The Spatial Dynamics of National Minority Categories in Czechia- a Discourse Historical Perspective
The result's identifiers
Result code in IS VaVaI
<a href="https://www.isvavai.cz/riv?ss=detail&h=RIV%2F00216208%3A11220%2F25%3A10495762" target="_blank" >RIV/00216208:11220/25:10495762 - isvavai.cz</a>
Result on the web
<a href="https://verso.is.cuni.cz/pub/verso.fpl?fname=obd_publikace_handle&handle=zNfpvv7iqC" target="_blank" >https://verso.is.cuni.cz/pub/verso.fpl?fname=obd_publikace_handle&handle=zNfpvv7iqC</a>
DOI - Digital Object Identifier
<a href="http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s11196-024-10245-w" target="_blank" >10.1007/s11196-024-10245-w</a>
Alternative languages
Result language
angličtina
Original language name
The Spatial Dynamics of National Minority Categories in Czechia- a Discourse Historical Perspective
Original language description
The absence of a universally recognized definition of national minority is perceived as problematic by legal scholars on the international level as well as in domestic jurisdictions [Kymlicka, Will. 2015. Solidarity in diverse societies: Beyond neoliberal multiculturalism and welfare chauvinism. Comparative Migration Studies. https://doi.org/10.1186/s40878-015-0017-4, Ringelheim, Julie. 2010. Minority Rights in a Time of Multiculturalism-The Evolving Scope of the Framework Convention on the Protection of National Minorities. Human rights law review. https://doi.org/10.1093/hrlr/ngp038, Vel & aacute;zquez, Elisa Ortega. 2017. Minority rights for immigrants: From Multiculturalism to Civic Participation. Mexican Law Review, no. 1., Dimitras, Panayote Elias. 2004. Recognition of minorities in Europe: Protecting rights and dignity. London: Minority Rights Group International]. National minority under Czech law is defined by the Act on National Minorities, and the definition combines the objective and subjective criteria of Capotorti's [Capotorti, Francesco. 1977. Study on the Rights of Persons belonging to Ethnic, Religious and Linguistic Minorities, UN Document E/CN.4/Sub.2/384/Add.1-7. p. 96] and Desch & ecirc;nes' [Desch & ecirc;nes, Jules. 1985. Proposal Concerning a Definition of the Term Minority. UN Document E/CN.4/Sub.2/1985/31. paragraph 181] definitions. However, the Czech Minority Act makes a distinction between 'minorities that have traditionally and for a long time resided in the territory of the Czech Republic' ( 8-12) and other minority groups, while there is no explicit criterion for differentiating among these groups objectively. Such absence of clearcut criteria is often relevant when certain minority groups claim unfavourable treatment due to the authorities' perception of such national groups as being 'immigrant' as opposed to 'autochthonous'. Additionally, recent case-law has shown that the most 'traditional' groups residing in the Czech territory, such as Moravians or Silesians, can equally lack state support, while it is typically argued by Courts that such groups lack 'distinct features', be it ethnic, linguistic and cultural, from the majority population and thus do not fall under the legal definition of national minorities (Verdict of the Supreme Administrative Court of the Czech Republic, Ref No 7 As 324/2020-42, of 17 August 2021; Verdict of the Regional Court in Brno, Ref No 62 A 35/2020 - 186, of 8 October 2020). This paper combines doctrinal legal analysis with a socio-legal approach. The language of legislative acts and court verdicts is assessed with the methodology of critical discourse analysis, specifically the discourse-historical approach [Reisigl, Martin, and Ruth Wodak. 2015. The Discourse-Historical Approach (DHA). In Methods of Critical Discourse Studies, 3rd edition, eds. Ruth Wodak and Michael Meyer, 23-61. London: Sage]. I focus on nomination, predication and argumentation strategies [Wodak, Ruth. 2009. The semiotics of racism: A critical discourse-historical analysis. In Discourse, of Course: An overview of Research in Discourse studies, ed. Jan Renkema. 311-326. Amsterdam: John Benjamins Publishing Company] used by the judges in court verdicts and on the role of perceived 'tradition' of certain groups' residence in the territory of the Czech Republic on their access to state support or, on the contrary, their marginalization. It is concluded that the current state of the Czech law does not allow for the spatial dynamics of minority groups, which are mostly apprehended as fixed categories based on the 19th century idea of nation states and on the 1920s perception of the Czechoslovak nation after the breakdown of the Austro-Hungarian empire. Such approach does not allow for accommodating the rights for more up-to-date categories or for critical revisiting of the catalogue of minority groups as it was defined in the early 20th century.
Czech name
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Czech description
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Classification
Type
J<sub>imp</sub> - Article in a specialist periodical, which is included in the Web of Science database
CEP classification
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OECD FORD branch
50501 - Law
Result continuities
Project
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Continuities
I - Institucionalni podpora na dlouhodoby koncepcni rozvoj vyzkumne organizace
Others
Publication year
2025
Confidentiality
S - Úplné a pravdivé údaje o projektu nepodléhají ochraně podle zvláštních právních předpisů
Data specific for result type
Name of the periodical
INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL FOR THE SEMIOTICS OF LAW-REVUE INTERNATIONALE DE SEMIOTIQUE JURIDIQUE
ISSN
0952-8059
e-ISSN
1572-8722
Volume of the periodical
2025
Issue of the periodical within the volume
3
Country of publishing house
GB - UNITED KINGDOM
Number of pages
16
Pages from-to
1315-1330
UT code for WoS article
001401901000001
EID of the result in the Scopus database
2-s2.0-105001504303