RIGHTS AND MINORITY LANGUAGES: IS THE EUROPEAN CHARTER FOR REGIONAL OR MINORITY LANGUAGES THE RIGHT INSTRUMENT FOR THE PROTECTION OF LANGUAGES IN EDUCATION?

Abstract

Political intervention in the management of multilingualism is inherent to contemporary societies, especially in the educational field. Since 1998, with the entry into force of the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages, all Council of Europe states have had at their disposal a programmatic instrument with which to formulate measures aimed at both the protection and promotion of minority languages. Among the areas covered by the Charter, Education, outlined in article 8, is posited as a cardinal axis, given its importance not only in formal literacy in these languages but also in the creation of critical awareness, which, far from social determinism, is fundamental to guarantee the present and future of these European languages. This chapter addresses an analysis of the state effort and level of compliance with article 8 in Denmark, Switzerland, Poland, and Bosnia and Herzegovina, as representative examples of the proposed paradigm. It is, ultimately, a reflection on the ideological, state, and economic devices working in the service of the system, to advance in the knowledge of the sociolinguistic reality and strengthen public policies protected by the legislative power that do not privilege some languages over others.