About this Episode
In a recent episode (in Spanish) of Radio ARA’s special series on language inequality, researchers from CELES-UNSAM in Argentina shed light on how language inequality affects both Indigenous communities and migrant populations. Mónica Baretta and Florencia Sartori explained how Argentina, despite its multilingual reality, has long promoted a monolingual, Spanish-speaking identity. Indigenous languages like Wichí, Qom, and Mapuche face systemic erasure, often forcing speakers to hide their linguistic backgrounds.
The researchers also discussed historical European migration to Argentina and how language, religion, and literacy practices shaped early notions of citizenship. In rural areas with little state infrastructure, communities self-organized education in their native languages.
Today, new migrant groups—from China to Senegal—continue to face barriers, especially when their languages aren’t institutionally recognized. Community efforts like weekend Chinese schools and oral storytelling illustrate how language resilience persists despite official neglect.
The interview was part of the ReDes_Ling project, which explores how language hierarchies are reproduced and resisted. By exchanging experiences between Argentina and Luxembourg, the project highlights how communication tools and local strategies can foster greater linguistic inclusion.
