The Handbook of language and ethnic identity is a critical multidisciplinary approach to the study of the interplay and relationship among language, ethnic/national identity, and nation-building, as defined by regional, sociopolitical, and historical circumstances. This relationship is “complexly attitudinal,” “perspectival,” dialogic, and context-dependent. Besides, language and identity are mutually constitutive in that social identities are mediated by discursive practices that are enmeshed in social relations of domination and subordination. In other words, language is a site for identity assertion, empowerment, solidarity, or ideology contestation and inter-group negotiation of power relations (Ofelia Garcia, this volume, pp. 520–23).
Most language policies in the colonial period systematically excluded, stigmatized, and punished the use of indigenous languages at school. For example, in North America and Australia, linguistic biodiversity has been endangered by English-only assimilationist policies. Such “linguistic genocide” (Tove Skutnabb-Kangas) has led to the systematic marginalization of the Aboriginal people and the reproduction of an unequal division of symbolic and political power among coexisting social groups. These policies of containment and linguistic repression had (and are still having) detrimental effects on the psychological and educational growth of Aboriginal and minority/immigrant children in our late modern societies. They have both provoked a sense of exclusion and given birth to ethnic and national consciousness that challenges the dominance of the post-colonial masters today. For example, aboriginal youth in the United States view English as a tool of alienation and cultural conquest. Native languages, thus, remain the only marker of indigenous identity while English is viewed as a mere instrument for social mobility and professional success (Terrence G. Wiley, p. 329).
Moreover, language has always played a significant role in the struggle for national or political independence. Social movements for mother tongue revitalization have taken many forms in postcolonial societies. For example, the Basque and the Catalonians have appealed to language and ethnic identity to mobilize for the creation of their own separate states within Spain. Similarly, the Arabization policy in the Arab world has marked a significant step in the direction of cultural/political independence. More interestingly, the growing language-rights movement has paved the way for robust legislation to promote minority languages in Europe (Breton, Basque, Catalan, Sámi, etc.). Immigrant languages, however, are merely tolerated and are sometimes appreciated as potential economic assets. Their teaching is mainly relegated to after-school programs (Ulrich Ammon, p. 215). Similarly, the creation of the Royal Institute of Amazigh Culture and the introduction of Tamazight (Berber) in primary education is a positive step towards the officialization of Tamazight in Morocco (Moha Ennaji, p. 419).
In conclusion, it is argued that in-group solidarity may also relate to social rather than linguistic bonds. In today's multilingual, multiethnic societies, linguistic practices are characteristically heteroglossic and multimodal. In our globalizing world, emerging transnational identities give birth to new subjectivities, new social and discursive practices, and new ways of “performing” one's many identities. In this sense, our postmodern identities are hybrid, pluralistic, fractured, and imagined.
