of his office for that year to the Minister for AHGA to be laid before the Houses of the Oireachtas.
The office is in An Spidéal in the Galway Gaeltacht. The office is financed from public finances through the Department of AHGA and, in 2009, received a budget of €796 000.
The Commissioner's Annual Reports since 2007 provide detail on investigations examining specific complaints from members of the public or investigating specific bodies that fail to implement initiatives agreed in their language scheme.
This is a status which approaches that enjoyed by the Canadian Federal Commissioner of Official Languages, and is slightly different from the current provisions of the Welsh Language Commissioner (Williams, 2011).
Similar issues arise in Finland, Wales and the Basque Country. See Sandberg et al. (2011) for details of the ‘From Act to Action project’ and, for Wales, see Williams Citation(2010).
The terms of reference for the review are published on the Department's website (www.ahg.gov.ie). The review was led by officials from the Department of AHGA, who consulted with key stakeholders, including the Office of An Coimisinéir Teanga, government departments, other public bodies, Irish language and Gaeltacht organizations, general public and international experts. On completion, the Minister will make recommendations to be considered by the full government.
A bilingual consultation document containing 108 pages was issued by Foras na Gaeilge. The length and complexity of this document provides a challenge to the public in answering the questionnaire. While public meetings and focus groups were held, a process such as this normally focuses on written submissions, and detractors claim that the operative questionnaire was inaccessible to the public, in both languages. Further information about the New Funding Model is available online at http://www.gaelport.com/samhailnuamhaoinithe, and the consultation document can be accessed at www.gaeilge.ie/samhail.
Legal experts have suggested to me that if the Scottish precedent holds true, there will be far less instances than expected as civil society tends to be ‘tolerant’ of the need for devolved powers to bed in and be given time to work and adapt to a new legal system.
One such comprehensive account may be found in Ahmed Citation(2011), see especially pp. 146–168.