Language policy in the Russian Federation (1991-2021)

Abstract

The language policy (LP) that has been implemented in the Russian Federation (RF) over the last thirty years (1991-2021) has been either an extension, a blurry reproduction or a reinterpretation of the LP deployed in the USSR at different stages. The RF is a multinational state with representatives of more than 170 national (or ethnic) groups. As also occurred in Soviet times, the RF has generated discourses that have all too often come into contradiction with the measures put in place for the promotion of Russian and the other languages of the State. With the perspective of the three decades that have passed since the disintegration of the USSR, this paper reviews the main phases and milestones of the RF language policy and, to some extent, it tries to elucidate the future in the light of the strategical lines established by the Russian government for its policy regarding nationalities – lines which emphasize that the Russian language is hierarchically superior to all the other languages of the RF nations.