Companion volume to Language in Geographic Context, this book reflects the growing interest of geographers in language. It presents recent findings in geolinguistics, discussing the opportunities and conflicts faced by linguistic minorities in their attempts to influence the structure of the modern state in Europe and North America. It explores the relationship between territorial identity, social change and economic development in multilingual societies.

This blends discussion of the role of language minorities in politics with examples of language policy in a range of national contexts. It discusses minority rights and language protection, the policies of the state in privileging powerful majorities, the opportunities and challenges of both devolution and globalization.

The intensification of contacts between cultures and languages has a major impact on all social spheres today. Multiculturalism and multilingualism are important elements of the local, regional, national and global community. Much of the world’s conflict stems from the contrast between globalization and nationalism, fuelled by religions, racial divisions, traditions and other cultural particularities. Focusing mainly on the situation in Central and South-eastern Europe, this book addresses how cultural identities develop through tourism, education, literature and other social fields, and how language and literature teaching should be planned in this context. It consists of the following sections: Language, Culture and Tourism; Interculturalism, Multilingualism and Approaches to Language Learning; and Culture in Literature and Translation. The volume will be of interest to teachers and researchers of cultural and tourism studies, linguistics and language learning, literary studies and translation, while also addressing wider readers interested in contemporary intercultural society.

Since the 1960s, policies to 'revive' minority cultures and languages have flourished. But what does it mean to have a 'cultural identity'? And are minorities as deeply attached to their languages and traditions as revival policies suppose? This book is a sophisticated analysis of responses to the 'Gaelic renaissance' in a Scottish Hebridean community. Its description of everyday conceptions of belonging and interpretations of cultural policy takes us into the world of Gaelic playgroups, crofting, local history, religion and community development. Historically and theoretically informed, this book challenges many of the ways in which we conventionally think about ethnic and national identity. This accessible and engaging account of life in this remote region of Europe provides an original and timely contribution to questions of considerable currency in a broad range of social science disciplines.

This is an analysis of the promises and contradictions surrounding contemporary minority language policy. It draws on theoretical and real-world perspectives and interviews with key players within European institutions together with field work undertaken principally in Ireland, Scotland, Wales, the Basque Country, Catalonia and Canada.

Nowadays political territoriality is profoundly put to the test by globalization, the rise of the network-society, international migration and new types of risk that state governments find hard to control. Yet, new political configurations do not invalidate the relevance of territory and territorial identity right away. Moreover, people who want to escape or forget foreign dominace still reach for the traditionally sovereign state (Eastern Europe, Asia). In this book an international group of political geographers analyse the meaning of post-modern transfromation in territoriality at different geographical scales: global, (inter) national and local. They cover such varied topics as the probability of a clash between civilizations, the rise of World-cities, the disintegration of African States, ethnic conflicts and politics in Europe, the meaning of a supranational territorial order (European Union), the end of the welfare state, nation-building and its symbols, Israeli cultural politics, urban regimes and local conflict-defense mechanisms. The perspectives put forward, match more general theoretical geography and political science and involve case studies from different parts of the World. This important new study is of immediate interest to students of all levels of politcial science, sociology, social geography, administrative science, international relations, contermpoary history, and to policy makers and politicians.

The central concern in this book is the relationship between language and group identity, a relationship that is thrown into greatest relief in minority settings. Since much of the current interest in minority languages revolves around issues of identity politics, language rights and the plight of endangered languages, one aim of the book is to summarise and analyse these and other pivotal themes. Furthermore, since the uniqueness of every language-contact situation does not rest upon unique elements or features but, rather, upon the particular weightings and combinations of features that recur across settings the second aim here is to provide a general descriptive framework within which a wide range of contact settings may be more easily understood. The book thus begins with a discussion of such matters as language decline, maintenance and revival, the dynamics of minority languages, and the ecology of language. It then offers a typological framework that draws and expands upon previous categorising efforts. Finally, the book presents four case studies that are both intrinsically interesting and more importantly provide specific illustrations of the generalities discussed earlier."

This book brings together an interdisciplinary group of academic researchers in order to examine how and to what extent the challenge of language revitalisation should be reassessed and reconceptualised to take account of our fast-changing social context. The period of four decades between 1980 and 2020 that straddled the end of the twentieth century and the beginning of the twenty-first is widely regarded as one that witnessed a series of fundamental social, economic and political transformations. Many societies have become increasingly individualistic, mobile and diverse in terms of ethnicity and identity; their economies have become increasingly interconnected; and their governance structures have become increasingly complex, incorporating a growing number of different levels and actors. In addition, rapid advancements with regard to automated, digital and communication technology have had a far-reaching impact on how people interact with each other and participate in society. The chapters in this book aim to advance an agenda of key questions that should concern those working in the field of language revitalisation over the coming years, and the volume will be of interest to students, scholars and policy-makers in related areas including sociolinguistics, education, sociology, geography, political science, law, economics, Celtic studies, and communication technology.

An excellent examination of how the collapse of the Soviet Union and the impact of globalization have brought about changes not only to the territorial configuration sovereignty of states and their boundaries, but also to traditional notions of state, boundaries, sovereignty and social order These essays focus on the key regional and geopolitical characteristics of this global reordering, with an emphasis on Eastern Europe and South Asia. They discuss the territorial reordering which is taking place at the level of the state as boundaries are redemarcated in line with ethno-territoral demands; as borders are transversed by the movement of peoples, information and finance; and as the lines of territorial demarcation are perceived not only in terms of their fixed characteristics but as part of a process through which regional and ethnic identities continue to be formed and reformed. Each section ends with articles which focus on literature on geopolitics and boundaries. This is an invaluable addition to our understanding of contemporary world affairs.