NATIONS AND NATIONAL MINORITIES IN THE EUROPEAN UNION
NATIONS AND NATIONAL MINORITIES IN THE EUROPEAN UNION
Contributor(s): Barna Bodó (Editor), Márton Tonk (Editor)
Subject(s): Politics / Political Sciences, Social Sciences, Language and Literature Studies, Law, Constitution, Jurisprudence, Translation Studies
Published by: Scientia Kiadó
Keywords: European Union; national minorities;education;labour market;national identities;national language;cross- border cooperation;
Summary/Abstract: The present volume of essays and studies includes the presentations of the international scientific conference organised between 27-29 March 2008 by the European Studies and International Relations Department of the Faculty in Cluj-Napoca (Kolozsvár) of the Sapientia Hungarian University of Transylvania. The co-organisers of the session entitled „European Union, Nations and National Minorities” were the Hungarian section of the Political Science Department of the Babeş-Bolyai University, the Centre for Ethno-Regional Studies of the Institute for Political Science of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences, as well as the Romanian Institute for Research on National Minorities, while among the participants there were internationally recognised experts from several countries (Romania, Hungary, Italy). Our institution started its BSc-programme on European Studies and International relations in the autumn of 2006, thus trying to address the expectations of a new segment appearing on the labour market in European and domestic institutions, in the civil sphere or the political parties, as a consequence of Romania’s accession to the European Union. During the three years that have passed since then, the European Studies programme has proven to be equal to our expectations and – both from the point of view of the educational process and the scientific research – it has become a successful study programme of our university.
Series: Műhely
- Print-ISBN-13: 978-973-197-022-6
- Page Count: 262
- Publication Year: 2009
- Language: English, German
Die Minderheitenfrage in der Europäischen Union
Die Minderheitenfrage in der Europäischen Union
(The Minority Problem in the European Union)
- Author(s):Christoph Pan
- Language:German
- Subject(s):Politics / Political Sciences
- Page Range:15-28
- No. of Pages:14
- Price: 4.50 €
European Organizations and the Issue of National Minorities
European Organizations and the Issue of National Minorities
(European Organizations and the Issue of National Minorities)
- Author(s):Attila Demeter M., Márton Tonk
- Language:English
- Subject(s):Politics / Political Sciences
- Page Range:29-40
- No. of Pages:12
- Price: 4.50 €
Regional and Ethnic Minority Political Movements in Europe
Regional and Ethnic Minority Political Movements in Europe
(Regional and Ethnic Minority Political Movements in Europe)
- Author(s):Balázs Vizi
- Language:English
- Subject(s):Politics / Political Sciences
- Page Range:41-50
- No. of Pages:10
- Price: 4.50 €
Post-National European Minorities – Chance or Condition?
Post-National European Minorities – Chance or Condition?
(Post-National European Minorities – Chance or Condition?)
- Author(s):András A. Gergely
- Language:English
- Subject(s):Politics / Political Sciences
- Page Range:51-64
- No. of Pages:14
- Price: 4.50 €
From Monolingualism to Multilingualism in the EU – through Bilingual Minorities (Status Report on Central-Eastern Europe)
From Monolingualism to Multilingualism in the EU – through Bilingual Minorities (Status Report on Central-Eastern Europe)
(From Monolingualism to Multilingualism in the EU – through Bilingual Minorities (Status Report on Central-Eastern Europe))
- Author(s):Orsolya Nádor
- Language:English
- Subject(s):Politics / Political Sciences, Language and Literature Studies
- Page Range:67-74
- No. of Pages:8
- Price: 4.50 €
Ethnische Identität und geschichtliche Erklärung über die Konstruktion unterschiedlicher Bilder der Stadt Temeswar
Ethnische Identität und geschichtliche Erklärung über die Konstruktion unterschiedlicher Bilder der Stadt Temeswar
(Ethnic Identity and Historiographical Discourse)
- Author(s):Vasile Docea
- Language:German
- Subject(s):Politics / Political Sciences, History
- Page Range:75-89
- No. of Pages:15
- Price: 4.50 €
“Three-fold Identity?” The Ethnical and National Identity of the Hungarian Boyash Gypsies
“Three-fold Identity?” The Ethnical and National Identity of the Hungarian Boyash Gypsies
(“Three-fold Identity?” The Ethnical and National Identity of the Hungarian Boyash Gypsies)
- Author(s):Mátyás Binder
- Language:English
- Subject(s):Politics / Political Sciences, Social Sciences
- Page Range:91-101
- No. of Pages:11
- Keywords:romas; gypsy community; gypsy identity
- Summary/Abstract:The Roma are possibly the largest minority group in the European Union. Yet this group is composed of communities with varying languages, cultures and identities. The obvious cause of this variety is that the Gypsies1 compose a large diaspora stretching across five continents, and accordingly, among every community living in a minority, different processes of adaptation led to the formation of distinct identities. In my opinion, three factors – all generated by living in a diaspora – influence the ethnical and national dimensions of the Romani identity: social categorization, national socialization and ethnical identity. Society’s perception, the socialization processes in the nation state institution systems, and the Gypsy community’s own ethnical culture are all factors, which supposedly have or have been an influence on most Romani identities.
