International minority language protection and promotion conventions in action - the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages.
Presenter(s)
Affiliation
Topic
Bottom-up and top-down language policy and planning
Type
Papers
Abstract
Language rights are one of the many aspects of the human rights conventions and top level declarations.
In particular, the legally binding conventions such as the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages, committing state actors, local authorities and language communities to protect and promote regional or minority languages has been intended to actively support non-dominant languages in their respective environment and beyond.
Although called European, the Charter is open for all states and language communities who would enhance linguistic and cultural diversity, giving regional or minority languages a voice and visibility in the public sphere.
The modalities of the Charter cover many aspects of public life - from education to court proceedings, road signs and much more. Once ratified, the instrument`s implementation is reviewed every 5 years by a special committee for the compliance and recommendations on how to improve its application for each of the languages covered. The commitment of the state or local communities cannot be reduced, it can be though upgraded and also extended to languages, or areas initially not covered for particular languages, should such wish come from a language community or authorities themselves, e.g. media, administration etc.
The paper will present the actual workings of the Charter in different settings and how the authorities and the communities can use the lever of the convention to revitalize languages. The paper will also present some of the ratification modalities of those states, who have signed but not ratified the Charter and how the communities can pursue the path for ratification by broadening the language use within the community and demonstrating its vitality. A lesser-known but important aspects of cross-border cooperation and digital communication will also be touched upon.
