Community and Communication: The Role of Language in Nation State Building and European Integration (Multilingual Matters (Series), 114.)

This book considers the issue of language in the European Union. Without a community of communication, the EU must remain a trading association run in an autocratic way by bilingual patrician technocrats; with a community of communication, the European Union could develop democratic structures and legitimacy and give meaning to its policies of free movement. How to achieve that community of communication is the biggest challenge facing Europe today. Introduction: The Themes Of The Book 1 -- Theories Of Nationalism And The Role Of Language -- Nationalists And Linguistic Nationalism -- Modernists, Industrialisation And Democracy -- Post-modernists And The Invention Of Tradition -- Role Of Language In Nation State Formation -- Three European Models: Assimilation, Blood And Belonging And Fragmentation -- Language As A Key Organising Principle Of Nationalism -- Contending Schools In The Debate -- Linguistic Realities Of Multilingual States -- Weakening Of The Concept Of Sovereignty -- Globalisation And Internationalisation In The Legal, Political, Economic And Cultural Domains -- Growing Role Of English As The Medium Of These Phenomena -- Growth Of The European Community -- Theories Of Integration -- Role Of Language -- Theories Of Democracy: Participatory And Liberal Representative Democracy -- Essential Role Of Language In Democracy -- Democratic Deficit In The Eu And The Need To Develop New Practices For A Multilingual Polity -- Managing Plurilingualism In The Institutions Of The Eu -- New And Smaller Polities -- Europe Of The Regions -- Support For The Lesser-used Languages Of Europe -- Chapter 9 Language In The Domains Of Defence, Education And Research Networks 194. Sue Wright. Includes Bibliographical References (p. 255-274) And Index.