- Price: 4.50 €
The Problems of Translating Official Documents (in the context of Romanian and Hungarian official translations)
The Problems of Translating Official Documents (in the context of Romanian and Hungarian official translations)
(The Problems of Translating Official Documents (in the context of Romanian and Hungarian official translations))
- Author(s):Krisztina Sárosi-Márdirosz
- Language:English
- Subject(s):Language and Literature Studies, Translation Studies
- Page Range:103-115
- No. of Pages:13
- Keywords:translation difficulties;legal translation;
- Summary/Abstract:This study deals with the relationship between language and law, translation and official translation. It will present the difficulties of legal translations and finally it will discuss in detail one segment of the legal translations, that is the translation of official documents. It will mainly underline the practical aspects of this kind of translations.
- Price: 4.50 €
Will Hungarian Become a Lingua Franca in the Carpathian Basin?
Will Hungarian Become a Lingua Franca in the Carpathian Basin?
(Will Hungarian Become a Lingua Franca in the Carpathian Basin?)
- Author(s):László Marácz
- Language:English
- Subject(s):Politics / Political Sciences, Language and Literature Studies
- Page Range:117-138
- No. of Pages:22
- Keywords:hungarian language;Carpathian Basin;language law;
- Summary/Abstract:Due to the Treaty of Trianon (1920), The Hungarian language is being spoken in eight different countries in the Carpathian Basin, i.e. Hungary, Ukraine, Romania, the former Yugoslav states of Serbia, Croatia and Slovenia, Slovakia and Austria. These countries are neighbouring to Hungary and the territories of these countries belonging to the Carpathian Basin are the following: Slovakia proper, Sub-Carpathia (Ukraine), Transylvania (Romania), Vojvodina (Serbia), Pannonian Croatia (Croatia), Mura region (Slovenia) and Burgenland (Austria). The Carpathian Basin covered the territority of the Old Kingdom of Hungary. The areas mentioned above are inhabited by a mixed population of ethnic and non-ethnic Hungarians. The Hungarians in the territorities neighbouring Hungary are qualified as a ”minority” in the states they belong to. However, in most cases they still form a majority in the areas they live in. Whatever the territorial partitioning of the Carpathian Basin has been or is, all geographers that have studied the Carpathian Basin acknowledge that this area of Central Europe is a geographical, social, cultural and linguistic entity. I refer to excellent studies that are in support of this claim. In fact, the Carpathian Basin is a ’culture area’ in the sense of Smith (1991, 172). Hence, it is motivated to study this area as a unity neglecting the fact that in some cases ethnicity crosses the borders of the Carpathian Basin, as for example, in the case of the Romanians or the Serbs. In this paper it will be argued that Hungarian is still a majority language in the Carpathian Basin. The reason for this is that Hungarians are still in the majority from an ethnic point of view. According to Smith (1991, 11-13), the Eastern European model of national identity is ’ethnic’ in contrast to the ’civic’ model of Western Europe. This has the following two important consequences. First of all, a nation is first and foremost a community of common descent and a member is organically connected to it (cf. Smith (1991, 11)). Second, the place of law in the Western civic model is taken by vernacular culture, usually languages and customs in the ethnic model. That is why lexicographers, philologists and folklorists have played a central role in the early nationalisms of Eastern Europe and Asia (cf. Smith (1991, 12)). Following Smith (1991, 11-13, 20), we will adopt the generalization that in Central and Eastern Europe vernacular language and culture determine ethnic identity and that these features are strongly correlating with national identity. Hence, there is a correlation between being an ethnic Hungarian and speaking the Hungarian language. All ethnic Hungarians speak and use the Hungarian language in the Carpathian