Doctoral Dissertation Research: The Political Economy of Scottish Gaelic Language Revitalization

9974337 Silverstein/McEwan-Fujita这个项目支持芝加哥大学人类学专业的一名学生的论文研究，研究少数民族语言复兴在欧洲地区发展中的作用。自20世纪80年代以来，盖尔语一直在经历政府资助的复兴，这是由说盖尔语的城市中产阶级的成员发起的。盖尔语教育和交流的资金增加，盖尔语重新定义为人力资本的一种形式。苏格兰政府、英国政府和欧盟都接受了这些主张。学生将通过在苏格兰高地的两个地点与盖尔语推动者及其选民(说盖尔语的人)进行实地考察，试图了解这种少数民族语言在该地区经济发展中的作用。将研究因弗内斯的盖尔族发展机构以及本贝库拉岛上的一个农耕城镇。在这两个地点，学生将进行参与者观察和半结构化访谈，了解盖尔语如何鼓励、促进和阻碍该地区的经济发展。这项研究很重要，因为管理当地文化少数群体与民族国家的关系是当代政府面临的最具挑战性的任务之一，从南斯拉夫的阿族人到墨西哥的玛雅印第安人。这一看似成功的复兴和适应案例将提供重要材料，以便与其他发展和冲突案例进行比较。此外，该项目还支持培训一名年轻的社会科学家，并促进我们对世界这一重要领域的了解。

9974337Silverstein / McEwan-Fujita This project supports the dissertation research of an anthropology student from the University of Chicago studying the role of minority language revival in the development of a European region. Since the 1980s Gaelic has been undergoing a government funded renaissance, let by members of a Gaelic speaking urban middle class. There has been increased funding of Gaelic education and communication and a redefinition of Gaelic as a form of human capital. These claims have been accepted by the Scottish government, the British state and the European Union. The student will try to understand the role of this minority language in the economic development of the region through fieldwork with Gaelic language promoters and their constituents, Gaelic speakers in two sites in the Scottish highlands. Gaelic development agencies in Inverness will be studied as well as a crofting township on the island of Benbecula. In both sites the student will do participant observation and semi-structured interviews of how Gaelic functions to encourage, facilitate, and impede the economic development of the region. This research is important because managing the relation of local cultural minorities to the national state is one of the most challenging tasks faced by contemporary governments, from ethnic Albanians in Yugoslavia to Mayan Indians in Mexico. This case of a seemingly successful renaissance and adaptation will provide important material to be compared with other cases of development and conflict. In addition the project supports the training of a young social scientist, and advances our knowledge of this important area of the world.