For some minorities, and particularly many autochthonous linguistic minorities, the question of economic participation raises a number of different complexities and challenges. In this chapter, the author approaches this issue from the perspective of someone who works with some of the more threatened autochthonous minority linguistic and cultural communities in Europe. Examples are used from the experience of these communities to illustrate these complexities. The basic argument presented here is that the existing international instruments tend not to be particularly clear with regard to the impact of economic and broader social policy on the viability of minority language communities, and that relevant treaty bodies have generally not considered such impact to any considerable extent.  Keywords:language communities, language issues, languages charter, linguistic, socio-economic participation