Contested and contesting identities: minority languages vs. the teaching of 'world' languages within the global cultural economy

This paper juxtaposes postmodernist discourses on language, identity and cultural power with historical forms of language inequalities grounded in the nation-state. The discussion is presented in three sections. The first section focuses on the mixed legacies of language-state relations within the pluralist nation-state, colonial and postcolonial language policies. The second section examines the concept of linguistic minority rights beyond the nation-state. This incorporates discussion of transmigration, the breaking up of previous power blocs in Eastern Europe and the role of language in the articulation of emergent 'ethnic' nationalisms. The third section examines the concept of multilingualism within the interactive cultural landscape defined by 'informationalism'. Discussing the collective impact of these variables on the shaping of new cultural, economic and political inequalities, the paper highlights the tensions in which the concept of linguistic minority rights exists in the world today.

‘Purpose’ as a way of helping white trainee history teachers engage with diversity issues

Based on a three year action research project, this study examines one strand of that research, namely the impact that ‘purpose’, i.e. exploring the range of rationales for studying a subject, has in helping white trainee teachers embrace cultural and ethnic diversity within their teaching. Through ‘purpose’ trainees explored different reasons why history should be taught (and by implication what content should be taught and how it should be taught) and the relationship of these reasons to diversity. Focusing on ‘purpose’ appears to have a positive impact on many trainees from white, mono-ethnic backgrounds, enabling them to bring diversity into the school curriculum, in this case history teaching. It offers one way to counter concerns about issues of ‘whiteness’ in the teaching profession and by teaching a more relevant curriculum has a potential positive impact on the achievement of students from minority ethnic backgrounds.

The history curriculum and its personal connection to students from minority ethnic backgrounds

Whereas history is seen by some as crucial in developing a sense of identity and fostering social cohesion, it is however, often based around narrowly nationalistic views of the past, and yet little is known about how students relate to the past they are taught. Thus, this paper focuses on the history curriculum and the ways in which students aged 12-14, from different ethnic backgrounds, relate to it. Moreover, the small-scale study which enabled this paper, focused, in particular, on whether students enjoyed and valued history and whether they felt any sense of personal connection to the topics studied. Drawing on survey data collected from 102 students and focus group discussions with 42 students, from two high schools, the findings indicate that although many students enjoy history, they fail to fully understand its value. Additionally most students, especially those from minority ethnic backgrounds, feel a lack of personal connection to the past, as they do not see themselves in the history they are taught.

Racial Conflict in the United States of America : A Deconstructive Perspective on Native Speaker by Changrae Lee

Written about the time of the Golden Venture incident, Chang-rae Lee’s Native Speaker makes a particular reference to that incident, whereby implying that particular immigrants, on the grounds of their racial identities, are mistreated and considered as aliens by some Americas. While some whites discriminate against immigrants, there is widespread ethnic tension between Korean Americans and African Americans. Significantly, racial conflict between Koreans and blacks and the racist attitude of some whites toward immigrants are mirrored in the relationship between the Korean-American protagonist Henry and his American wife Lelia. That is, due to their different racial identities they do not understand each other and they always argue. However, toward the end of the novel, Henry and Lelia come to understand each other. While ethnic conflict between Koreans and blacks and certain whites’ discriminatory attitudes toward immigrants is serious one, the novel suggests the unimportance of racial identity. In other words, the novel concludes that there is no discriminatory treatment of immigrants and, in fact, every one is a native Speaker in America. In the novel there is no message of how racial conflict could be resolved. However, this essay suggests that by investigating how the tension between Henry and Lelia is resolved, one could suggest a solution for the ethnicity problem in America and in real life.

