The Palgrave Handbook of Minority Languages and Communities

1. Front Matter

   Pages i-xxi

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2. Introduction: Minority Languages and Communities in a Changing World

   • Gabrielle Hogan-Brun, Bernadette O’Rourke

   Pages 1-18

3. Minority Language Rights, Protection, Governance

   1. Front Matter

      Pages 19-19

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   2. Minority Language Rights and Standards: Definitions and Applications at the Supranational Level

      • Fernand de Varennes, Elżbieta Kuzborska

      Pages 21-72

   3. Minority Language Rights in the Russian Federation: The End of a Long Tradition?

      • Bill Bowring

      Pages 73-99

   4. Minority Language Governance and Regulation

      • Colin H. Williams, John Walsh

      Pages 101-129

4. Recognition, Self-Determination, Autonomy

   1. Front Matter

      Pages 131-131

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   2. The Recognition of Ethnic and Language Diversity in Nation-States and Consociations

      • Christian Giordano

      Pages 133-158

   3. Linguistic Recognition in Deeply Divided Societies: Antagonism or Reconciliation?

      • Philip McDermott, Máiréad Nic Craith

      Pages 159-179

   4. National Cultural Autonomy and Linguistic Rights in Central and Eastern Europe

      • Federica Prina, David J. Smith, Judit Molnar Sansum

      Pages 181-205

   5. Sign Language Communities

      • Maartje De Meulder, Verena Krausneker, Graham Turner, John Bosco Conama

      Pages 207-232

5. Migration, Settlement, Mobility

   1. Front Matter

      Pages 233-233

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   2. Changing Perspectives on Language Maintenance and Shift in Transnational Settings: From Settlement to Mobility

      • Anne Pauwels

      Pages 235-256

   3. Arctic Languages in Canada in the Age of Globalization

      • Donna Patrick

      Pages 257-284

6. Economics, Markets, Commodification

   1. Front Matter

      Pages 285-285

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   2. Minority Languages and Markets

      • Sari Pietikäinen, Helen Kelly-Holmes, Maria Rieder

      Pages 287-310

   3. Language Economics and Issues of Planning for Minority Languages in Africa

      • Nkonko M. Kamwangamalu

      Pages 311-331

   4. Language Minorities in a Globalized Economy: The Case of Professional Translation in Canada

      • Matthieu LeBlanc

      Pages 333-354

7. Education, Literacy, Access

   1. Front Matter

      Pages 355-355

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   2. Indigenous Children’s Language Practices in Australia

      • Samantha Disbray, Gillian Wigglesworth

      Pages 357-381

This Handbook is an in-depth appraisal of the field of minority languages and communities today. It presents a wide-ranging, coherent picture of the main topics, with key contributions from international specialists in sociolinguistics, policy studies, sociology, anthropology and law. Individual chapters are grouped together in themes, covering regional, non-territorial and migratory language settings across the world. It is the essential reference work for specialist researchers, scholars in ancillary disciplines, research and coursework students, public agencies and anyone interested in language diversity, multilingualism and migration.

• language diversity
• Applied linguistics
• transnationalism
• globalization
• Mobility
• Anthropology
• ethnolinguistics
• Minority Communities
• Minority Contact Languages
• language rights
• language ecologies
• language attitudes
• language endangerment
• language shift
• resilience thinking
• language revitalization
• Language Maintenance
• Language Economics
• multilinugal education
• Language Commissioners

“This is a serious collection that makes a very substantial and welcome contribution to the large literature on minority languages. I would imagine that it is more likely to find a place on the shelves of libraries than those of individual readers …” (Gibson Ferguson, Journal of Multilingual and Multicultural Development, June 23, 2019) “This Handbook is, quite simply, a tour de force. Offering far greater breadth, depth and analytical heft than ever before, the handbook extends the fields of minority language studies and multilingualism conceptually, disciplinarily, geographically, and pragmatically. It is sure to be a key reference for years to come.” (Stephen May, University of Auckland, New Zealand)

“This truly informative and expert Handbook offers detailed accounts of the history and contemporary context of minority language communities on every continent. The overall effect is a stunning testament to the resilience of minority language policy actors and community identities in the face of migration, mobility and globalizing forces in every corner of our world.” (Nancy H. Hornberger, University of Pennsylvania, USA)

“This is an outstanding collection of perspectives, analyses and views of the dynamic role of minority languages in the public life of communities all across the world.  The Handbook makes a signal contribution to practical understanding and intervention in legal, educational and policy fields. Expertly edited to produce coherence of focus and consistency of treatment, the Handbook as a whole and its individual chapters provide excellent coverage of a diverse range of settings across the world. It is clear from reading the volume that our ‘science’ of multilingual studies has been premised on too few cases, too few histories, and too narrow a range of experience. The Handbook is a consolidated resource that rewards regular reading and deep study.” (Joseph Lo Bianco, University of Melbourne, Australia)

• School of Education, University of Bristol, Bristol, UK

  Gabrielle Hogan-Brun

• Department of Languages and Intercultural Studies, Heriot-Watt University, Edinburgh, Scotland, UK

  Bernadette O’Rourke

Gabrielle Hogan-Brun is Senior Research Fellow at the University of Bristol, UK. She is founding editor of the book series Palgrave Studies in Minority Languages and Communities, and has published widely on language policy and practices in multilingual settings. Her most recent book is Linguanomics: What is the Market Potential of Multilingualism? (2017). A Salzburg Global Fellow, she has worked with various European organizations on aspects of language policy and economics. 


Bernadette O’Rourke is Professor of Sociolinguistics at Heriot-Watt University, UK. She has published work on the dynamics of multilingual societies, language policy and minority language communities. She holds a Fellowship at the Smithsonian Center for Folklife and Cultural Heritage and is currently exploring grassroots revitalization efforts in Galicia as part of its interdisciplinary research programme on Sustaining Minoritized Languages in Europe (SMiLE).

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