Handbook of language & ethnic identity Chapter 7: Political Science by Robert Phillipson

Lack of Coordination Despite the challenges of multilingualism faced all over the globe, there is little real collaboration between specialists in language and political science – why is this? –Language planning undertaken by linguists lacks grounding in political theory –Political scientists tend to ignore language policy This article focuses on globalization of English

Postcolonial “The majority of citizens in Asia and Africa...are governed in a language they do not speak.” (usually English or French) What languages are there in postcolonial societies and what are they used for? Local languages –authenticity, legitimacy Colonial languages –instrumentalism, modernization, status quo

Post-Communist Linguistic assertion and rejection of Russian played a strong role in bringing down FSU/East Bloc and regrouping the successor nations Globalization of capitalism has major cultural and linguistic dimensions, spreading the use of English Teaching of English for business is itself a major business

Postnational What is “McWorld” and its potential impact? –“McWorld” threatens to level all to a global culture What forces are working in the other direction? –Indigenous minorities have begun to claim their rights –Economic migrations have resulted in multiculturalism in major cities

Postnational, cont’d. Globalization vs. Localization are competing forces English can be used globally but nativized locally EU recognizes all languages –but English and French prevail –underlying language policies are largely covert –there is no explicit EU supranational language policy, beyond a proclamation that diversity will be maintained – not sufficient in face of “McWorld”

Approaches to Linguistic Dominance Languages used for state/official purposes expand while others contract “Ethnic conflict” suggests that ethnic groups are invariably in conflict, but this is not true – there is no simple correlation between ethnicity or language and conflict Education systems play a major role in reducing linguistic variety

Linguistic Dominance, cont’d. Prominent languages are targeted for investment in developing resources Non-native speakers make investment in learning dominant languages Educational system often lags behind in providing teachers & materials Need to focus on –goals of users of particular languages –whose interests are served by existing policies

English as a Postethnic Language? Spread of English is no accident – Why? –British Imperialism, American economic & military power English is pluricentric – Why? –English has several centers that form standards and disseminate it English is pluriethnic – Why? –a native speaker of English can have any of several ethnic identities –for non-native speakers it is de-ethnicized

Postethnic English? Association of a language with its native speakers is a Western norm – multilingualism is the norm in much of the world Are language & ethnicity…? –Primordial: given and constant –Instrumental: something that can be changed Even so, the actual numbers of English speakers are not that high…

View to the future… “If the citizens of countries worldwide are to contribute to the solution of local problems, to use the local environment for locally appropriate purposes, cultural, economic, and political, local languages must be involved. Language policy must reconcile these dimensions of language ecology with the pressures of globalization and supranationalization… Language policy must be made explicit and must embrace equitable conditions for all people and all languages.”