A pioneering study in political theory and political science reveals the key elements for detecting cases of linguistic domination
A study by Sergi Morales, a researcher at the University of Valencia, provides a detailed definition of linguistic domination, for the first time from the perspectives of political theory and political science. Linguistic domination occurs when an individual or group interferes with the freedom to choose a language. The study also analyses the elements that determine it, which include the socioeconomic, demographic and cultural situation of the individuals or groups involved and, on the other hand, the value that society attributes to a language.
10 de may de 2024
"Having the option to speak your own language [...] is important to allow you to protect certain interests [...] (communication, social participation, mobility, self-respect, access to one's own valued life world)," says Sergi Morales, who also highlights that linguistic domination "exists precisely when this freedom to use one's own language is arbitrarily interfered with, causing a person or group to be directly subjugated to another".
In his article in the journal Filosofía y Crítica Social, the researcher from the Department of Constitutional Law, Political and Administrative Sciences defines two types of linguistic domination. Horizontal domination, extensively analysed in the study, occurs between individuals or groups. Vertical domination, on the other hand, is characterised by the imposition or restriction of a language by institutions, as seen in the case of Valencia with the current Law on Language Freedom, which may reduce the use of Valencian in classrooms.
To understand the behaviour of horizontal linguistic domination in particular, it is necessary to look at two independent but interconnected elements. The first, which Sergi Morales calls "the marked language condition", refers to the value given to a language according to how it is perceived in society. For example, a Valencian speaker attending a job interview at a certain company may decide not to use his or her language and use Spanish to avoid any cultural or ideological judgment and thus ensure his or her job success.
Secondly, "the mere discretionary condition" refers to the capacity of an individual or group to dominate according to their socioeconomic, demographic and cultural context. It is not the same for someone who, after having lived 27 years in Barcelona, demands that others speak to him in Spanish instead of Catalan at no cost to him, when he has had the opportunity to learn Catalan and develop within the local culture, as it is for an English-speaking foreigner who asks to be spoken to in English because he will only be there for 6 months and because the harsh working conditions he suffers make it impossible for him to dedicate time to learning the language. In the first case, there would be domination.
This research is innovative in political theory and political science because other studies deal with concepts such as linguistic domination or linguistic justice independently, but this is the first to attempt to create a general theory of linguistic domination and the key elements that generate it.
For Sergi Morales, this initial approach should serve as a theoretical basis for future research that empirically studies cases of linguistic domination, with the ultimate goal of developing normative principles capable of detecting and correcting it. "The question now would be what measures could be taken to address the injustice of linguistic domination", concludes the author.
Article: Morales-Gálvez, S. (2024). Linguistic domination: A republican approach to linguistic justice.Philosophy & Social Criticism (0).https://doi.org/10.1177/01914537241239093