One of the issues that stood out for me in the Bolton article came from his reference to Phillipson's work. According to Bolton, Phillipson "invokes the notion of 'linguistic human rights'" (73). While trying to define human rights--what constitutes a human right?--is fraught with difficulties, I found the idea of linguistic rights to be an under current in all the articles we read for today's class. When we ask whether or not language creates cultural identity or whether a language policy is just or right, we are essentially, defining individual's linguistic rights.
Historically, (I think) human rights have been defined as those rights that must remain intact above and beyond the good of the nation or political state in which a person resides. While I agree that the freedom of expression should be a human right as it is fundamental to our physical and mental health, is how we express ourselves--the language we choose and how we choose to use it, a necessary part of that right?
We often speak of linguistic choice as a human right as in when we talk about the loss of identity felt by someone who is barred from using the language of their choice. But when I still have a hard time equating the choice of language as a necessary component to the right of expression. That said, my positions on language policy, imposition of language and restrictions on language use would all say otherwise.
I know I have rambled a bit, but I am trying to figure out how the right to expression, the concept of human rights and the right to language choice intersect with each other.
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Robin, what you have outlined above is really an interesting point. Like you, I'm not sure at what point "the right to expression, the concept of human rights and the right to language choice intersect with each other." It's a quite challenging question. However, if we believe in human rights, then, one important part of these rights would be the right to express one's views which entails the freedom of one's linguistic choice. That is, if I have the right to express my views, without of course crossing the boundaries and ethics of expression, logically I should have the right not only to choose the appropriate way of expression, but also the language through which I can express myself. Like you said, linguistic choice is a matter of identity and the language I speak says much about who I am. However, we should admit that language policy is a powerful tool that control our linguistic choice and, hence, freedom to expression which eventually contradict the real purpose of human rights. I think this is why most of the people, as far as I know, quite frequently believe that human rights laws are nothing but paying a lip service. I hope that I made my point clear and helped to address your point.
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