Doctoral Dissertation Research in Political Science: Language Matters: The Causal Role of Linguistic Identity in "Ethnic" Mobilization in Moldova

该项目调查语言认同、个人对相关语言的熟练程度和认同感以及对政治动员和分离主义的支持之间的关系。它侧重于摩尔多瓦加戈齐亚和德涅斯特河沿岸地区的人口，这是一个具有战略重要性的地区，欧洲和俄罗斯参与了该地区的冲突。加深我们对身份如何与冲突局势相联系的理解，对民主和稳定社会的发展具有重大影响。这项研究将产生与身份及其后果有关的几个重要的智力贡献。语言认同会影响个人的政治倾向，因为它可能会限制加入某些认同群体的能力：学习一门新语言很困难，而成年人往往不可能发展出母语水平的流利程度。因此，个人的语言知识可以永久地将个人标记为属于或不属于特定群体。在某些情况下，缺乏成为群体成员所需语言能力的个人可能试图通过提高他们所属群体的地位或创造一个保护该群体的国家来改善他们的处境。虽然语言常常与种族混为一谈，但摩尔多瓦的两个案例表明，语言和种族认同可以在分离主义动员方面独立运作；因此，这些案例是评估语言和政治行为之间关系的理想实验室。该项目使用一种独特的调查工具来调查语言认同在这两个地区的作用。通过分析不同形式的身份认同与对歧视和生活机会的看法之间的关系，这个项目将确定语言是否真的被认为阻碍了一个社会的向上流动。通过评估不同形式的语言身份(即身份识别与熟练程度)对支持分离主义和动员的影响，它将调查这种身份如何能够激发动员的意愿，并为基于身份的冲突提供一种新的研究途径。该项目还具有重要的广泛影响。由于族裔冲突仍然普遍存在，必须更好地了解产生这种冲突的机制。此外，摩尔多瓦的分离主义本身也很重要：正如格鲁吉亚最近发生的领土斗争所证明的那样，苏联解体后的领土冲突可能会在世界范围内产生影响。这项研究将加强我们对冲突进程的理解，这是为外交政策决策提供信息的重要组成部分。

This project investigates the relationship between linguistic identity, an individual's proficiency and identification with relevant languages, and support for political mobilization and separatism. It focuses on the populations of the Moldovan regions of Gagauzia and Transnistria, an area of strategic importance whose conflict has witnessed involvement by Europe and Russia. Increasing our understanding of how identity links to conflict situations has serious implications for the development of democracy and stable societies.This research will produce several important intellectual contributions related to identity and its consequences. Linguistic identity influences an individual's political proclivities because it may limit the ability to join certain identity groups: learning a new language is difficult, while developing native-level fluency is often impossible for adults. As a result, an individual's linguistic knowledge can permanently mark the individual as either belonging or not belonging to certain groups. Under some conditions, individuals who lack the necessary linguistic abilities for group membership may attempt to better their situation by raising the status of a group to which they belong, or by creating a state in which this group will be protected.Though language is often conflated with ethnicity, the two Moldovan cases indicate that linguistic and ethnic identities can operate independently in relation to separatist mobilization; the cases thus serve as ideal laboratories for assessing the relationship between language and political behavior. The project uses a unique survey instrument to investigate the role of linguistic identity in these two regions. By analyzing the relationship between different forms of identity and perceptions of discrimination and life-opportunities, this project will determine whether or not language is actually perceived to block upward mobility in a society. By assessing the impact of different forms of linguistic identity (i.e. identification vs. proficiency) in relation to support for separatism and mobilization, it will investigate how this identity can motivate willingness to mobilize and provides a new avenue for research on identity-based conflict.The project also features important broader impacts. As ethnic conflicts remain widespread, it is imperative to develop a better understanding of the mechanisms by which such conflicts arise. Furthermore, separatism in Moldova is itself important: as recent territorial struggles in the Republic of Georgia proved, post-Soviet territorial conflicts can have worldwide repercussions. The research will enhance our understanding of conflict processes, an essential part of informing foreign policy decision-making.