Language policies and legislation in China and Russia: normative justifications from a historical perspective

Current Issues in Language Planning. 2025. P. 1–20.

Yue Q., Zamyatin K.

China and Russia historically share a common Soviet trajectory, and they both position themselves as distinct civilisational states existing outside liberal traditions. In addition to their nation-building efforts, both states have consistently sought to address their linguistic diversity in alignment with modern values of social equality and justice and have sought ways to justify their policies on the basis of their respective state traditions. Since the late 1980s, significant social and economic transformations in both states have reshaped their political systems and prompted a reassessment of their multilingual policy frameworks. From the perspective of historical institutionalism, this study examines the evolution of key concepts related to language within their legislative and institutional frameworks to elucidate the normative justifications underlying their diversity management approaches. We argue that although elements of the Soviet approach to linguistic diversity still persist in the policy frameworks of both states, there has been a shift in the justification for promoting dominant languages not only as an attribute of the nation-state but also within a broader civilisational-state narrative.

Keywords: Китай, Россия, Russia, China, языковая политика, language policy, языковое законодательство, civilisational state, language legislation, normative justifications, нормативные обоснования, цивилизационное государство

Publication based on the results of: Language, literature and culture in historical and social perspective (2025)