Danish and Finish linguist Dr. Tove Skutnabb-Kangas has spent fifty years fighting for human rights, and more specifically the linguistic rights of indigenous populations. Deeply involved in the cause of multilingual education, she is currently contributing to projects on native language-based education in India and Nepal. Her latest work, Indigenous Children’s Education as Linguistic Genocide and a Crime Against Humanity? A Global View, tackles deep and thoroughly into the subject.

Dr. Skutnabb-Kangas first examines the issue of indigenous children’s education under a legal light, and more particularly in reference to the UN Assembly declaration in favor of the rights of minorities. And the linguist proceeds by expanding on issues that are more specific to education, including the economic factors influencing instruction.

Notions such as ”linguistic genocide” appear along the pages when it comes to education as provided to indigenous populations, who, being forced to use other languages in school, end up losing fluency in their own mother tongue. The essay concludes in a rather positive light, however, showing that solutions do exist to protect these languages without harming the children’s integration.

For more information:

Tove Skutnabb-Kangas’s website

Indigenous Children’s Education as Linguistic Genocide and a Crime Against Humanity? A Global View – available online.