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Why do some countries have one official language while others have two or more? Why do Indigenous languages have official status in some countries but not others? How do we theorize about continuity and change when we explain state language policy choices? Combining both the theory and practice of language regimes, this book explains how the relationship between language, politics, and policy can be studied. It brings together a globally representative team of scholars to look at the patterns of continuity and change, the concept of state traditions, and notions of historical legacies, critical juncture, path dependency, layering, conversion, and drift. It contains in-depth case studies from a multitude of countries including Algeria, Burkina Faso, Canada, Hong Kong, India, Norway, Peru, Ukraine, and Wales, and across both colonial and postcolonial contexts. Wide-ranging yet accessible, it is essential reading for practitioners and scholars engaged in the theory and practice of language policies.
List of contents
Introduction; 1. Introduction: theorizing continuity and change in states' language policy Ericka Albaugh, Linda Cardinal and Rémi Léger; Part I. Routes of Change: 2. Universalism as a state tradition in Norway and its impact on language policy choices Eli Bjørhusdal; 3. Policy change in a language regime: institutionalism, incrementalism and agency Martin Normand; 4. The decline and rebirth of Manx Gaelic: state traditions and language change in a small island context Gary Wilson; 5. Cultural heterogeneity and language regime transformation: the Ukrainian case Bartosz Hordecki; 6. Language regime change in Peru: authoritarian state traditions and unexpected effects of democratic reforms Stéphanie Rousseau and Eduardo Dargent; Part II. Dependent Relationships: 7. African state traditions and language regimes Ericka Albaugh; 8. Algeria's language regime: a case of postcolonial linguistic Jacobinism Linda Cardinal and Djamel Chikh; 9. Language politics in India: tradition, regime and diversity Selma K. Sonntag; 10. Lost in traditions? continuity and change in Hong Kong's language regime Jean-François Dupré; Part III. Levels of Governance: 11. Indigenous reconciliation and the limits of Canada's language regime Miranda Huron; 12. State tradition and language revitalization in wales Huw Lewis and Elin Royles; 13. Language regime change and Europeanization: the council of Europe, Slovakia and the treatment of Romani Milena Pandy; 14. Language regimes, global English and national public education Peter Ives; Conclusion; 15. Language and politics: state traditions and language policy André Lecours.
About the author
Ericka Albaugh is a Research Affiliate at Bowdoin College. Her books include State-Building and Multilingual Education in Africa (CUP, 2014) and Tracing Language Movement in Africa (co-edited with de Luna, Oxford University Press, 2018).Linda Cardinal is Associate Vice-President Research at the Université de l'Ontario français in Toronto and Emeritus Professor of Political Science at the University of Ottawa. Her research interests are language regimes and state traditions, linguistic minorities and la Francophonie.Rémi Léger is Full Professor of Political Science and Director of the French Cohort Program in Public & International Affairs at Simon Fraser University. His research examines the recognition and empowerment of linguistic minorities in Canada and internationally.
Summary
Based on case studies from a wide range of countries, this book explores how language policies are chosen and subsequently evolve, looking at patterns of stability and change in state action, and incorporating both colonial and postcolonial contexts. It is essential reading for researchers and students in sociolinguistics, language policy.
Foreword
Explains how and why language policies change in a wide variety of contexts using tools from historical institutionalism.
