Language and federalism: the multi‐ethnic challenge

In: International social science journal, Volume 53, Issue 167, p. 51-60

Abstract

Ethnic, linguistic, and religious identities have emerged during the past decade as major challenges to the institutional capacity of the modern state to cope with cultural diversity. As such, multilingualism, which formulates a response to this challenge, has emerged as a new focus of empirical research on federalism. This provides a contrast to classic studies of federalism, which concentrated on the institutional division of powers between a state and its constituent units. Language plays a double role in this: as a thin bond for communication and negotiation between political actors, and a thick system of meanings, carrying the burden of history, religion, culture, ritual, and memory. The article studies this ambivalence of language through a comparison of India and Switzerland, two quite different cases of relatively successful accommodation of linguistic diversity and discusses the constitutional means and policy measures that might enable a modern state to balance regional diversity and national unity in the face of the multi‐ethnic challenge.