Basin. Knowledge and use of the Hungarian language is one of the markers of the Hungarian identity in this area. However, not all speakers of Hungarian are ethnic Hungarians and not all ethnic speakers of Hungarian are speaking the Hungarian language. For example, the Roma sometimes only speak Hungarian, but they are not ethnic Hungarians. Bilingual speakers of Hungarian, ethnic Romanians, for example, in Transylvania might speak Hungarian, but they are not ethnic Hungarians. Some ethnic Hungarian communities, like some of the Csángó communities in Moldavia do not speak any longer Hungarian but Romanian. These communities consider themselves as ethnic Hungarian descendents. Although these cases exist, I will consider them as an exception to Smith’s generalization for Central and Eastern Europe. Observe that Smith’s generalization is only true for the following left-to-right correlation between ethnicity and language. If you are of X ethnicity then you speak X language, but vice versa is not true. Although, the Hungarian language is subject to legal conditions and a restrictive language policy in the neighbouring countries of Hungary, it has received more recognition in a European framework. After the collapse of communism the internal and cross-border public space have become free. For reasons of communication, speakers are free to use the language of their choice. Furthermore, minority languages are being protected by conventions adopted by the Council of Europe, namely the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages (ECRML, 1992) and the Framework Convention for National Minorities (FCNM, 1995). Both conventions are not integrated into the European Union’s legal framework yet, but it is clear that they will play an important role in the further liberalization of Europe and the Europeanization of Central and Eastern Europe. It is precisely for this reason that Hungarian communities in Central Europe are in favor of a further Europeanization of their region. This point of view conflicts with local nationalist jurisdiction, especially in Romania and Slovakia. However, the nationalist policy towards the Hungarian language can only hinder and delay a free and spontaneous use of the Hungarian language. Because of Europeanization the Hungarian language will strengthen its position in Central Europe, more precisely in the Carpathian Basin where Hungarians have a clear ethnic majority. If this is the course of future development, then Hungarian might develop into a regional communication language, a so-called lingua franca in the Carpathian Basin. This lingua franca will be used mainly in the communication among Hungarian mother tongue speakers in all domains of life.
- Price: 4.50 €
Liberal Legal Approach, Liberalisation in European Minority Politics
Liberal Legal Approach, Liberalisation in European Minority Politics
(Liberal Legal Approach, Liberalisation in European Minority Politics)
- Author(s):Péter Egyed
- Language:English
- Subject(s):Politics / Political Sciences
- Page Range:141-154
- No. of Pages:14
- Keywords:legislation;minority policy;
- Summary/Abstract:In the last decade a new tendency has emerged in European legislation and in legal and philosophical thinking, by virtue whereof one must get back to a more general meaning of liberty, from the perspective of which the community rights required by communal life, which cannot be covered by the individual rights of man, could be organised into a non-exclusive, but rather complementary relationship with each other, on which grounds it would be simply possible. In this case the dogmatic legal philosophical way of looking must give place to solutions in which the two aforementioned means of regulation can exist side by side (individual and collective rights, based on the fact that an optimal level of real freedom could be attained by the joint application of the two). There is already some advancement toward the direction of this construction, and in what follows we will try to direct our attention to the documents that are relevant from this perspective, as well as the principles laid down therein.