Immigration, security and the public debate on US language policy : a critical discourse analysis of language attitudes in the United States of America

The narrative of the United States is of a "nation of immigrants" in which the language shift patterns of earlier ethnolinguistic groups have tended towards linguistic assimilation through English. In recent years, however, changes in the demographic landscape and language maintenance by non-English speaking immigrants, particularly Hispanics, have been perceived as threats and have led to calls for an official English language policy.This thesis aims to contribute to the study of language policy making from a societal security perspective as expressed in attitudes regarding language and identity originating in the daily interaction between language groups. The focus is on the role of language and American identity in relation to immigration. The study takes an interdisciplinary approach combining language policy studies, security theory, and critical discourse analysis. The material consists of articles collected from four newspapers, namely USA Today, The New York Times, Los Angeles Times, and San Francisco Chronicle between April 2006 and December 2007.Two discourse types are evident from the analysis namely Loyalty and Efficiency. The former is mainly marked by concerns of national identity and contains speech acts of security related to language shift, choice and English for unity. Immigrants are represented as dehumanised, and harmful. Immigration is given as sovereignty-related, racial, and as war. The discourse type of Efficiency is mainly instrumental and contains speech acts of security related to cost, provision of services, health and safety, and social mobility. Immigrants are further represented as a labour resource. These discourse types reflect how the construction of the linguistic 'we' is expected to be maintained. Loyalty is triggered by arguments that the collective identity is threatened and is itself used in reproducing the collective 'we' through hegemonic expressions of monolingualism in the public space and semi-public space. The denigration of immigrants is used as a tool for enhancing societal security through solidarity and as a possible justification for the denial of minority rights. Also, although language acquisition patterns still follow the historical trend of language shift, factors indicating cultural separateness such as the appearance of speech communities or the use of minority languages in the public space and semi-public space have led to manifestations of intolerance. Examples of discrimination and prejudice towards minority groups indicate that the perception of worth of a shared language differs from the actual worth of dominant language acquisition for integration purposes. The study further indicates that the efficient working of the free market by using minority languages to sell services or buy labour is perceived as conflicting with nation-building notions since it may create separately functioning sub-communities with a new cultural capital recognised as legitimate competence. The discourse types mainly represent securitising moves constructing existential threats. The perception of threat and ideas of national belonging are primarily based on a zero-sum notion favouring monolingualism. Further, the identity of the immigrant individual is seen as dynamic and adaptable to assimilationist measures whereas the identity of the state and its members are perceived as static. Also, the study shows that debates concerning language status are linked to extra-linguistic matters. To conclude, policy makers in the US need to consider the relationship between four factors, namely societal security based on collective identity, individual/human security, human rights, and a changing linguistic demography, for proposed language intervention measures to be successful.

Does speed matter? : the impact of the EU membership incentive on rule adoption in minority language rights protection

Denna avhandling tar sin utgångspunkt i ett ifrågasättande av effektiviteten i EU:s konditionalitetspolitik avseende minoritetsrättigheter. Baserat på den rationalistiska teoretiska modellen, External Incentives Model of Governance, syftar denna hypotesprövande avhandling till att förklara om tidsavståndet på det potentiella EU medlemskapet påverkar lagstiftningsnivån avseende minoritetsspråksrättigheter. Mätningen av nivån på lagstiftningen avseende minoritetsspråksrättigheter begränsas till att omfatta icke-diskriminering, användning av minoritetsspråk i officiella sammanhang samt minoriteters språkliga rättigheter i utbildningen. Metodologiskt används ett jämförande angreppssätt både avseende tidsramen för studien, som sträcker sig mellan 2003 och 2010, men även avseende urvalet av stater. På basis av det \"mest lika systemet\" kategoriseras staterna i tre grupper efter deras olika tidsavstånd från det potentiella EU medlemskapet. Hypotesen som prövas är följande: ju kortare tidsavstånd till det potentiella EU medlemskapet desto större sannolikhet att staternas lagstiftningsnivå inom de tre områden som studeras har utvecklats till en hög nivå. Studien visar att hypotesen endast bekräftas delvis. Resultaten avseende icke-diskriminering visar att sambandet mellan tidsavståndet och nivån på lagstiftningen har ökat markant under den undersökta tidsperioden. Detta samband har endast stärkts mellan kategorin av stater som ligger tidsmässigt längst bort ett potentiellt EU medlemskap och de två kategorier som ligger närmare respektive närmast ett potentiellt EU medlemskap. Resultaten avseende användning av minoritetsspråk i officiella sammanhang och minoriteters språkliga rättigheter i utbildningen visar inget respektive nästan inget samband mellan tidsavståndet och utvecklingen på lagstiftningen mellan 2003 och 2010.

