CFP: FEL VIII: On the Margins of Nations: Endangered Languages and Linguistic Rights; Barcelona, 1-3 Oct 2004

Tue Feb 24 15:40:00 UTC 2004

Hello!
just want to tel you: I'm in Turku! following the course on the
International Protection Human Rights at Åbo Akademi University:)

there's snow everywhere, and today sun is shining, beautiful! really cold
though.. and I already felt on the snow -they don't use sand on the street! :(

I'm really enjoying the course and especially the people up here, we a re a
very multicultural / multilingual group with different backgrounds and
fortunately I am not the only 'no-lawyer' here;)

There's a lot to learn on International Law but we're having fun also.
we're going to the sauna next week, which has been described as a hot/cold
experience which make you feel your blood as champange afterwards! will let
you knwo -if I survive :P

thanks for your mail (long long time ago.. ) and the Call for papersto
Barcelona
and god luck with your projects!

Best,
Flavia*

>
> Call for Abstracts: FEL VIII - Linguistic Rights
>
> The Foundation for Endangered Languages: Eighth Conference
> in cooperation with INSTITUT D'ESTUDIS CATALANS (UNESCO CHAIR)
> Barcelona, 1-3 October 2004
>
> ON THE MARGINS OF NATIONS:
> ENDANGERED LANGUAGES AND LINGUISTIC RIGHTS
>
> The Foundation for Endangered Languages' annual meeting comes back to
> Europe this year, specifically to Barcelona, the capital of
> Catalonia, on Spain's eastern seaboard.  Our topic will be
> "endangered languages and linguistic rights", addressed both through
> reports on actual experience, and through prescriptions for policy.
> All approaches will be welcome, but three aspects of this vast field
> are especially suggested for discussion:
>
> 1)	The politics of language from the grass-roots activity to
> political institutions at all levels: how are linguistic rights
> acknowledged and, where necessary, enforced? How can communities act
> to defend them?
> 2)	The interplay of the global and the local in linguistic
> rights - international, national and local: how are identities being
> redefined in post-nationist discourses?
> 3)	Endangered languages and linguistic rights crossing borders:
> what rights can be asserted and duties accepted in diaspora
> situations, in divided language communities and where languages are
> spoken by migrant groups?
>
> We view  language politics and language policy simultaneously from
> the bottom up and the top down. Language communities' struggle for
> rights may take different forms and pursue different goals.
> 	What claims are the communities making?
> 	What are the goals of grass-roots action?
> 	To what extent can one language community take advantage of
> another's goals and methods?
> 	Can any effective language policies be developed top-down?
> 	How do such policies affect the acknowledgement and
> enforcement of linguistic rights, from bare toleration up to strong
> promotion of endangered languages?
> 	Is positive discrimination necessary in order to achieve
> equality among languages in a community?
> 	Where language revitalization programs are in progress, how
> are duties shared among speaker communities and political powers?
> 	Is there any way to assess language policies / language
> revitalization programmes and their effectiveness?
>
> In a world with ever heightened communications, the interplay between
> the local and the global is increasingly complex. We need to analyse
> the status of endangered languages with respect to linguistic rights
> and politics, which now extend beyond the nation to supranational and
> global organizations. How relevant, for example, are international
> measures and recommendations, such as UNESCO's Declaration on
> Cultural Diversity (2002), Proclamation of Masterpieces of the Oral
> and Intangible Heritage (1998) and proposal for a "Convention sur la
> diversitŽ culturelle" (2003)?
>
> Most endangered languages and communities are enclaves within the
> limits of a state. Others, however, spread across political and other
> boundaries. Borders may be considered as either barriers or
> opportunities. We shall focus on the causes and consequences of these
> situations:
> 	How does this cross-border situation affect people's linguistic rights?
> 	What kind of policies are favoured by governments towards
> such divided language communities?
> 	What kind of international agreements have been / may be
> developed to manage the issue?
> 	What happens when the linguistic situation is uneven across a
> community, with differing rates of language shift or language
> revitalization?
>
> One social effect of globalization is an increase in migration. This
> poses other issues:
> 	What are the rights of diaspora and migrant communities?
> 	What are the rights and duties of immigrants in their host country?
> 	What are the rights of nomadic people?
>
> This discussion of rights may end up posing interesting challenges to
> the kind of discourse that has become usual about endangered
> languages, which has tended to emphasize the intrinsic value of
