Cultural and Linguistic Minorities in the Russian Federation and the European Union

1. Front Matter

   Pages i-xix

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2. Languages, Identities and Human Rights

   1. Front Matter

      Pages 1-1

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   2. Change and Maintenance of Plurilingualism in the Russian Federation and the European Union

      • Janne Saarikivi, Reetta Toivanen

      Pages 3-29

   3. The Global Extinction of Languages and Its Consequences for Cultural Diversity

      • Suzanne Romaine

      Pages 31-46

   4. The Death of Languages; the Death of Minority Cultures; the Death of a People’s Dignity

      • Theodore S. Orlin

      Pages 47-79

3. Case Studies on Cultural Change and Minority Language Maintenance

   1. Front Matter

      Pages 81-81

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   2. Obstacles and Successes

      • Reetta Toivanen

      Pages 83-105

   3. Fallen Ill in Political Draughts

      • Indrek Jääts

      Pages 107-126

   4. Finnic Minorities of Ingria

      • Natalia Kuznetsova, Elena Markus, Mehmet Muslimov

      Pages 127-167

   5. The Challenge of Language

      • Lennard Sillanpää

      Pages 169-187

   6. Uneven Steps to Literacy

      • Florian Siegl, Michael Rießler

      Pages 189-230

4. Why Some Languages Survive. On Language Laws, Policies and Changing Attitudes

   1. Front Matter

      Pages 231-231

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   2. Explaining Language Loss

      • Ekaterina Gruzdeva

      Pages 233-252

   3. Parliamentary Structures and Their Impact on Empowering Minority Language Communities

      • Heiko F. Marten

      Pages 253-277

   4. The Evolution of Language Ideology in Post-Soviet Russia

      • Konstantin Zamyatin

      Pages 279-313

   5. The Impact of Language Policy on Language Revitalization

      • Xabier Arzoz

      Pages 315-334

5. Back Matter

   Pages 335-340

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This is the first comprehensive volume to compare the sociolinguistic situations of minorities in Russia and in Western Europe. As such, it provides insight into language policies, the ethnolinguistic vitality and the struggle for reversal of language shift, language revitalization and empowerment of minorities in Russia and the European Union. The volume shows that, even though largely unknown to a broader English-reading audience, the linguistic composition of Russia is by no means less diverse than multilingualism in the EU. It is therefore a valuable introduction into the historical backgrounds and current linguistic, social and legal affairs with regard to Russia’s manifold ethnic and linguistic minorities, mirrored on the discussion of recent issues in a number of well-known Western European minority situations.

• Aboriginal culture in Northern Russia
• Basque language
• Finnic minorities of Ingria
• Frisian
• Global biodiversity in the early 21st century
• Global extinction of languages
• Languages in the Russian Federation
• Latgalian
• Linguistic Rights of National Groups
• Minority languages and cultures
• Scottish Gaelic
• Sociolinguistic ethnolinguistic variation
• Sorbian languages in Germany
• Sámi languages in Finland
• languages in Mari El
• languages in Udmurtia
• linguistic and cultural diversity
• minority language speakers
• revitalization of endangered languages
• saami languages

The detailed information in this book about the sociolinguistic situation of the small peoples in the North, especially in Russia, is invaluable – nothing quite like this exists in English. The comparisons, both within Russia and between Russia and western Europe, are interesting and also unique, and the articles complement each other well (not always true of edited volumes). Many articles are multidisciplinary (history, law, linguistics, sociolinguistics, ethnography, cultural studies, political science); also unusual. The summaries and conclusions are well anchored theoretically. The introductory chapter puts it all in an even broader context

All those linguists, sociolinguists, ethnographers and anthropologists who work with Indigenous peoples, endangered languages, language maintenance, and, to some extent, cultural studies and ecology, can benefit. Likewise researchers on various aspects of Russia, including nationalism researchers. Tove Skutnabb-Kangas, dr.phil.

• Department of German, Tallinn University, Tallinn, Estonia

  Heiko F. Marten

• Department of Scandinavian Studies, University of Freiburg, Freiburg, Germany

  Michael Rießler

• Helsinki Collegium for Advanced Studies, University of Helsinki, Helsinki, Finland

  Janne Saarikivi

• The Erik Castrén Institute, University of Helsinki, Helsinki, Finland

  Reetta Toivanen

Policies and ethics