Scottish Gaelic and Minorities in the Czech Republic

1
Scottish Gaelic and Minorities in the Czech
Republic
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Scottish Gaelic

• Indigenous minority language
• Not as political a movement as Irish Gaelic
• Number of Scottish Gaelic speakers dropped
  sharply in 20th Century
  
• Number has leveled off some in the past 15 years.

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• Creation of Highlands and Islands Alliance
• Created in 1998
• Representation in Parliament of Northern
  Scotland
  
• Not politically language-based, though begun by
  Scottish Gaelic activists
  
• Created to combat dominance in Parliament of
  Edinburgh, Glasgow, and other urban areas

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Media

• Communications Act of 2003
• Created Gaelic Media Service Committee to replace
  Gaelic Broadcasting Committee
  
• Ensures high quality Gaelic programs throughout
  Scotland
  

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• Broadcasting receives a majority of all the money
  spent on promoting and preserving Scottish
  Gaelic.
  
• Broadcasting promotes a contemporary image for
  the language

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• Gaelic Language (Scotland) Act of 2005
• Gave Scottish Gaelic official status in Scotland
• Equal respect with English
• Provides guidance for development of language and
  education in the language
  
• Up to this Act, development had been mainly
  social, focusing on media, especially television.

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Gaelic Expansion

• Gaelic Renaissance
• Gaelic radio, newspapers, magazines, even novels
  
  
• Gaelic-medium schooling needs to become universal
  in principal Gaelic areas
  
• Western Isles-only 26 of eligible students are
  enrolled in Gaelic-medium schools
  

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Czech Policy

• Ethnic identity deemed inherent and valued
  element of private life
  
• Rights of minority citizens protected under the
  Charter of Fundamental Rights and Liberties,
  adopted by the Czechoslovak Federal Parliament in
  January, 1991
• Most troubled minority group the Roma

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Recognized National Minorities

• Magyar
• German
• Polish
• Roma
• Slovak
• Ukrainian

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Development for all National Minorities

• 1994-Creation of the Council for National
  Minorities
  
• Consultative body for the government
• Delegates from all recognized national
  minorities
  
• Make summary reports about the state of affairs
  of the minorities cultural situation
  
• Put forward suggestions for policy improvement

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Roma People

• Principles of the government of the Czech and
  Slovak Federal Republic on policy towards the
  Roma minority-October 3, 1991
  
• Aimed at achieving socio-economic equality
• Did not reverse general minority policy
• Policy of undifferentiated citizenship not meant
  to lead to assimilation-unlike Communist way of
  dealing with minorities
  
• Promoted development, not destruction of Roma
  identity

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Roma People Special Treatment

• Estimates and practical experience indicate
  that certain problems of the Romani community are
  distinct from the problems of other minority
  groups, and thus require a different approach.
  (Council for Nationalities of the Government of
  the Czech Republic 1997 Paragraph ii)
• Roma people have an important socio-economic
  aspect that need to be addressed separately

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General Minority Policy

• Did not ratify the European Charter for Regional
  and Minority Languages
  
• July 2001-adoption of Act 273, on the rights of
  members of national minorities
  
• No self-governing rights
• No far-reaching cultural autonomy

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Differences in Policy

• Scottish Gaelic-more focused on media and
  education as ways to promote the language
  
• Czech Republic-trying to umbrella all minority
  groups, regardless of language or ethnicity
  
• Gaelic-fighting for the language
• Czech minority groups-fighting for rights

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Bibliography

• Dunbar, Robert. 2003. The ratification by the
  United Kingdom of the European Charter for
  regional or minority languages. CIEMEN.
  www.ciemen.org/mercator.
• McLeod, William. Gaelic in Contemporary
  Scotland contradictions, challenges, and
  strategies.
  
• Cormack, Mike. 2000. Minority Languages,
  Nationalism, and Broadcasting The British and
  Irish Examples. Asen.
  
• www.gms.org.uk/?langen
• www.wikipedia.org
• Vermeersch, Peter. 2003. EU Enlargement and
  Minority Rights Policies in Central Europe
  Explaining Policy Shifts in the Czech Republic,
  Hungary and Poland. University of Leuven (KU
  Leuven), Belgium. http//www.ecmi.de/jemie/downloa
  d/Focus1-2003_Vermeersch.pdf
• Laubeová, Laura. THE FICTION OF ETHNIC
  HOMOGENEITY MINORITIES IN THE CZECH REPUBLIC.
  http//lgi.osi.hu/publications/books/Diversity_in_
  Action/2_2.PDF