Archives

by monzo

The Labelling of Products in the European Union – Time for a more Coherent EU Language Policy

Stefaan VAN DER JEUGHT

The free movement of goods is one of the four core freedoms in the EU internal market. In that regard the linguistic diversity of the EU can form an obstacle to the achievement of that aim, when on a national or even subnational level specific regulatory linguistic requirements are imposed on the labelling of products. In this article, it will be shown that EU legislation does not tackle this issue in a general and uniform way, but proceeds rather on a case-to-case basis. The lack of a global and coherent policy in this regard has resulted in heterogeneous linguistic arrangements and lacking language rights for consumers. It is argued in this article that there is need for more coherent linguistic rights on the basis of clear and transparent general criteria such as product hazards, public health and consumer protection. As a general rule, a better balance should be struck between the essential principles underlying any linguistic regulatory provision, namely the freedom of language (for manufacturers, importers and distributors) to market their products in the EU internal market on the one hand, and the territoriality principle on the other, according to which Member States may determine the use of languages on their territory in order to protect the language rights of end-users and consumers.

Keywords: Product labelling, language rights of consumers

by monzo

The position of Spanish in the US: foreign or vernacular language?

PhDr. Mgr. Karolína Strnadová

Due to the migration from Latin America to the US in recent decades, the Spanish-speaking community is growing very fast in several US states, and therefore, the use of Spanish is increasing considerably in the US territory. Spanish earns its position in many areas of North American life: interpersonal communication on the street or in the work, commercial inscriptions and road signs, media, advertisements, etc. However, the position of Spanish within the Spanish-speaking community that resides in the US has changed. On the one hand, Spanish speakers who do not speak English continue to arrive and Spanish is their only or main language of communication. On the other hand, the new Spanish-speaking generations that were born in the US do not always speak Spanish at the level of their parents and/or prefer to use it over English. Where to look for the explanation for such a trend? 

The contribution will tend to offer a synthesis of several points that come into play when explaining the linguistic and social context of the United States: effects of the coexistence of diverse cultures and languages; linguistic centralization from the diachronic point of view; monolingualism versus bilingualism in the educational system; linguistic rights, social justice and the inclusion of the Spanish-speaking community; community translation and interpretation; code-switching and the Spanish of the new generations. The paper is based on various studies and academic works on the subject, official, legal and historical documents and the personal experience of the author.

Keywords: Spanish, USA, Spanish speakers, education, rights to language, linguistic centralization

by monzo

The Regulations of the Chilean Constitutional Convention and multilingual deliberation: legitimacy, inclusion, linguistic justice, and hegemonic monolingualism

Marco Espinoza

The constitutional moment in Chile has been highly participative and characterized by the political incorporation of traditionally excluded groups. Conversation and public deliberation have been central in this process. In this context, the diversity of languages and communicative practices has become so relevant that the Convention’s General Regulations explicitly state a series of principles acknowledging the importance of linguistic matters for the deliberative work the Convention (and their relation to rights, non-discrimination, and democratic participation). These include plain language, gender-inclusive language, and linguistic diversity. This presentation focuses on those principles concerned with plurilingualism, multilingual deliberation, and translation of documents from Spanish to the different languages of the territory. 

The analysis and discussion will first focus on the debates, arguments, and agents involved in the promotion of this type of language regulations and language regime for the workings of the Convention. This will be followed by a critical discussion of these regulations in relation to legitimacy, inclusion, and linguistic justice. It is argued that these principles and regulations mainly operate on a symbolic level as a legitimating mechanism of the Convention itself as a representative and inclusive institution. The fact that these regulations are entirely written in Spanish, the absence of actual multilingual deliberation, interpretation, and the multiple translations, are a clear indication of the language hierarchies in the territory, and reproduce assumptions about the monolingual functioning of society. It is concluded that the Regulations, despite their possible interpretation as an attempt at linguistic justice, contribute to validate the hegemonic monolingualism in Spanish that characterizes the country’s institutions, and can hardly contribute to prefigure a context of multilingual deliberation and participation in Chilean institutions. 

Keywords: Chilean constitutional convention, multilingual deliberation, linguistic justice, hegemonic monolingualism.

by monzo

The contribution of the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages to the construction of language public policies

Victor Guset

Associate Professor of Public Law at the University of Rouen

The European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages is an international treaty whose exclusive purpose is the protection and promotion of the linguistic diversity present on the European continent. The need to promote linguistic diversity is explained by the vulnerable situation of regional or minority languages. Several factors explain this vulnerability. On the one hand, some States, such as France, had adopted a policy aimed at the eradication of minority languages on their territories. On the other hand, even in the absence of such a ‘repressive’ policy (Moutouh, 1999: 223), social and economic factors may well have rendered these languages vulnerable (Kymlicka & Patten, 2007: 38).

These different factors are taken into account by the Charter. In order to protect and promote regional or minority languages, the Charter requires the State to establish a language public policy in their favour. The Charter is therefore the framework of national language policies. This influence of the Charter has two consequences. Firstly, through this policy, a State party to the Treaty must direct the linguistic behaviour of individuals in favour of the practice of regional languages. In doing so, it takes the form of a “Propulsive State” (Morand, 1999) that not only legally authorises the use of these languages but also “propels” their use. If the Charter requires such a propulsive State intervention, this intervention is necessarily flexible. It adapts to the characteristics of these languages as well as to the States’ specificities (Guset, 2017).

Secondly, the deployment and success of these public policies required by the Charter presuppose that States recognise the linguistic diversity present on their territories. The identification of languages benefiting from language public policies amounts to an indirect recognition of culturally ‘situated’ (May, 2016: 30) individuals, which is a feature of the ‘multiculturalist’ thought movement (Taylor, 2019).

Guset V. (2017), L’interprétation de la Charte européenne des langues régionales ou minoritaires, Thèse dactylographiée, Université de Bordeaux.

Kymlicka W., Patten A. (2007), « Introduction. Language Rights and Political Theory : Context, Issues and Approaches », in Kymlicka W., Patten A. (dir.) (2007), Language Rights and Political Theory, Oxford, OUP, 2007, 1-51.

May P. (2016), Philosophies du multiculturalisme, Paris, Presses de Sciences Po.

Moutouh H. (1999), « Vers un statut des langues régionales en droit français ? », in Guillorel H., Koubi G. (dir.) (1999), Langues et droit – Langues du droit, droit des langues, Bruxelles, Bruylant, 221-249.

Morand C-A. (1999), Le droit néo-moderne des politiques publiques, Paris, L.G.D.J.Taylor C. (2019), Multiculturalisme. Différence et démocratie, Paris, Flammarion.

Keywords: European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages, language public policies, regional or minority languages, language rights