Attitudes towards the minority variety Caló in the south of Spain : a sociolinguistic study

Caló is a variety spoken by the Spanish Calé (i.e. the Roma). It belongs to a group of languages referred to as “Para-Romani”, characterized by Romani vocabulary, but largely non-Romani morphology, phonology and syntax, in the case of Caló deriving from Spanish. According to previous research carried out – with focus on the vocabulary and the grammar of this variety – Caló is on its way to extinction. However, there is an expressed interest in reintroducing a form called “Romanó-Caló”. Attitudes play an important role in minority language maintenance as well as in order for a revitalization project to be successful. The aim of this study is to measure the attitudes that both Calé and non-Calé have towards Caló and Caló speakers, a type of study never carried out in the past. The methods applied are both direct and indirect. In total, 231 informants listened to different recordings of voices acting as either a “Spanish speaking person” or a “Caló speaking person”, a technique referred to as ‘matched guise’, answering questions related to the voices on attitude scales. Furthermore, 182 of the informants rated their agreement or disagreement to positive and negative items towards Caló and its speakers on a Likert scale. The results of the analysis indicate that the attitudes differ towards Caló and Caló speakers, depending on the informant’s (a) ethnicity (b) contact with Caló as well as with Caló speakers, and (c) gender. It is those who – in their own opinion – belong to the ethnic group Calé, as well as those who claim that they have some contact with the variety and its speakers, who show positive attitudes in both parts of the study. The women also show more positive attitudes than the men. It is also possible to note positive attitudes towards the variety and its speakers among the subjects with a high level of knowledge of Caló words, as well as among those with the highest willingness to use Caló. These observations suggest that a revitalization project of the variety Caló has a clear chance of being successful.

Edgar Rice Burroughs' Martian Novels as an Early Paradigm of Racial Toleration

The Martian novels of Edgar Rice Burroughs (ERB) provide an early paradigm of racial toleration by displacing the heterogeneous race conflicts of the U. S. to an interplanetary location. There, the protagonist John Carter, representing Burroughs himself, introduces a level of racial acceptance and integration almost unheard of on the Earth of that era (the early twentieth century).

Os parâmetros curriculares nacionais na produção da diferença racial

O texto propõe uma análise sobre o modo como é descrita a temática racial nos Parâmetros Curriculares Nacionais (PCNs), bem como examinar como esses discursos subjetivam professores e alunos. Para esta análise, vou me deter nos PCNs de 1ª a 4ª série, enquanto documentos norteadores da educação nacional. A escolha das temáticas e a forma como estas são abordadas no documento constituem um campo fértil de produção e disseminação de conceitos. Problematizo como a questão racial é constituída no e pelo discurso dos PCNs, assim como os efeitos que esse discurso produz, entre os quais a sustentação do "mito da democracia racial". Detenho-me no exame dos volumes da Introdução, da Apresentação dos Temas Transversais e Ética, das áreas de História e Geografia e dos Temas Transversais de Pluralidade Cultural e Orientação Sexual. Uso alguns conceitos-chave do arsenal foucaultiano, os quais me possibilitam um pensar diferente a analítica da questão racial.

