Chapter 3
A Russian-speaking nation?
The promotion of the Russian language and its significance for ongoing efforts at Russian nation-building
The study explores Russia’s language policy in its connection to the nation-building project. The data demonstrate that, in the recent years, the policy-makers have increased their efforts at strengthening the position of Russian both in Russia and abroad. The policy analysis reveals that the intention is to use the language as a tool to foster national identity. However, this might be not as easy a task as one might assume because language itself influences the choice of strategy in the nation-building process.
Article outline
- Introduction
- 1.Language, nation, and the state
- 1.1Nation-building and language policy in Russia
- 1.2Legal institutional framework
- 1.3Language ideologies and state languages
- 2.An analysis of the language policy in three contexts
- 2.1Policy towards the “peoples of Russia”
- 2.1.1Sociolinguistic situation
- 2.1.2Language planning
- 2.2Policy towards migrants
- 2.2.1Sociolinguistic situation
- 2.2.2Language planning
- 2.3Policy towards “compatriots abroad” and beyond
- 2.3.1Sociolinguistic situation
- 2.3.2Language planning
- 3.Policy mechanisms of identity-building
- 3.1From problems to goals
- 3.2From resources to tools
- 3.3From actions to results
- Conclusion
-
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