Positive Alignment in Language Policy: Pros and Cons. The Experience of the USSR, Modern Russia and Other States

The article shows the dynamics over the last century of the affirmative action policy in the field of preservation and revival of minority and indigenous languages. The analysis is based on a comparison of the language policies of the Soviet Union, post-Soviet Russia and a number of foreign countries. The Soviet policy of "korenization" (1920s – early 1930s) was the world's first experience of creating advantages for the development of minority and indigenous languages, as well as the complete opposite of the policy of prohibitions on the use of such languages, typical at that time for many countries of the world. The situation has changed radically in modern conditions. Most states with a liberal regime and a market economy are pursuing a policy similar to the Soviet "korenization" in relation to the revival of the languages of previously colonized peoples, whereas Russia has been moving further away from the Soviet policy of korenization since 2010. The main issue of the article is the analysis of the contradiction between the merits of "positive alignment" affirmative action in the field of language policy and its shortcomings in the field of social and interethnic relations.