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Abstract:

Language policy of a state is often formed, pursued and perceived as a zero-sum game, when some actors advocate for the goal of language spread and some others for language maintenance. At the same time, the sides might reach a compromise to overcome the contradictions. Moreover, even when the formal goals contradict, the policies do not need be mutually exclusive in practice, because conflicting goals can also reflect a balance of interests. For example, Russia’s language policy in the post-Soviet period started under the conditions of decentralization of the 1990s from a compromise that at its core envisaged the contradicting policy goals: not only the preservation of the status quo with the general dominance of Russian, but also the spread of the titular languages of republics in the public sphere and the maintenance of other languages. Since the 2000s, the policy evolved under the conditions of recentralization and unification to the new emphasis on the spread of Russian often pursued at the expense of other languages. This article examines from the perspective of the dynamics of changes in the language policy of Russia in the post-Soviet period depending on policy goals the amendments to the Constitution of the Russian Federation of 2020. What implications the constitutional amendments have for language policy and is it possible to talk in connection with the amendments about a change in policy and a new stage?

Keywords: language policy, centre-periphery relations, public policy, policy change, Constitutional amendments, ethnic republics, Russian Federation.