Language, Ethnicity and the State, Volume 1: Minority Languages In The European Union

by Camille C. O'Reilly (Editor)

Developments in the European Union over the last decade have been largely positive from the perspective of stateless and minority ethnic groups and the survival and prosperity of minority languages. This selection of sociologically and ethnographically oriented work enables the reader to compare developments in different ethno-linguistic revival movements within the European Union. The contributions also explore the impact of EU policy and discourse on the individual movements and the orientation of Western Europe as a whole towards linguistic heterogeneity and cultural diversity. A companion volume (0-333-92924-1) examines the status of minority languages in post-1989 Eastern Europe.

Genres: Nonfiction

193 pages, Hardcover

First published September 5, 2001

Reviews

[Thaís Alberti · Rating 1 out of 5]

Such an interesting subject, such a tedious book! It reads like a thesis, has citations very few lines. It is superficial and repetitive at the same time.
Don't bother reading this and just search on Quora your curiosities about the subject.

Here, I'll save you the read: Language plays an important role in national identity (ethnicity), thus, it has been used to legitimise nationalist movements (states). A minority language (Corsican, Catalan, Bretton, Irish, Italian dialects) was oppressed by dominant/conquering language and over some generations has lost speakers, needing incentive policies to survive. There is a dilemma between encouraging heritage vs actually utility of the language. Globalization/mass migration/internet/and English as main international language are changing languages throughout the world, we need to wait and see what happens.