Books in the Palgrave Studies in Minority Languages and Communities series

This book presents a comparative literary study of the works of four writers working in European minority languages - Frisian, Welsh, Scots and Breton.

This edited volume brings together ten compelling ethnographic case studies from a range of global settings to explore how people build metalinguistic communities defined not by use of a language, but primarily by language ideologies and symbolic practices about the language.

Following the collapse of the former Yugoslavia, Croatian was declared to be a separate language, distinct from Serbian, and linguistic issues became highly politicized. This book examines the changing status and norms of the Croatian language and its relationship to Croatian national identity, focusing on the period after Croatian independence.

Yiddish and Power surveys the social, linguistic and intellectual history of the Yiddish language within the traditional civilisation of Jewish Ashkenaz in central, and then in eastern Europe, and its interaction with the surrounding non-Jewish culture. It explores the various ways in which Yiddish has empowered masses and served political agendas.

Welsh Writing, Political Action and Incarceration examines the prison literature of certain iconic Welsh authors whose political lives and creative writings are linked to ideas about Wales and the Welsh language, the nature of political activism, and the function of incarceration.

Breaking with the traditional approach to the continent's language question by focusing on the often overlooked issue of the link between African languages and economic development, Language Policy and Economics argues that African languages are an integral part of a nation's socio-political and economic development.

An exploration of the role of language attitudes and ideologies in predicting the survival prospects of a minority language. The author examines this role through a cross-national comparative analysis of Irish in the Republic of Ireland and Galician in the Autonomous Community of Galicia in north-west Spain.

In a unique contribution to understanding the interaction of language policy and planning in modern conflict resolution, Janet Muller provides an insider account of the search for improved status for the Irish language in Northern Ireland from the 1980s.

The first critical ethnography of bilingual education in Japan. Based on fieldwork at five different schools, this examines the role of schools in the unequal distribution of bilingualism as cultural capital. It argues that schooling gives children unequal access to bilingualism thus socializing them into different futures.

Based on a two-year ethnographic fieldwork project in a Traveller Training Centre in the West of Ireland, this book will appeal to students and scholars of sociolinguistics, language in society, language ideology, folk linguistics, minority communities and languages, and cultural and linguistic anthropology.

Profiling a range of different communities and sociolinguistic contexts, this book examines the language ecologies of their local communities, schools and wider society and the approaches taken by these communities to maintain children's home languages.

Based on a two-year ethnographic fieldwork project in a Traveller Training Centre in the West of Ireland, this book will appeal to students and scholars of sociolinguistics, language in society, language ideology, folk linguistics, minority communities and languages, and cultural and linguistic anthropology.

It was traditionally assumed that a single official language was necessary for the wellbeing of the state, particularly in France and Britain. This assumption is now questioned, and regional languages are making, in some cases, an impressive comeback. This book analyses a range of languages' development, decline and efforts at regeneration.

Profiling a range of different communities and sociolinguistic contexts, this book examines the language ecologies of their local communities, schools and wider society and the approaches taken by these communities to maintain children's home languages.

This book explores the linguistic ecology of the Kumaun region of Uttarakhand, India through the experiences and discourses of minority youth and their educators. This volume allows Kumauni women and their educators to take centre stage, and provides a thoughtful and nuanced insight into their minority language environment.

Adopting a post-structuralist approach in analyzing the Euromosaic data about European minority language groups, Glyn Williams argues that different states construct minority language groups and speakers in different ways.

This volume tracks the complex relationships between language, education and nation-building in Southeast Asia, focusing on how language policies have been used by states and governments as instruments of control, assimilation and empowerment. Leading scholars have contributed chapters each representing one of the countries in the region.

Dominance, identity and resistance are key themes in this examination of language in global, virtual and local settings. It focuses on world languages, linguistic rights and minority protection. Case studies explore the social strategies employed by migrants speaking non-indigenous tongues and the effect of religion in sensitive political contexts.

Exploring language rights politics in theoretical, historical and international context, this book brings together debates from law, sociolinguistics, international politics, and the history of ideas. The author argues that international language rights advocacy supports global governance of language and questions freedoms of speech and expression.

Do political boundaries impact on concepts of language? Broad policy issues and the performance of the range of instruments of policy at local, national and European levels are illustrated with reference to case studies across Europe.

Providing an innovative approach to the written displays of minority languages in public space this volume explores minority language situations through the lens of linguistic landscape research. Based on very tangible data it explores the 'same old issues' of language contact and language conflict in new ways.

New speakers are an increasingly important aspect of the revitalization of minority languages since, in some cases, they can make up the majority of the language community in question. This volume examines this phenomenon from the viewpoint of three minority languages: Breton, Yiddish and Lemko.

This volume tracks the complex relationships between language, education and nation-building in Southeast Asia, focusing on how language policies have been used by states and governments as instruments of control, assimilation and empowerment. Leading scholars have contributed chapters each representing one of the countries in the region.

Providing an innovative approach to the written displays of minority languages in public space this volume explores minority language situations through the lens of linguistic landscape research. Based on very tangible data it explores the 'same old issues' of language contact and language conflict in new ways.

A collection of studies offering an up-to-date analysis of official policies to promote Catalan in a democratic framework in each of the main Spanish regions where it is spoken: Catalonia, Valencia and the Balearic Islands.

Do political boundaries impact on concepts of language? Broad policy issues and the performance of the range of instruments of policy at local, national and European levels are illustrated with reference to case studies across Europe.

Dominance, identity and resistance are key themes in this examination of language in global, virtual and local settings. It focuses on world languages, linguistic rights and minority protection. Case studies explore the social strategies employed by migrants speaking non-indigenous tongues and the effect of religion in sensitive political contexts.

Throughout Europe many minority languages, once threatened by ignorance, indifference and intolerance, began to experience some revitalization, but now face new threats from increased integration. This book discusses these issues with vivid, up-to-date examples from the Baltic to the Mediterranean, from Ireland to Turkey.

The book outlines the evolution and role of minority languages locally and nationally; it investigates current educational language policies in minority areas; and it assesses the social and economic outcomes of language change for communities in contemporary China.

The author presents a new approach to the study of language policy, by focusing on language policy formation and implementation as a dynamic, conflict-laden process involving the interaction of various actors with different motivations and uneven bargaining powers, rather than as a product , examinable post hoc from existing language legislation.