1.

Record Nr.

UNINA9910778601703321

Autore

Schmidt Ronald <1943->

Titolo

Language policy and identity politics in the United States [[electronic resource] /] / Ronald Schmidt

Pubbl/distr/stampa

Philadelphia, : Temple University Press, 2000

ISBN

1-4399-0609-2

0-585-38276-X

Descrizione fisica

1 online resource (297 p.)

Collana

Mapping racisms

Disciplina

306.44/973

Soggetti

Language policy - United States

Americanization

Cultural pluralism - United States

Lingua di pubblicazione

Inglese

Formato

Materiale a stampa

Livello bibliografico

Monografia

Note generali

Description based upon print version of record.

Nota di bibliografia

Includes bibliographical references (p. 257-274) and index.

Nota di contenuto

Contents; Acknowledgments; Introduction: A Politics of Language in the United States?; I. The Issues and the Context; 1. Language Policies in Conflict: An Overview; 2. Making Sense of Language Policy Conflict; 3. The Social Foundations of U.S. Language Politics; II. The Arguments; 4. Historical Perspectives on U.S. Identity Politics and Ethnolinguistic Inequality; 5. Language Policy and Equality: The Search for Justice; 6. Language Policy and National Unity: The Search for the Common Good; III. Critique and Reform

7. Flaws at Every Turn: A Critique of Assimilationist, Pluralist, and Confederationist Alternatives8. Pluralistic Integration: Toward Greater Justice and a More Common Good; Notes; References; Index

Sommario/riassunto

Well over thirty million people in the United States speak a primary language other than English. Nearly twenty million of them speak Spanish. And these numbers are growing. Critics of immigration and multiculturalism argue that recent government language policies such as bilingual education, non-English election materials, and social service and workplace ""language rights"" threaten the national character of the United States. Proponents of bilingualism, on the other hand, maintain that, far from being a threat, these language policies and programs provide an opportunity to right old wr