Linguistic Rights and Education in the Republics of the Russian Federation: Towards Unity through Uniformity

Abstract

This article traces the evolution of the debate on the balancing of federal and regional competences in regulating the use of minority languages in Russia's education system. Taking into account relevant law and judicial practice, as well as developments in center-periphery relations since 2017, the article argues that the federal center has been increasingly depriving Russia's republics of the ability to self-regulate in the eduÂcation sphere-particularly over the question as to whether they may require the comÂpulsory study of republican languages (recognized as co-official with Russian) in schools located within their administrative borders. These processes can be located in the context of the centralization of the education system and a corresponding reducÂtion of multilingualism in Russia's schools. This can, in turn, be seen as part of an unÂderlying drive to promote national unity through uniformity, through the dilution of the country's linguistic and cultural diversity and a concurrent emphasis on the priÂmacy of the Russian language. The article further argues that the Russian educa-tion system's centralization has been ongoing: While it has intensified since 2017, the trajectory of the jurisprudence shows an earlier movement towards a concern for 'unity' that anticipated it.