Bilingualism and the Nation-State In the Post-National Era

Abstract

Languages have always played a central role in the construction of modern national identities through the one language / one culture / one nation paradigm. Nation-states have always felt the need to create and protect a national speech community as a social base and to ensure that the national language effectively constituted and occupied the public space. But nowadays this monolingual and monocultural agenda is increasingly difficult to carry through. Public spaces (the media, politics, education, the workplace, tourist sites) are becoming increasingly globalized and hence multilingual. International organizations such as the European Union (EU), the European Council or UNESCO are also producing their own discourses on language, which means that nation-states no longer have the political monopoly over their cultural policies (see Muehlmann and Duchêne, this volume). Immigration is fostering cultural diversity and indigenous linguistic minorities keep striving for recognition (see Moyer and Martín Rojo, this volume, and Patrick, this volume). The authority of the state is further undermined by neoliberal policies. The privatization of public industries and services, together with trends towards deregulation, effectively erode the influence of state administrations over public and economic matters (Castells 1997, 1998).