Shallow Equality and Symbolic Jurisprudence in Multilingual Legal Orders
This book offers a critical perspective to the proliferation of official multilingualism in the contemporary world. Through diachronic and synchronic comparisons, it shows that official multilingualism has become a norm in the political management of linguistic diversity, but actual practices vary a...
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| Fformat: | Online |
| Iaith: | Saesneg |
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Oxford University Press
2024
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| Mynediad Ar-lein: | https://library.oapen.org/handle/20.500.12657/92586 |
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Dim Tagiau, Byddwch y cyntaf i dagio'r cofnod hwn!
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| _version_ | 1869514083416408064 |
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| author | Leung, Janny H.C. |
| author_browse | Leung, Janny H.C. |
| author_facet | Leung, Janny H.C. |
| author_sort | Leung, Janny H.C. |
| collection | Directory of Open Access Books |
| description | This book offers a critical perspective to the proliferation of official multilingualism in the contemporary world. Through diachronic and synchronic comparisons, it shows that official multilingualism has become a norm in the political management of linguistic diversity, but actual practices vary according to sociohistorical contexts and current power dynamics. It explains such convergences and divergences using a theory of symbolic jurisprudence, which posits that official language law has served chiefly as a discursive resource for a range of political and economic functions, such as ensuring stability, establishing legitimacy, balancing rival powers, and harnessing trade opportunities. The book goes on to examine the practical impact of official multilingualism on public institutions and legal processes and the application of linguistic equality—frequently asserted in multilingual polities—on the ground. The study shows that serious pursuit of linguistic equality calls for elaborate administrative effort in public institutions and carries a potential to clash with existing legal practices (from legal drafting and interpretation, to language rights in trial proceedings). However, such changes—however extensive—hardly ever disrupt the status quo. The book further argues that linguistic equality as proclaimed and practiced in many polities today is shallow in character, and must not be confused with popular conceptions of equality. The book concludes that both symbolic jurisprudence and shallow equality are components of a policy of strategic pluralism that underlies official multilingualism. Although official multilingualism can legitimately be used to pursue collective goals, it runs the underlying risks of disguising substantive inequalities and displacing more progressive efforts in social change. |
| format | Online |
| id | doab-20.500.12854ir-142769 |
| institution | Directory of Open Access Books |
| language | eng |
| publishDate | 2024 |
| publishDateRange | 2024 |
| publishDateSort | 2024 |
| publisher | Oxford University Press |
| publisherStr | Oxford University Press |
| record_format | ojs |
| spelling | doab-20.500.12854ir-1427692024-08-08T04:39:24Z Shallow Equality and Symbolic Jurisprudence in Multilingual Legal Orders Leung, Janny H.C. law, equality, multilingualism, official language, national language, official multilingualism, legal multilingualism, symbolic jurisprudence, shallow equality, strategic pluralism thema EDItEUR::L Law::LA Jurisprudence and general issues::LAB Methods, theory and philosophy of law thema EDItEUR::C Language and Linguistics::CF Linguistics::CFB Sociolinguistics thema EDItEUR::C Language and Linguistics::CF Linguistics::CFF Historical and comparative linguistics This book offers a critical perspective to the proliferation of official multilingualism in the contemporary world. Through diachronic and synchronic comparisons, it shows that official multilingualism has become a norm in the political management of linguistic diversity, but actual practices vary according to sociohistorical contexts and current power dynamics. It explains such convergences and divergences using a theory of symbolic jurisprudence, which posits that official language law has served chiefly as a discursive resource for a range of political and economic functions, such as ensuring stability, establishing legitimacy, balancing rival powers, and harnessing trade opportunities. The book goes on to examine the practical impact of official multilingualism on public institutions and legal processes and the application of linguistic equality—frequently asserted in multilingual polities—on the ground. The study shows that serious pursuit of linguistic equality calls for elaborate administrative effort in public institutions and carries a potential to clash with existing legal practices (from legal drafting and interpretation, to language rights in trial proceedings). However, such changes—however extensive—hardly ever disrupt the status quo. The book further argues that linguistic equality as proclaimed and practiced in many polities today is shallow in character, and must not be confused with popular conceptions of equality. The book concludes that both symbolic jurisprudence and shallow equality are components of a policy of strategic pluralism that underlies official multilingualism. Although official multilingualism can legitimately be used to pursue collective goals, it runs the underlying risks of disguising substantive inequalities and displacing more progressive efforts in social change. 2024-08-08T04:39:23Z 2024-08-08T04:39:23Z 2024-08-07T08:01:23Z 2019 book https://library.oapen.org/handle/20.500.12657/92586 9780190210342 9780190930608 9780190210335 https://directory.doabooks.org/handle/20.500.12854/142769 eng Oxford Studies in Language and Law open access image/jpeg Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International https://library.oapen.org/bitstream/20.500.12657/92586/1/9780190210342_WEB.pdf Oxford University Press 10.1093/oso/9780190210335.001.0001 10.1093/oso/9780190210335.001.0001 db4e319f-ca9f-449a-bcf2-37d7c6f885b1 9780190210342 9780190930608 9780190210335 321 New York open access |
| spellingShingle | law, equality, multilingualism, official language, national language, official multilingualism, legal multilingualism, symbolic jurisprudence, shallow equality, strategic pluralism thema EDItEUR::L Law::LA Jurisprudence and general issues::LAB Methods, theory and philosophy of law thema EDItEUR::C Language and Linguistics::CF Linguistics::CFB Sociolinguistics thema EDItEUR::C Language and Linguistics::CF Linguistics::CFF Historical and comparative linguistics Leung, Janny H.C. Shallow Equality and Symbolic Jurisprudence in Multilingual Legal Orders |
| title | Shallow Equality and Symbolic Jurisprudence in Multilingual Legal Orders |
| title_full | Shallow Equality and Symbolic Jurisprudence in Multilingual Legal Orders |
| title_fullStr | Shallow Equality and Symbolic Jurisprudence in Multilingual Legal Orders |
| title_full_unstemmed | Shallow Equality and Symbolic Jurisprudence in Multilingual Legal Orders |
| title_short | Shallow Equality and Symbolic Jurisprudence in Multilingual Legal Orders |
| title_sort | shallow equality and symbolic jurisprudence in multilingual legal orders |
| topic | law, equality, multilingualism, official language, national language, official multilingualism, legal multilingualism, symbolic jurisprudence, shallow equality, strategic pluralism thema EDItEUR::L Law::LA Jurisprudence and general issues::LAB Methods, theory and philosophy of law thema EDItEUR::C Language and Linguistics::CF Linguistics::CFB Sociolinguistics thema EDItEUR::C Language and Linguistics::CF Linguistics::CFF Historical and comparative linguistics |
| topic_facet | law, equality, multilingualism, official language, national language, official multilingualism, legal multilingualism, symbolic jurisprudence, shallow equality, strategic pluralism thema EDItEUR::L Law::LA Jurisprudence and general issues::LAB Methods, theory and philosophy of law thema EDItEUR::C Language and Linguistics::CF Linguistics::CFB Sociolinguistics thema EDItEUR::C Language and Linguistics::CF Linguistics::CFF Historical and comparative linguistics |
| url | https://library.oapen.org/handle/20.500.12657/92586 |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT leungjannyhc shallowequalityandsymbolicjurisprudenceinmultilinguallegalorders |