Linguistic nationalism and language revivals

Together with Umberto Ansaldo of the University of Hong Kong, I am investigating the relationships between nationalist movements, national identities and discourses of language revival. We take a critical, comparative approach to such movements, arguing that in some contexts discourses of language revival and threat can underpin a nationalist agenda which is often aimed at promoting one group over others, and is thus in conflict with purported goals of increased social integration and wider distribution of resources. We examine these questions in comparative perspective, including the cases of Kazakhstan,  Mongolia, Hong Kong, Sri Lanka, and Catalonia. The results of this research are forthcoming as a monograph with Routledge.