Relações raciais em Campo Grande/MS : os casos de discriminação racial registrados pelo Programa SOS Racismo

Este trabalho tem como objetivo disponibilizar um estudo referente às relações raciais na Região Centro-Oeste do país, com a finalidade analisar as condicionantes sociais que levam agentes sociais a se verem como vítimas de discriminação racial e a denunciar dimensões de seu cotidiano de interações sociais como sendo de injustiça racial. O pano de fundo para a análise que esteve em curso foi a observação da importância da argumentação da vítima como uma prova da intolerância diante da prática discriminatória. Sendo o SOS Racismo, no período recortado pela pesquisa, a principal atividade do Instituto Casa da Cultura Afro- Brasileira, projeto idealizado pelo Ministério de Justiça e Secretaria Nacional de Direitos Humanos numa tentativa de desenvolvimento de uma relação maior da parceria entre esta instância do poder público e da sociedade civil. A tentativa desta dissertação é observar, como os agentes do ato discriminatório procuram administrar seu papel de “vítima” a partir do ponto de vista de que é um cidadão exigindo ser tratado em bases iguais aos demais membros da sociedade. Se por um lado os números do SOS Racismo confirmam o aspecto insipiente das denúncias registradas pelo ato de discriminação racial no Mato Grosso do Sul, por outro, a análise do cotidiano dessas vítimas indica que um universo amplo de fatores pode pesar muito na argumentação apresentada para se fazer à denúncia.

A discriminação racial em números e palavras : um estudo sobre a participação de negros e brancos no mercado de trabalho gaúcho

O tema deste trabalho é a discriminação racial no mercado de trabalho do Rio Grande do Sul. Analisamos a forma de participação dos indivíduos brancos e negros nessa esfera social, procurando investigar a influência da discriminação racial sobre as desigualdades existentes entre esses dois grupos raciais. Verificamos a relação existente entre a desigualdade sócioeconômica e a desigualdade na forma de participação no mercado de trabalho. Por outro lado, apresentamos também exemplos de discriminação racial, ao analisar queixas de crimes de preconceito de cor ou raça registrados nas delegacias de polícia do Rio Grande do Sul entre 1998 e 2003, referente ao cotidiano das relações de trabalho dos indivíduos negros. Assim, pudemos construir uma categorização das queixas de discriminação racial e examinar o discurso racial como forma de construção de uma identidade estigmatizada e estereotipada concebida para os negros.

O movimento negro e a Secretaria Especial de Políticas de Promoção da Igualdade Racial: um estudo sobre a luta por sentidos sobre a igualdade racial no Brasil

Esta dissertação tem como objetivo compreender o relacionamento do Movimento Negro e Estado brasileiro no processo de criação da Secretaria Especial de Políticas de Promoção da Igualdade Racial (SEPPIR). Pretendemos jogar luz sobre a relação entre Movimento Negro e Estado na constante luta pelo sentido e significado da desigualdade racial. Será que a constituição de uma Secretaria, com status de Ministério de Estado, é capaz de promover mudanças na visão de desigualdade racial institucionalizada pelo Estado brasileiro? Nosso estudo busca entender como o conflito sobre o sentido da desigualdade racial é incorporado às Políticas Públicas. Utilizamos a categoria analítica Movimento Social para compreender o Movimento Negro, identificando alguns frames que orientam a sua ação. Evidenciamos que estes frames se relacionam na constituição do lugar (entendido como uma série de ligações, nas quais os sentidos das relações sociais são construídos, onde há disputas de poder sobre esses sentidos) da SEPPIR. A ação do Movimento Negro coloca em conflito os sentidos institucionalizados pelo Estado, que se utiliza da cooptação para desmobilizar o Movimento. Ao discutirmos a relação entre Movimento e Estado, relacionamos os frames identificados com a naturalização da desigualdade racial. Essa versão institucionalizada atribui principalmente ao nosso passado escravocrata a causa dessa desigualdade, não apontando para a compreensão do papel do racismo na manutenção dessa desigualdade. Sugerimos, assim, que a noção de justiça, reposicionada pelo reconhecimento, e a discussão de direitos humanos podem ser um caminho, não apenas para lutar contra esta naturalização, mas também para irmos além da cooptação.