[lg policy] On the SOCS declaration

[Harold Schiffman]

Forwarded From: "Joan A. Argenter" <jargenter at iec.cat>
Date: Wed, 17 Jul 2013 16:59:12 +0200
On the SOS declaration


---------- Missatge reenviat ----------
De: "Joan Pujolar" <jpujolar at uoc.edu>
Data: 17/07/2013 11:46
Assumpte: On the declaration
Per a: <dave.sayers at cantab.net>
Cc:



Dear Dave Sayers,

I was forwarded your reaction to the SOCS declaration expressing your
concern on the "economy" of detail. This is just to let you know I
will have no problem in sending or forwarding any additional materials
you may be interested to examine.

In the declaration, we decided to settle for a text that provided an
overall account that was amenable to a quick read. One colleague I
consulted indeed said he could have added 20 pages just on the
educational issues only. One problem is that the three main regions
have different educational policies and political make-ups. In
Catalonia, for instance, local and regional authorities have the will
and the means to resist significantly central-state intervention.
There Catalan is in a stronger position in early primary education and
Spanish gains weight in later stages; so the central government is
taking different measures with respect to primary and secondary
education in relation to medium of instruction and curriculum design.
In Valencia, there are separate strands for Catalan and Spanish and
Catalan is in the minority. In the Balearic Islands, the situation is
again different. In Aragon, Catalan is just an optional subject. Thus,
the trajectories of all the regions are different and complex in
themselves.

You may have detected a recent publication on language policies in
Catalan-speaking areas:
http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/14664208.2012.722379

The volume deals however with the situation that existed just before
the political cycle we describe in the declaration.

The conflict over Catalan broadcasting is a long and drawn out one
spanning over many years in which national and regional regulatory
frameworks have changed, the police was sent to close down signal
facilities, Valencianist cultural groups were heavily fined though in
the end their position was upheld by the courts, although they have
not been able to resume emissions and may not be able to do so in the
near future. The authorities denounced have no qualms about taking
measures they know are not legal if they now that time and procedures
may work to their advantage and achieve their ends. This is, by the
way, a characteristic of the Spanish legal and political tradition.

So what we can offer now is basically piles of press reports gathered
by different agencies. We are in the process of collecting these with
a view of helping the CoE secretariat of the European charter to write
its 4th evaluation report due next year. So I will indeed be in a
position to fill in many more details in the months to come.

In any case, I can already give you a couple of significant pieces.
The first is a report by a language activist group on citizens abused
by the police and other authorities:

https://www.plataforma-llengua.cat/estudis/interior/116

The second is especially interesting for linguists: the declaration of
the Valencian parliament in relation to the "Iberian" origins of the
Valencian language>

http://db.tt/gHGhDkmv

Yours sincerely,

Joan Pujolar

Escrit fent camí
Written on the move
Unterwegs gemeint




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