Civil Tongues: Examining the Role of Language in Ethnic Group Mobilization for Violent Contestation
Creators: name: Smerkovich, Maria
Publisher: name: Brandeis University
Year: 2021
Subjects: ethnic conflict
language conflict
minority languages
mobilization
Spain

description: How does language as an ethnic trait affect group mobilization for contestation against the state? Are linguistic groups less likely to engage in violence, and if so, why? Existing studies have shown religious groups to be particularly conflict-prone, owing to characteristics that stem from their distinguishing trait. Their insights have implications for linguistic groups. Unlike religion, language is adaptable; it is additive rather than substitutive, and amenable to change, so that group boundaries are less rigid, and members are able to traverse them. Additionally, groups marked by language lack the structure and normative content associated with religion. These characteristics limit their capacity for collective action. Consequently, organizations that operate within linguistic groups are expected to struggle with mobilization, particularly when looking to challenge the state using violent means.
description: The dissertation adopts an integrative, mixed-method approach and proceeds in two parts. Part I looks to ascertain whether linguistic groups partake in violent and non-violent contestation at lower levels than racial and religious groups, and accomplishes this through quantitative analysis using the new AMAR dataset. Part II relies on qualitative tools and case studies to explain why linguistic groups are less likely to be violent. This portion of the dissertation considers how groups that are historically distinguished by language vary in terms of the centrality of language in their group identity, and the impact of said variation on their mobilization for violence. More specifically, Part II analyzes the role of language in the frames of identity that organizations in linguistic groups use to appeal to fellow group members and rally them against the state.
description: According to the proposed theory of language adaptability, violent organizations in language-centric groups are unable to argue that the state poses an existential threat to them because their ethnic trait is adaptable. As a result, they have a difficult time convincing co-ethnics to support their violent campaigns. Linguistic groups for whom language is a peripheral attribute are more hospitable environments for such campaigns, seeing as violent organizations in this context can anchor their identity frames in something 'stickier' than language and better approximate the appeals of their racial and religious counterparts.
description: Part II of the dissertation consists of three case studies of linguistic groups that operate vis-a-vis the Spanish state: the Catalans, Basques, and Galicians. It examines violent organizations claiming to represent these groups during the Francoist dictatorship and through the democratic transition, and analyzes their experiences with mobilization for violence, paying close attention to their identity framing. The Catalan case serves as an example of a language-centric group that mobilized for non-violent contestation in pursuit of linguistic and cultural accommodation while rejecting violence. The Basque case demonstrates how a violent organization in a language-peripheral group can gain traction by reframing identity to exclude the language. The Galician case is an intermediate one, wherein the role of language in group identity is ambivalent; the gapbetween group proficiency and member attitudes towards the language resulted in little support for both violent and non-violent initiatives. These cases demonstrate the limited utility of the theory of language adaptability and identify avenues for further study.