Recognition Paradox: Minority Language Recognition, Political Trust, and Ethnic Demands

Abstract

Can the recognition of a minority language by the state, such as the increasing use of the minority language in state services, help the state to build political trust among its minority citizens? Or, does it rather strengthen the ethnic divisions in the country? Despite the significance of the language policy, especially in countries experiencing ongoing ethnic conflict, the empirical literature on its causal effects stay limited. In this study, we explore the effects of the minority language recognition n minority individuals' political attitudes in an authoritarian country experiencing an ongoing ethnic conflict, i.e, Turkey. We conducted a pre-registered online survey experiment, recruiting Kurdish citizens of Turkey. Our results point to a recognition paradox. While the Kurdish people living in Turkey become more satisfied with state services if these services are presented in the Kurdish language, this satisfaction does not lead to increased trust in state institutions. On the other hand, the recognition of the minority language further increases ethnic demands in language policy. We believe that our results make significant contribution to the literature on ethnic politics.