Rémi Léger

Normative political theory’s contribution to language policy research

ABSTRACT This introduction surveys the normative literature on language policy and planning. Specifically, its aim is three-fold. It first explains how normative political theory adds to long-standing debates regarding language and linguistic diversity. Second, it explores some of the important trends within this normative literature as well as its fault lines. And finally, it discusses the main contributions of each article that comprises this special issue.

Non-territorial Autonomy in Canada: Reply to Chouinard

There is an impressive amount of scholarship on the broad topic of multiculturalism and minority rights in Canada. A significant number of researchers have explored central issues related to our federal system, nationalism and nation-building, Aboriginal selfdetermination and religious or cultural accommodations. Key works—such as Charles Taylor’s ‘The politics of recognition’ (1994), James Tully’s Strange Multiplicity (1995) and Will Kymlicka’s Multicultural Citizenship (1995)—have gone on to shape research agendas and global debates on citizenship and democracy in diverse societies. An influential counter scholarship has also emerged. It refutes the dominant interpretations of the state’s successes in dealing with minority rights-claims and accommodations—see, for example, Gerald Kernerman’s Multicultural Nationalism (2006) or Rita Dhamoon’s Identity/Difference Politics (2009). Stéphanie Chouinard’s article—‘The rise of non-territorial autonomy in Canada: towards a doctrine of institutional completeness in the domain of minority language rights’ (2014)—engages with this scholarship on two fronts. She first explores the case of Canada’s francophone minority communities (FMCs)—the close to one million French-speakers living in provinces and territories outside Québec. As an increasing number of researchers have noted over the past few years, these minorities have been rendered invisible in the scholarship on multiculturalism and minority rights in Canada (Thériault et al., 2008, p. 22; Cardinal & Hidalgo, 2012, p. 55; Poirier, 2012, pp. 67–68). Second, Chouinard also introduces the seldom-used notion of non-territorial autonomy (NTA) to examine the claims of FMCs as well as state responses to their claims. She aims to show that NTA has emerged in Canada through the equivalent notion of institutional completeness. I divide my comments on Chouinard’s article into two main parts and a conclusion. I begin by discussing her original thesis—the contention that FMCs have claimed NTA

The Politics of Language Roadmaps in Canada: Understanding the Conservative Government's Approach to Official Languages

This article critically examines the Conservative governments approach to official languages, through a policy instrument framework. Special attention is paid to the third federal roadmap for official languages—the first having been unveiled by the Liberal government in 2003 and the second by the Conservative minority government in 2008—and how this roadmap conveys a new representation of official languages in relation to Canadian identity and citizenship. The focus on the linguistic integration of new immigrants in the 2013 language roadmap generates interest. The policy instrument framework also shows how language roadmaps represent the fourth generation of official language policies in Canada; the first three generations found their respective bases in the 1969 Official Languages Act , the Charter of Rights and Freedoms and the 1988 Official Languages Act . The article concludes that an analysis of language roadmaps elucidates transformations initiated by the Conservative governments in the area of official languages in Canada. It also promotes further exploration and analysis of language policies through the policy instrument framework.

Research Openness in Canadian Political Science: Toward an Inclusive and Differentiated Discussion

In this paper, we initiate a discussion within the Canadian political science community about research openness and its implications for our discipline. This discussion is important because the Tri-Agency has recently released guidelines on data management and because a number of political science journals, from several subfields, have signed the Journal Editors’ Transparency Statement requiring data access and research transparency (DA-RT). As norms regarding research openness develop, an increasing number and range of journals and funding agencies may begin to implement DA-RT-type requirements. If Canadian political scientists wish to continue to participate in the global political science community, we must take careful note of and be proactive participants in the ongoing developments concerning research openness.

The Elusive Autonomy of Canada’s Francophone Minority Communities

Since the early 1990s, a number of analytical political theorists have worked at bridging political values and normative principles with institutional arrangements, historical traditions and cultural norms (Baubock 2008). Will Kymlicka (1995) describes this turn as that of disentangling the principles of liberal theory from its American idiosyncrasies, especially the belief that all minority issues look like racial segregation. In a similar vein, Joseph Carens (2000, 5) sarcastically writes: ‘It soon occurred to me that Rawls could not have been a Canadian […] no Canadian would think it appropriate to ignore the problem of language in a comprehensive discussion of justice.’