Linguistic hierarchies at work: Exclusionary dynamics in Italy’s legal framework for minority protection

This article examines the legal framework governing the protection of linguistic minorities in Italy, with particular attention to the role of Law 482/1999 and the interpretative work of the Italian Constitutional Court. Although Article 6 of the Constitution mandates the protection of linguistic minorities, the Italian system remains shaped by a closed-list and territorial approach that produces significant exclusions and hierarchies. The article combines theories of linguistic justice with the concept of contestedness to assess how legal recognition, language use and linguistic belonging are framed institutionally. After outlining the evolution and main features of the national framework, it analyses a selection of Constitutional Court judgments concerning the scope of minority-language protection, regional legislative initiatives and the distinction between recognised minority languages, regional languages and so-called dialects. The analysis shows how the Court has largely reinforced a centralised and hierarchical interpretation of linguistic diversity, reserving to the State the power to determine which minorities and languages qualify for protection, while allowing regional authorities only limited space for cultural promotion. This approach has contributed to separating linguistic diversity into two constitutional paths: minority-language protection under Article 6 and the promotion of regional linguistic heritage under Article 9. The article argues that this distinction reproduces symbolic and distributive inequalities by linking access to rights and resources to prior formal recognition rather than to sociolinguistic realities. At the same time, regional authorities have often instrumentalised linguistic claims for autonomist purposes, further constraining the pursuit of linguistic justice in Italy.