How Language Policies Shape the Transitional Justice Debate: The Case of Mapudungun

Many Latin American countries have faced dictatorships in the second half of the twentieth century. In Chile, the human rights violations that were committed during the dictatorship under General Augusto Pinochet still profoundly impact modern society. The question of how to address these violations has created a situation in which transitional justice gained relevance since the end of the dictatorship. However, traditional conceptualisations of transitional justice have overly focused on judicial dimensions and thereby disregarded other dimensions that are equally as relevant in the transition to a stable democracy. These dimensions include conceptualisations of cultural and linguistic rights that were popularised in the last two decades. This thesis explores the opportunities that an inclusion of effective language policies grounded in the idea of language rights provides to advance transitional justice. This link is investigated through the case of Mapudungun. The findings from...Show moreMany Latin American countries have faced dictatorships in the second half of the twentieth century. In Chile, the human rights violations that were committed during the dictatorship under General Augusto Pinochet still profoundly impact modern society. The question of how to address these violations has created a situation in which transitional justice gained relevance since the end of the dictatorship. However, traditional conceptualisations of transitional justice have overly focused on judicial dimensions and thereby disregarded other dimensions that are equally as relevant in the transition to a stable democracy. These dimensions include conceptualisations of cultural and linguistic rights that were popularised in the last two decades. This thesis explores the opportunities that an inclusion of effective language policies grounded in the idea of language rights provides to advance transitional justice. This link is investigated through the case of Mapudungun. The findings from this research suggest that the successful implementation of language policies addresses different dimensions of transitional justice and should therefore be included in transitional justice policies, thus aiding the process. The findings from the Chilean case can be beneficial in other transitional contexts in which the inclusion of cultural and linguistic dimensions could contribute to advance transitional justice.Show less

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How Language Policies Shape the Transitional Justice Debate: The Case of Mapudungun