Challenges of Inclusion and Mobility in a Multilingual Region: The Case of Vojvodina

Abstract

International and internal mobility can result in both linguistic diversity and forced migration due to intended homogenisation efforts (e.g. “ethnic unmixing” in the successor states of former Yugoslavia). In literature we can talk about both mobility-induced diversity and mobility-induced homogeneity. Language rights and language policies should ensure that the trade-off between mobility and inclusion is not solved simply through assimilation. This article addresses these trends and processes in the specific context of the case study on the Serbian province of Vojvodina. Recent migratory trends in Vojvodina – within Serbia and from Serbia to Hungary and other EU states – have changed the “identity landscape” of a region that possesses deeply anchored multinational–multilingual traditions. In addition, an important question, therefore, was how existing legal provisions on language rights could offer protection to minority language speakers.