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Standardizing Diversity : The Political Economy of Language Regimes / Amy H. Liu.

By: Material type: TextTextSeries: National and Ethnic Conflict in the 21st CenturyPublisher: Philadelphia : University of Pennsylvania Press, [2015]Copyright date: ©2015Description: 1 online resource (264 p.) : 22 illusContent type:
Media type:
Carrier type:
ISBN:
  • 9780812246728
  • 9780812292107
Subject(s): DDC classification:
  • 306.44/9598
LOC classification:
  • P119.32.S64 .L583 2015
Other classification:
  • online - DeGruyter
Online resources: Available additional physical forms:
  • Issued also in print.
Contents:
Frontmatter -- Contents -- Note About Interviews -- Part I: Toward a Typology of Language Regimes -- Chapter 1. Introduction -- Chapter 2. Typology of Language Regimes -- Part II: Language Regime Choice -- Chapter 3. Language Regime Choice: Theory -- Chapter 4. Language Regime Choice: Evidence -- Part III: Economic Effects of Language Regimes -- Chapter 5. Economic Effects of Language Regimes: Theory -- Chapter 6. Mechanism 1: Social Capital -- Chapter 7. Mechanism 2: Foreign Capital -- Chapter 8. Conclusion: Standardizing Diversity -- Notes -- References -- Index -- Acknowledgments
Summary: Languages have deep political significance beyond communication: a common language can strengthen cultural bonds and social trust, or it may exacerbate cultural differences and power imbalances. Language regimes that emerge from political bargains can centralize power by favoring the language of one ethnolinguistic group, share power by recognizing multiple mother tongues, or neutralize power through the use of a lingua franca. Cultural egoism, communicative efficiency, or collective equality determines the choice. As Amy H. Liu demonstrates, the conditions surrounding the choice of a language regime also have a number of implications for a nation's economy.Standardizing Diversity examines the relationship between the distribution of linguistic power and economic growth. Using a newly assembled dataset of all language-in-education policies in Asia from 1945 to 2005 and drawing on fieldwork data from Malaysia and Singapore, Liu shows language regimes that recognize a lingua franca exclusively-or at least above all others-tend to develop social trust, attract foreign investment, and stimulate economic growth. Particularly at high levels of heterogeneity, the recognition of a lingua franca fosters equality and facilitates efficiency. Her findings challenge the prevailing belief that linguistic diversity inhibits economic growth, suggesting instead that governments in even the most ethnically heterogeneous countries have institutional tools to standardize their diversity and to thrive economically.
Holdings
Item type Current library Call number URL Status Notes Barcode
eBook eBook Biblioteca "Angelicum" Pont. Univ. S.Tommaso d'Aquino Nuvola online online - DeGruyter (Browse shelf(Opens below)) Online access Not for loan (Accesso limitato) Accesso per gli utenti autorizzati / Access for authorized users (dgr)9780812292107

Frontmatter -- Contents -- Note About Interviews -- Part I: Toward a Typology of Language Regimes -- Chapter 1. Introduction -- Chapter 2. Typology of Language Regimes -- Part II: Language Regime Choice -- Chapter 3. Language Regime Choice: Theory -- Chapter 4. Language Regime Choice: Evidence -- Part III: Economic Effects of Language Regimes -- Chapter 5. Economic Effects of Language Regimes: Theory -- Chapter 6. Mechanism 1: Social Capital -- Chapter 7. Mechanism 2: Foreign Capital -- Chapter 8. Conclusion: Standardizing Diversity -- Notes -- References -- Index -- Acknowledgments

restricted access online access with authorization star

http://purl.org/coar/access_right/c_16ec

Languages have deep political significance beyond communication: a common language can strengthen cultural bonds and social trust, or it may exacerbate cultural differences and power imbalances. Language regimes that emerge from political bargains can centralize power by favoring the language of one ethnolinguistic group, share power by recognizing multiple mother tongues, or neutralize power through the use of a lingua franca. Cultural egoism, communicative efficiency, or collective equality determines the choice. As Amy H. Liu demonstrates, the conditions surrounding the choice of a language regime also have a number of implications for a nation's economy.Standardizing Diversity examines the relationship between the distribution of linguistic power and economic growth. Using a newly assembled dataset of all language-in-education policies in Asia from 1945 to 2005 and drawing on fieldwork data from Malaysia and Singapore, Liu shows language regimes that recognize a lingua franca exclusively-or at least above all others-tend to develop social trust, attract foreign investment, and stimulate economic growth. Particularly at high levels of heterogeneity, the recognition of a lingua franca fosters equality and facilitates efficiency. Her findings challenge the prevailing belief that linguistic diversity inhibits economic growth, suggesting instead that governments in even the most ethnically heterogeneous countries have institutional tools to standardize their diversity and to thrive economically.

Issued also in print.

Mode of access: Internet via World Wide Web.

In English.

Description based on online resource; title from PDF title page (publisher's Web site, viewed 30. Aug 2021)