by Farhan Patel
![]() |
States that have signed and ratified the ECRML in dark green, states that have signed but not ratified the ECRML in light green, states who have neither signed/ratified the ECRML in white, and non-Council of Europe member states in gray. Image Source |
![]() |
Image Source |
![]() |
Image Source |
France is always ready to proclaim itself the founder and defender of human rights, but cannot unite itself to defend the minority and regional languages internally impacting its own state, both socially and politically. The French government has repeatedly asserted the absurd argument that regional and minority languages – languages that are considered internationally endangered – threaten the widespread use of French in France and harms French unity. Granting collective rights to speakers of regional and minority languages does not mean the use of regional and minority languages will overtake the use of French in the vast majority of public spheres. France providing its citizens with a specific form of collective rights, polyethnic rights - those that recognize and respect aspects of the linguistic heritage of ethnic groups, would not devastate, but instead strengthen French unity. Public nationalism levels and support for the French government would only increase as a result of the French government legislating fair and favored laws. France is afraid the French language would be placed into harm’s way with the ratification of the ECRML, and isolated French regions such as Corsica, where many speak a shared regional minority language, may then be inclined to ask for self-government rights, or territorial political autonomy, similar to how Catalonia is an autonomous community in Spain.
In order to most effectively institute productive linguistic reform, French President Francois Hollande should pursue a path similar to that of his neighb
or, Spain. Spain ratified the ECRML on April 9, 2001, but clearly informs its citizens that though regional and minority languages such as Catalan and Basque are now protected languages by the federal government, all Spanish citizens possess the duty to know Spanish and have the right to use it. France can institute a similar law where French citizens are allowed to freely use their respective regional or minority languages in the private and public spheres, but are simultaneously obligated to know French. French President Francois Hollande chanted, “Le Changement C’est Maintenant” (Time for Change is Now) during his 2012 presidential campaign and he must now fulfill the promises he made to his voters. If France does ratify the European Charter for Regional and Minority Languages, the state will demonstrate its honest commitment to the protection of cultural and linguistic diversity to its own citizens and the international community.
Online Sources
http://www.nationalia.info/en/news/1708
http://www.euractiv.com/culture/france-gets-closer-ratifying-reg-news-533181
http://www.pen-international.org/wp-content/uploads/2013/09/Ratification-of-European-Charter.pdf
The author of this blog entry is Farhan Patel, a sophomore in in Political Science and Arabic Studies at the University of Illinois. Farhan is planning on teaching in China this summer and is interested in going to law school after graduation. He wrote this text in the seminar LING 418, Language and Minorities in Europe.
0 comments:
Post a Comment
The moderators of the Linguis Europae blog reserve the right to delete any comments that they deem inappropriate. This may include, but is not limited to, spam, racist or disrespectful comments about other cultures/groups or directed at other commenters, and explicit language.