Sign language as a minority language

The plan gives Sweden a special task to strengthen rights to identity and language, and simultaneously demands that all parts of society be made accessible to those who have a disability. Recognition of sign language as a national minority language gives it stronger protection within care and mother-tongue instruction, which follows from both commitments. The plan furthermore wants the disability perspective included in all policy areas.

• accessible societydecisive»Vi vill skapa ett mer inkluderande samhälle genom att stärka välfärden« (party programme ↗)“We want to create a more inclusive society by strengthening welfare”
• language rights»de nationella minoriteternas rättigheter till identitet, språk, kulturarv« (party programme ↗)“the national minorities' rights to identity, language, cultural heritage”
• participation on equal terms»Den som har en funktionsnedsättning ska kunna vara delaktig i sam« (party programme ↗)“The person with a disability shall be able to be included in socie”
• disability perspective in all policy»Funktionshinder är ett perspektiv som« (party programme ↗)“Disability is a perspective that”

Neither the election manifesto nor the party programme address the legal status of sign language. The closest principles are that persons with disabilities shall be able to live their lives as others with full participation, and that minorities' opportunities to maintain and develop their language shall be asserted and supported. Based on these, the plan weakly speaks for strengthened protection for sign language.

• live their lives as othersdecisive»Personer med funktionsnedsättning ska kunna leva sitt liv som andra.« (2022 manifesto ↗)“Persons with disabilities shall be able to live their lives as others.”
• equal rights regardless of ability»funktionsförmåga, har rätt till arbete, eget boende, full rörelsefrihet och ett aktivt liv.« (party programme ↗)“ability, have the right to work, own housing, full freedom of movement and an active life.”
• support for linguistic minorities»I detta ska också ingå att hävda och stödja nationella minoriteters möjligheter att« (party programme ↗)“This should also include asserting and supporting national minorities' opportunities to”

The plan takes no explicit position on what the committee actually decided — often because the committee's reason was procedural. The stance is derived and fully cited, but it does not show the party broke a commitment.

The plan establishes that everyone shall have equal rights regardless of disability and that lack of accessibility in itself is a form of discrimination. It also requires that the special status of languages and cultures be respected and strengthened. Stronger protection for sign language, for example in care and mother-tongue teaching, follows from these principles, but the plan does not address the question of minority language status.

• inaccessibility is discriminationdecisive»Bristande tillgänglighet är i sig en typ av« (party programme ↗)“Lack of accessibility is in itself a form of”
• equal rights regardless of disability»Alla människor, oavsett funktionsnedsättning eller« (party programme ↗)“All people, regardless of disability or”
• languages' status is strengthened»Deras särskilda ställning, med egen kultur och eget« (party programme ↗)“Their special status, with their own culture and their own”
• stronger protection against discrimination»stärka lagstiftningen mot diskriminering och se över rätten till rättshjälp i diskrimineringsfall.« (2022 manifesto ↗)“strengthen legislation against discrimination and review the right to legal aid in discrimination cases.”

The plan takes no explicit position on what the committee actually decided — often because the committee's reason was procedural. The stance is derived and fully cited, but it does not show the party broke a commitment.

The plan promises to strengthen minority protection and minority languages' status, which is the principle a recognition of sign language rests on. The party also wants to do more against discrimination of persons with disabilities and create a society with full accessibility, and language's status in care and education is part of that accessibility. The documents do not mention sign language, so the conclusion is derived.

• strengthened status for minority languagesdecisive»Vi vill stärka bland annat äganderätten, diskrimineringsförbudet, minoritetsskyddet och minoritetsspråkens ställning« (2022 manifesto ↗)“We want to strengthen among other things property rights, the ban on discrimination, minority protection and minority languages' status”
• protection against discrimination»Mer måste göras mot diskriminering. Vi vill stärka myndigheternas arbete mot diskriminering och höja ersättningen till dem som utsatts, samt lägga till kön och funktionsnedsättning som hatbrottsgrunder.« (2022 manifesto ↗)“More must be done against discrimination. We want to strengthen public authorities' work against discrimination and raise compensation for those who have suffered discrimination, and add gender and disability as hate crime grounds.”
• full accessibility»Tillgängligheten är avgörande för människor med olika funktionsnedsättningar.« (party programme ↗)“Accessibility is crucial for people with different disabilities.”

The plan takes no explicit position on what the committee actually decided — often because the committee's reason was procedural. The stance is derived and fully cited, but it does not show the party broke a commitment.

The plan requires that teaching in sign language shall be freely available to all who need it and that lacking accessibility shall be seen as discrimination, which speaks for the more extensive protection the counter-proposal wants to give sign language. The plan also wants to strengthen the individual's opportunities to use minority languages in contact with authorities. Simultaneously the plan lists the five recognised national minorities, which makes the conclusion uncertain.

