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Panel 1: Language policy in the era of integration
Raivo Vetik (Tallinn University), Positions and dispositions in the Russian-language school reform
in Estonia
This presentation discusses the politics of Russian-language school reform in Estonia, utilizing the
field theory of Pierre Bourdieu. It also discusses advantages of such an approach, compared to the
mainstream studies on ethno-politics in Estonia, which are based, as a rule, on binary conceptual
pairs like democracy/ethnic control, etc. Mainstream approaches focus on substantive content of
positions and dispositions in ethno-politics, while in the field theory the emphasis is rather on the
relationships within and between positions (system) and dispositions (elements), independent from
essentialist considerations. The first part of the presentation adapts the key categories from the field
theory of Bourdieu for the analysis of the Russian-language school reform in Estonia. The second
part analyzes the dominant ethno-political discourses in Estonian online media (Estonian and
Russian language Postimees, Estonian and Russian language Delfi, Päevaleht and DZD) regarding
the Russian-language school reform in the period from August 2010 until December 2011. The third
part of the presentation brings in epistemological issues, comparing the conceptual resources of the
mainstream approaches and the field theory. Therefore, the presentation has two focuses – not just
an analysis of a political issue, but also an analysis of analytic tools, whereby, in the concluding
section, the emphasis is just on the last.
Ewelina Tylec (Central European University), Right to minority language. Linguistic rights of the
Polish national minority in Lithuania
Language rights constitute specific type of human rights and as such have been accorded the
fundamental rights status within the EU. Both the Lisbon Treaty and the Charter of Fundamental
Rights of the EU proclaim the respect for linguistic diversity by the Member States. This places the
linguistic rights as the rights that should be observed not only by the EU but also by the Member
States. The paper will analyze the efficiency of the EU minority language protection system on the
specific example of the Polish national minority in Lithuania which constitutes almost 7% of the
Lithuanian population. The Polish minority is denied the use of the Polish orthography standards in
official documents, administrative fines are imposed for using the bilingual street tables even in the
areas with the great density of the Polish population. According to the Lithuanian Constitutional
Court’s ruling called Vilnius- the Polish spelling of the names can be used only on the secondary
pages of the Lithuanian passports. The discriminatory treatment will be discussed in the light of the
Runevič-Vardyn and Wardyn case (ECJ, C-391/09) concerning the compliance of the Lithuanian
national rules on the spelling of surnames and forenames with the EU law. Using the example of the
minority discrimination in Lithuania, the deficiencies and weakness of the EU minority linguistic
rights protection system will be presented.
Jaroslav Mihalik & Juraj Marušiak (University of Ss. Cyril and Methodius), The dynamics of
Slovak-Hungarian minority relations – the national populism over civil society
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Regarding the previous decennia related to some great expansion of EU membership there are still
permanent conflicts in adopting the model of “universally accepted and shared” minority rights in
the Central Eastern Europe. There can be a wide spread paradox in administering the minority
concepts in sovereign states: this can be figured in the discourse which assumes that the countries
seeking the EU membership undertake and show the will to comply with the international laws and
strategies in respecting and protecting the human rights of the ethnic groups living in its territories
while at the same time the nation states are struggling for some national sovereignty, more likely the
dominant or majority population. According to such statements the position of Hungarian minority
in Slovakia but also in other countries in the EU needs to be reconsidered and resolved by
distinctive means. The aim of the paper is to elaborate the current issues of the minority relations
between Hungary and Slovakia. We presume that the minority discourses in Slovakia are rather
related to national populism than civil society ethnic conflicts. In connection to the post-crisis
model of social economic development in Slovakia there must be a political will in continuous
responsible policy making toward the position of the ethnic groups living in its territory.
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