The Politics of Language: Conflict, Identity, and Cultural Pluralism in Comparative Perspective

Contents......Page 10
1 Introduction: The Politics of Language, National Identity, and Cultural Pluralism in the United States......Page 14
American Factors Contributing to Language-Based Conflict......Page 15
National Identity, Language, and Nationalism......Page 20
Organization of the Book......Page 22
Views of the Founding Fathers......Page 25
Attempts to Standardize the American English Language......Page 29
The Early Bilingual Tradition......Page 30
Forced Language Assimilation: The Color of Language Politics......Page 33
Summary......Page 41
3 Immigrant Exclusion and Language Restriction in the Twentieth Century......Page 43
High Levels of Immigration and the Heating up of the Melting Pot......Page 44
Language and Racial Restriction and the Ideology of Exclusion......Page 45
Language Acquisition and Racial Inferiority......Page 48
The Rise of U.S. English:Myths and Facts about English-Language Proficiency among U.S. Immigrants and Their Children......Page 55
New Era Immigration: New Cracks in the Melting Pot......Page 60
Summary: Economic and Cultural Factors Contributing to Immigrant Exclusion and Language Restriction......Page 65
4 Language Rights and the Legal Status of English-Only Laws......Page 68
Language Rights and the U.S. Constitution......Page 69
Application of the Equal Protection Clause and Language Rights......Page 70
Protection of Language Rights under the First Amendment......Page 72
Narrow versus Broad Interpretation of National Origin......Page 76
Major Federal Protection for Language Minorities......Page 79
Summary......Page 84
5 Attitudes toward Language, National Identity, and Cultural Pluralism......Page 86
Enactments and Attitudes toward Making English the Offcial Language......Page 87
Public Opinion and Attitudes toward Immigration......Page 90
Support for the American Creed among African Americans, Hispanics, and Whites......Page 93
Latino Citizen and Noncitizen Attitudes toward Language, Immigration, and Social Issues......Page 103
Summary: National Identity and the Ambivalent Role of Language and Immigrants......Page 109
6 Language and Identity Politics in Canada......Page 112
An Overview of Language History in Canada......Page 113
Individual and Group Rights in Canada and the United States......Page 124
Attitudes toward Identity, Diversity, and Multilingualism......Page 128
Summary: Language Politics in Canada and the United States......Page 131
7 Identity and Social Incorporation in Multilingual Switzerland......Page 134
Overview of Language History and Demography in Switzerland......Page 135
Attitudes toward Identity, Diversity, and Multilingualism......Page 143
Demographic, Political, and Institutional Factors Promoting Social Integration......Page 148
Summary......Page 153
8 The Politics of Language in the Late Twentieth Century......Page 155
Ebonics: An Impoverished Dialect?......Page 156
Can Switzerland Provide an Example?......Page 159
Avoiding an American Quebec: Language Issues Concerning Puerto Rican Statehood......Page 161
Proposition 227: Californians Reject Bilingual Education......Page 170
Summary......Page 177
Our Imagined Monolingual History......Page 179
Late-Twentieth-Century Nativism: Race, Class, and Non-English Languages......Page 182
California’s Experience, America’s Future?......Page 183
The Case of Puerto Rico Revisited......Page 186
Language Minorities and the Future......Page 188
Notes......Page 190
Bibliography......Page 200
A......Page 220
C......Page 221
E......Page 222
H......Page 223
K......Page 224
L......Page 225
N......Page 226
R......Page 227
T......Page 228
Z......Page 229