- Price: 4.50 €
Europe’s Active Regional Autonomies – A Comparative Analysis
Europe’s Active Regional Autonomies – A Comparative Analysis
(Europe’s Active Regional Autonomies – A Comparative Analysis)
- Author(s):Thomas Benedikter
- Language:English
- Subject(s):Politics / Political Sciences
- Page Range:155-177
- No. of Pages:23
- Price: 4.50 €
The Bolyai University as a Political Project
The Bolyai University as a Political Project
(The Bolyai University as a Political Project)
- Author(s):Barna Bodó
- Language:English
- Subject(s):Politics / Political Sciences
- Page Range:179-205
- No. of Pages:27
- Summary/Abstract:The restoration of a state-financed Hungarian-language university in Romania, that of the Bolyai University, has probably been the most clearly formulated aspiration of the Hungarian minority in Romania after 1989. We can find it included in the very first manifestos put forth on those agitated December days in 1989, when dictatorship was abolished, as well as in the first declarations of those who came into office in the new era. Two decades of political actions have not been enough to bring to life the fulfilment of probably the most general demand of the Hungarian minority in Romania, a demand that has been considered just and has been said to be supported by all Hungarian politicians in Romania. Considering the current political situation and the reactions of the academic community immediately concerned, it can be stated that in the first part of 2008 the question of the university is at its lowest ebb. It does not feature as a political goal on the list of the questions of distinguished importance. The political elite is neither arranging nor planning anything, professionals are waiting in confusion, while the Hungarian community in Romania does not react to the situation at all. In the present study we are looking for answers to the following questions: 1. Was the goal setting mistaken two decades ago? 2. Were the means or the manner of handling the problem wrong? Is there anyone, or are there any people who could be held responsible, either politically or personally, for the failure? 3. How does that Hungarian publicity work in Romania, in the context of which even the most important public goals can lose their importance?
- Price: 4.50 €
National Groups, Contact Systems and Linguistic Scenes of a Western Small Region
National Groups, Contact Systems and Linguistic Scenes of a Western Small Region
(National Groups, Contact Systems and Linguistic Scenes of a Western Small Region)
- Author(s):Szilvia Szoták
- Language:English
- Subject(s):Politics / Political Sciences, Language and Literature Studies
- Page Range:207-216
- No. of Pages:10
- Summary/Abstract:Today’s usage of Hungarian language has got tight connections with the social environment, and also with the political, economical and cultural changes arising on a local and global level. Earlier national states are changed by so-called Euroregions, which connect people, municipalities, institutions, civil organizations. (Varga 2005)1 The study analyses what kinds of changes were caused by the accession to the European Union in the system of connections and in the usage of language of the national groups in Burgenland.
- Price: 4.50 €
Responsibility for Each Other. Cross-Border Discourses on National Constellation (Transylvanian-Hungarian, Hungarian-Transylvanian)
Responsibility for Each Other. Cross-Border Discourses on National Constellation (Transylvanian-Hungarian, Hungarian-Transylvanian)
(Responsibility for Each Other. Cross-Border Discourses on National Constellation (Transylvanian-Hungarian, Hungarian-Transylvanian))
- Author(s):L. Zoltán Simon
- Language:English
- Subject(s):Politics / Political Sciences
- Page Range:217-223
- No. of Pages:7
- Summary/Abstract:This lecture (partially) thinks over the cultural anthropology examinations of the ‘national discourses’ of the recent years and the present days. We would like to describe the term ‘national discourse’ with the present socio-political, ethno-political, ethno-cultural and minority strategies in connection with the ‘Hungarian commonwealth’. The image and the description of the ‘discoursing communities’ between the categories of Transylvania-Hungary and Hungary- Transylvania comprise the following notions: majority-minority, homeland, motherland, bolsterer, advocated. It also contains the paradigms of physical forms of making connections (‘I have been in Transylvania’, ‘I have been over in Hungary’). In addition, we discuss the changes in mental sense and physical aspect to the state borders that have been occurring after Romania joined the European Union (if there is any kind of change).
- Price: 4.50 €
The Institutional Forms of Cross-Border Co-operation and the Possibility to Build Up Autonomous Entities through CBC
The Institutional Forms of Cross-Border Co-operation and the Possibility to Build Up Autonomous Entities through CBC
(The Institutional Forms of Cross-Border Co-operation and the Possibility to Build Up Autonomous Entities through CBC)
- Author(s):Dániel Hegedűs
- Language:English
- Subject(s):Politics / Political Sciences
- Page Range:225-236
- No. of Pages:12
- Price: 4.50 €