• free access to sign languagedecisive»Undervisning i teckenspråk ska vara fritt tillgänglig för alla som behöver det, liksom anpassade läromedel för elever och studenter som behöver det på grund av sin funktionsnedsättning.« (party programme ↗)“Teaching in sign language shall be freely available to all who need it, as shall adapted teaching materials for pupils and students who need it because of their disability.”
• inaccessibility is discrimination»Bristande tillgänglighet ska ses som diskriminering.« (party programme ↗)“Lacking accessibility shall be seen as discrimination.”
• language use with authorities»Individens möjligheter att använda minoritetsspråk i kontakten med myndigheter ska stärkas.« (party programme ↗)“The individual's opportunities to use minority languages in contact with authorities shall be strengthened.”
• the recognised minorities»Samernas, sverigefinnarnas, tornedalingarnas, judarnas och romernas ställning som nationella minoriteter och samernas ställning som urfolk ska upprätthållas.« (party programme ↗)“The status of the Sami, Swedish Finns, Torne Valley Finns, Jews and Roma as national minorities and the Sami's status as an indigenous people shall be upheld.”

The plan takes no explicit position on what the committee actually decided — often because the committee's reason was procedural. The stance is derived and fully cited, but it does not show the party broke a commitment.

The plan considers it justified to use the legislative instrument to facilitate the situation for persons with disabilities and identifies increased accessibility as an important way to reduce the significance of disability. A recognition that gives sign language more comprehensive protection, among other things within care and mother tongue instruction, lies in line with this. The plan, however, lists the national minorities as determined ethnic groups, which makes the support indirect and uncertain.

• legislation for people with disabilitiesdecisive»Det är befogat att använda lagstiftningsinstrumentet för att underlätta situationen för personer« (party programme ↗)“It is justified to use the legislative instrument to facilitate the situation for persons”
• increased accessibility»Ett annat viktigt sätt att minska funktionsnedsättningens betydelse är att öka tillgängligheten i samhället.« (party programme ↗)“Another important way to reduce the significance of disability is to increase accessibility in society.”
• the UN disability rights convention»viktig ledstjärna i detta avseende är FN:s konvention« (party programme ↗)“important guiding star in this respect is the UN convention”
• determined national minorities»Genom att tillerkänna samer, sverigefinländare,« (party programme ↗)“By recognizing Sámi, Sweden Finns,”

The plan takes no explicit position on what the committee actually decided — often because the committee's reason was procedural. The stance is derived and fully cited, but it does not show the party broke a commitment.

The plan does not address sign language's legal status. The nearest principle is that politics must prioritize and choose what to leave out and that new commitments must be accommodated within tight priorities for the legal system, defence and welfare. Recognition as a national minority language would trigger new commitments in care and education that the plan does not support, although the plan's demand for equal rights for all points in another direction.

• prioritize and choose what to leave outdecisive»Politiken har en viktig uppgift att prioritera och välja bort,« (party programme ↗)“Politics has an important task to prioritize and choose what to leave out,”
• new commitments must be financed»Alla nya löften och reformer – som till exempel våra inkomstskattesänkningar – behöver finansieras eller rymmas inom överskottsmålet. De stora behoven inom rättsväsendet, försvaret och välfärden ställer stora krav på prioriteringar under åren som kommer.« (2022 manifesto ↗)“All new promises and reforms – such as our income tax cuts – need to be financed or fit within the surplus target. The large needs within the legal system, defence and welfare set large demands on priorities in the years to come.”
• equal rights for all»Sverige ska vara ett fritt och öppet samhälle där rättigheter, skyldigheter och möjligheter gäller lika för alla.« (2022 manifesto ↗)“Sweden shall be a free and open society where rights, duties and opportunities apply equally to all.”

The plan does not address the legal status of sign language. Its minority policy is consistently tied to nations and national minorities defined by common culture, language, identity, and historical claim to territory, which does not include deaf sign language users as a group. Based on the closest principle, the plan therefore speaks against expanding the category of national minority language, even though the plan simultaneously wants functionally disabled people not to be restricted in their access to society.

• minority status tied to nationsdecisive»vissa nationer med hävdvunnen historisk rätt« (party programme ↗)“certain nations with established historical rights”
• nation defined by culture»Sverigedemokraterna definierar den svenska nationen i termer av lojalitet, gemensam identitet, gemensamt språk och gemensam kultur.« (party programme ↗)“Sweden Democrats define the Swedish nation in terms of loyalty, common identity, common language, and common culture.”
• participation for disabled»Medborgare som på grund av omständigheter bortom egen kontroll möter andra utmaningar i vardagen ska inte begränsas i sin tillgång till samhälls- eller arbetslivet.« (2022 manifesto ↗)“Citizens who due to circumstances beyond their control face other challenges in everyday life shall not be limited in their access to society or working life.”

The plan takes no explicit position on what the committee actually decided — often because the committee's reason was procedural. The stance is derived and fully cited, but it does not show the party broke a commitment.