Category Books

Minority Languages In Europe »

Authors: Gabrielle Hogan-Brun (Editor), Stefan Wolff
ISBN-13: 9781403903969, ISBN-10: 1403903964
Format: Hardcover
Publisher: Palgrave Macmillan
Date Published: March 2004
Edition: (Non-applicable)

Author Biography: Gabrielle Hogan-Brun

Gabrielle Hogan-Brun is a Research Fellow in Language Studies, University of Bristol.

Stefan Wolff is a Lecturer in the Department of European Studies, University of Bath.

Book Synopsis

Minority languages in Europe, as part of a common cultural heritage, need protection. The contributions to this book reflect urgent, stimulating and productive debates among researchers in sociolinguistics, linguistic anthropology, politics and sociology, and among language activists and policy makers. At the heart of the debate are the effectiveness of the existing political and legal frameworks aimed at protecting linguistic and cultural diversity, and prospects for the survival of minority languages in the process of European integration.

	List of Tables and Figures
	Preface
	Acknowledgements
	Notes on Contributors
1	Minority Languages in Europe: An Introduction to the Current Debate	3
2	When a Language is 'Just Symbolic': Reconsidering the Significance of Language to the Politics of Identity	16
3	Devising an Adequate System of Minority Protection in the Area of Language Rights	37
4	Facilitating or Generating Linguistic Diversity: The European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages	56
5	The Practitioner's Perspective: Minority Languages and Linguistic Minorities in the Work of the OSCE High Commissioner on National Minorities	73
6	Ethnic Germans as a Language Minority in Central and Eastern Europe: Legislative and Policy Frameworks in Poland, Hungary and Romania	99
7	Baltic National Minorities in a Transitional Setting	120
8	Politics and Language Rights: A Case Study of Language Politics in Croatia	138
9	'Minor' Needs or The Ambiguous Power of Translation	155
10	On Policies and Prospects for British Sign Language	173
11	The Changing Status of Romani in Europe	192
12	Language, Nationalism and Democracy in Europe	211
	Index	233