> diversity. But ultimately, we may need to engage in quite different
> discourses for different audiences. Different communities too may
> prefer to rely on different lines of argument, and quite different
> strategies.
>
> Catalonia's concern for language rights is well-known. It is attested
> by the Mercator Project on European minority languages, whose
> Barcelona site deals with language legislation. It is attested by the
> Universal Declaration of Linguistic Rights, which was read out in a
> wealth of languages and voices in Barcelona on 6-9 June 1996.  Above
> all, Catalonia has been notable for its success in asserting the
> place of its own language in the context of the Spanish state. It is
> highly natural that a conference on Language Rights should take place
> in Barcelona.Ê
>
> And Barcelona is a city of the European Union Ð a polity that is
> neither a state nor an international organization.  The Union aspires
> to respect linguistic diversity, but its linguistic regime provides
> no official status for minority or endangered languages Ð even when
> official in their own states.
>
> Barcelona lies on the shore of the Mediterranean, where peoples,
> languages and cultures have crossed Ð and merged Ð  throughout
> history. The city's name comes from the great Carthaginian general
> Hamilcar Barca, father of Hannibal. The local language, Catalan, is -
> like French, Spanish, Provenal and many others - derived from Latin.
> It has a glorious mediaeval past, when it was standardized and  used
> widely in all types of literature as well as government. But from the
> 16th century the country began to lose its institutions of
> self-government and the use of the language in literature decayed. In
> the 19th century "la Renaixena" reversed this decline. The embryo of
> the "Institut d'Estudis Catalans" (IEC), which is co-hosting the
> conference with FEL, was created in 1907. Over the next 25 years it
> undertook the codification of Modern Catalan, culminating in a
> dictionary published in 1932. Since the approval of the Spanish
> Constitution (1978) and the Statute of Autonomy of Catalonia (1979)
> Catalan has become an official language in Catalonia side by side
> with Spanish Ð as well as in other regions in which Catalan is
> spoken, such as the Balearic Islands and Valencia.
>
> The confluence of bottom-up and top-down policies is one reason for
> the degree of success that Catalan language policy has achieved.
> Catalans, however, have a tragic perception of their self and their
> language: there is constant discussion on the progress, and even the
> survival, of the language.  All this has given birth to the idea,
> expressed by many scholars, that Catalonia is a laboratory of
> sociolinguistics and language policy. It is a fitting place, then,
> for FEL's latest consideration of endangered languages and their
> place in the world.
>
> Abstract Submission
>
> Abstracts should not exceed 500 words. They  should be submitted in
> two ways: by electronic submission and also on paper. They will be
> accepted in English and Catalan.
>
> 1) Electronic submission: Electronic submission (by 19 March 2004)
> should be as attachment in Word or format in email message to
> <jargenter at iecat.net> Please fill in the subject domain as follows:
> FEL_Abstract
>
> 2) Paper abstracts: Three copies should be sent (by 19 March 2004) to:
>
> Dr. Joan A. Argenter
> Cˆtedra UNESCO de LlengŸes i Educaci—
> VIII FEL Conference
> Institut d'Estudis Catalans
> Carrer del Carme, 47
> E-08001 Barcelona
> Catalonia, Spain
>
> This should have a clear short title, but should not bear anything to
> identify the author(s).
>
> On a separate sheet, enclosed in an envelope, please include the
> following information:
>
> NAME : Names of the author(s)
> TITLE: Title of the paper
> EMAIL: Email address of the first author, if any
> ADDRESS: Postal address of the first author
> TEL: Telephone number of the first author, if any
> FAX: Fax number of the first author, if any
>
> The name of the first author will be used in all correspondence. If
> possible, please also send an e-mail to Joan A. Argenter
> <jargenter at iecat.net> informing him of the hard copy submission. This
> is in case the hard copy does not reach its destination. This e-mail
> should contain the information specified in the above section.
>
> Oral presentations will last twenty minutes each, with a further ten
> minutes for discussion. Plenary lectures will last forty-five minutes
> each. Authors will be expected to submit a written paper with the
> full version of the lecture for publication in the proceedings well
> in advance of the conference.
>
> Important Dates
>
> ·	Abstract submission deadline 19 March 2004
> ·	Committee's decision 12 April 2004
> ·	In case of acceptance, the full paper should be sent before
> 18 June 2004.
>                  (Further details on the format of text will be
> specified to the authors)
> ·	Conference 1-3 October  2004
>
>

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