“The return of the repressed”: scattered reflections on the state, liberalism, Cultural Autonomy, language rights and identity

• KABEL, AHMED ^[1]
  1. [1] Al Akhawayn University

     Al Akhawayn University

     Marruecos

     
• Localización: International journal of the sociology of language, ISSN 0165-2516, Nº. 213, 2012, págs. 71-85
• Idioma: inglés
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• Resumen

  • This commentary discusses states, liberal ideologies, language rights and choice, and language and identity, and makes the argument that the ( partial and selective) accommodation of the collective rights of immigrants and minoritized groups by modern states represents a strategic ploy to contain the rising demands of these communities. It goes on to argue that the production of cultural marginalization and minoritization is an inherent systemic feature of the modern liberal state and its attendant ideologies, and the exclusion of minoritized communities and the denial of collective rights, including Cultural Autonomy, is a necessary condition for the maintenance of social order and its reproduction. It concludes that only the allocation and protection of collective rights and valorization of language as an essential component of culture and identity can offer the conditions of possibility for individual well-being and enjoyment of individual rights. Contrary to the claims of the proponents of rational choice theory and liberal theorizing in the language rights debate, the enjoyment of individual language rights is conditional on the protection and allocation of collective language and cultural rights. The reasons are that language and identity are inextricably intertwined and that it is only within a collective framework of shared linguistic and cultural identity that the exercise of individual rights becomes meaningful