Language Rights: The “Cinderella” Human Right

Abstract

In the last 60 years, we have seen the growing development and articulation of human rights, particularly within international law and within and across supranational organizations. However, in that period, the right to maintain one's language(s), without discrimination, remains peculiarly underrepresented and/or problematized as a key human right. This is primarily because the recognition of language rights presupposes recognizing the importance of wider group memberships and social contexts; conceptions that ostensibly militate against the primacy of individual rights in the post-Second World War era. Drawing on theoretical debates in political theory and international law, as well as the substantive empirical example of Catalonia, this article argues that language rights can and should be recognized as an important human right.

Una de derechos lingüísticos: varios conceptos sociolingüísticos aplicables a la situación del asturiano

“…Tercero, que los derechos lingüísticos son considerados los derechos «Cenicienta» (May, 2011) entre los demás derechos que tiene el ser humano, por lo que conviene, a la vez, reafirmar la lucha por los derechos lingüísticos y buscar nuevos espacios donde la reivindicación por el idioma tenga una aceptación que active a la sociedad.…”

Justifying Educational Language Rights

“…(p. 72) Even so, there is a nascent consensus within international law on the validity of minority language and education rights. This is predicated on the basis that the protection of minority languages does fall within generalist principles of human rights (May, 2011; see also Kymlicka, 2001Kymlicka, , 2007. Following from this, there is a growing acceptance of differentiated linguistic and educational provision for minority groups within some national contexts.…”

The Right to Language

“…Language is a human necessity, not just for equal protection of the individual, but for the benefit of society as a whole, particularly as we recognize "the importance of wider group memberships and social contexts." 84 Thus, it is in everyone's interest to protect the right to language, and to implement not just the international treaties we outlined above, but the Brussels Declaration of the European Union of the Deaf 85 and the Human Rights Declaration of the World Federation of the Deaf. 86 Our present knowledge of the science of the brain and of language acquisition strongly supports sign languages as the only truly viable and reliable access to language for deaf children.…”