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Takao Katsuragi

Japanese language policy from the point of view of public philosophy

This paper considers Japanese language policy from the point of view of public philosophy. To this end the concept of a ‘‘policy-framework’’ is discussed in terms of the trichotomy of rights, policy, and policy framework. It is designed to balance cultural diversity, on the one hand, and social order, on the other, and it therefore often characterized as endorsing multiculturalism. This paper proposes a policy framework of cultural nationalism that puts more emphasis on social order and integration than on freedom of choice and diversity, while at the same time advocating a balanced policy approach. In a broad sense, it can be subsumed under the label of multiculturalism, and can as such provide a practical basis for a language policy for Japan in the future.

It will take some time before a Japanese language policy can be considered and enforced within a policy framework of cultural nationalism. For now, what we need to do is to cultivate a national consciousness of language ethics, and to deal with language problems, not in an emotional or ideological way but in pragmatic terms, paying due attention to financial sustainability.

International Journal of the Sociology of Language, Walter de Gruyter

Print ISSN: 0165-2516
Volume: 2005, 11/2005
Pages: 41 - 54

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