Globalization, language(s), and mobility

Abstract

In this chapter I explore the relationship between globalization, localization, and language(s). In particular, I examine the often-made association in discussions of globalization between languages of wider communication (i.e., English as the current lingua mundi, or world language), cosmopolitan, transnational identities, and social mobility. Such discussions almost always presuppose the demise of the nation-state model of language policy (see Heller 2008, 2011)—as well past its sell-by date, in effect—and also often involve a specific rejection of language rights for minoritized languages (see Wee 2010). The latter is based on the perception that such rights unhelpfully reinforce essentialist, fixed understandings of language, place, and identity and because they are also seen as perpetuating or solidifying a disconnect between minority language speakers and the wider world.