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Brexit, Language Policy and Linguistic Diversity

  • Book
  • © 2018

Overview

Authors:
  1. Diarmait Mac Giolla Chríost

    1. School of Welsh, Cardiff University, Cardiff, United Kingdom

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  2. Matteo Bonotti

    1. School of Social Sciences, Monash University, Clayton, Australia

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  • Systematically analyses the potential implications of Brexit for the language policy of the EU and the UK
  • Explores constitutional, statutory and socio-legal consequences for the minority languages of the UK
  • Considers how Brexit may impact language learning provision in primary and secondary education

Part of the book series: Palgrave Studies in European Union Politics (PSEUP)

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Table of contents (3 chapters)

  1. Front Matter

    Pages i-ix
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  2. An Empirical Overview of the Constitutional, Legal, and Public Policy Status of the Languages of the UK and the EU

    • Diarmait Mac Giolla Chríost, Matteo Bonotti
    Pages 1-26

  3. Brexit and the Autochthonous Languages of the UK

    • Diarmait Mac Giolla Chríost, Matteo Bonotti
    Pages 27-51

  4. Brexit and English as a Lingua Franca in the European Union

    • Diarmait Mac Giolla Chríost, Matteo Bonotti
    Pages 53-78

  5. Back Matter

    Pages 79-84
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Keywords

About this book

This book argues that Brexit will wholly re-shape the legal framework and public policy norms relating to linguistic diversity that have dominated public life in the UK and the EU since the Treaty on European Union in 1993. First, Brexit de-anchors the linguistic actors engaged with sub-state nationalisms in the UK (in Northern Ireland, Wales and Scotland) from the ethno-linguistic imaginary of the so-called ‘Europe of the regions’. This strengthens the case both for the de jure recognition of English as the official language of the UK and for embedding autochthonous minority language rights and freedoms in a transformed UK constitution. Second, Brexit strengthens the normative case for English as the lingua franca of the EU, by reducing the injustices associated with the rise of English as the EU and global lingua franca. The book will appeal to students and scholars across the fields of political science, political theory, law, language policy and planning, and sociolinguistics.

Reviews

“Among the many important implications of Brexit, its impacts on the language policy of the United Kingdom (UK) and the European Union (EU) have hardly been discussed. Mac Giolla Chriost/Bonotti fill this gap with a compact book consisting of three well-structured chapters. … the authors deserve credit for introducing the implications of Brexit for language policy into the discussion and making an important contribution to it, both for the language policy in the UK and in the EU.”(Manfred Herbert, ZaöRV - Zeitschrift für ausländisches öffentliches Recht und Völkerrecht, Vol. 81 (4), 2021)

“The book complements the emerging literature on the role of English in European Union. The book is still timely after the January 2020 Brexit withdrawal agreement. It also serves as a reminder that even if Brexit appears nation centrist, it also has supranational impacts. … there is a lot of room for co-operation between political scientists, political economists and applied linguists.” (Taina Saarinen, Language Policy, Vol. 20, 2021)

“Mac Giolla Chríost and Bonotti’s timely book on the possible effects on linguistic diversity of the UK’s departure from the EU is a valuable and succinct contribution to the language policy and planning literature. … Ultimately this book is a thought-provoking, timely and carefully argued analysis of the various ways in which Brexit is likely to impact on language policy in the UK and EU now that Britain has left the bloc.” (Stuart S. Dunmore, Language Problems and Language Planning, Vol. 44 (1), 2020)

“This volume constitutes a welcome addition to the literature on the status of UK languages and autochthonous language rights, and offers a discussion of Brexit-induced future policy changes.” (Ursula Lanvers, JCMS Journal of Common Market Studies, February 18, 2020)


“This book is informative, provocative, and a must for anyone following the politics of Brexit as it pertains to language issues, both within the EU, as well as domestically in the United Kingdom. A fascinating exposé of some of the shortcomings of the Brexit decision.” (Dr Marko Modiano, University of Gävle, Sweden)

Authors and Affiliations

  • School of Welsh, Cardiff University, Cardiff, United Kingdom

    Diarmait Mac Giolla Chríost

  • School of Social Sciences, Monash University, Clayton, Australia

    Matteo Bonotti

About the authors

Diarmait Mac Giolla Chríost is Professor in the School of Welsh, Cardiff University, UK. His research has informed the development of law and public policy in several jurisdictions. In 2016 he was visiting scholar at the Centre for Socio-Legal Studies at the University of Oxford.

Matteo Bonotti is Lecturer in the Department of Politics and International Relations at Monash University, Australia, having previously taught at Cardiff University, Queen’s University Belfast, and the University of Edinburgh. His work has appeared in such journals as the American Political Science Review, the European Journal of Political Theory, Philosophy & Social Criticism, the Critical Review of International Social and Political Philosophy and the Journal of  Social Philosophy. His monograph Partisanship and Political Liberalism in Diverse Societies was published in 2017.

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