Excellent textbooks are hard to find, and with An Introduction to language policy: Theory and method, Thomas Ricento delivers one for language policy and planning (LPP). Ricento has assembled an extraordinary collection of carefully crafted introductory essays on core issues in LPP. Each contribution is written by the leading researcher(s) in a given area. In all, the book includes 19 chapters divided into three sections, each with an overview by Ricento: “Theoretical perspectives in language policy,” “Methodological perspectives in language policy,” and “Topical areas in language policy.”

Part 1 introduces the major conceptual underpinnings in language policy. In chap. 1 (“Language policy: Theory and practice – an introduction”) Ricento offers an insightful bird's-eye view of language policy, from its historical roots to its present nature as a critical interdisciplinary field of inquiry. Next, Nancy H. Hornberger (“Frameworks and models in language policy and planning”) demystifies the often muddy and complex dimensions of LPP through her integrative framework that serves to clarify relationships among policy and planning types, approaches, and goals. Then James W. Tollefson (“Critical theory in language policy”) describes critical approaches to LPP that eschew an apolitical stance and focus on “the role of language policies in social, political, and economic inequality, with the aim of developing policies that reduce various forms of inequality” (43). In a chapter that nicely complements Tollefson's, Alastair Pennycook (“Postmodernism in language policy”) extols the benefits of problematizing the received knowledge of the field, even calling into question whether languages themselves have “ontological status” (67). Turning to two fields that are gaining prominence in language policy, François Grin (“Economic considerations in language policy”) notes the contributions of economic theory to understanding language choices and effectively evaluating policies, while Ronald Schmidt, Sr. (“Political theory and language policy”) illustrates the value of political theory for language policy with two case studies of the United States: identity politics in the English-only movement and conflicts over equality and multilingualism. In the last chapter of the section, Harold Schiffman (“Language policy and linguistic culture”) guides LPP researchers to look beyond de jure policies to the ways in which culturally situated “ideas, values, beliefs, attitudes, prejudices, myths, religious strictures,” and so on (112) shape societal language use as well as the formation of policies designed to influence it.

Part 2 is a survey of methodological approaches for investigating language policy. First, Terrence G. Wiley (“The lessons of historical investigation: implications for the study of language policy and planning”) elucidates modernist and postmodernist perspectives on historical inquiry and calls upon LPP researchers, especially when working in postcolonial contexts, to consider carefully local ways of constructing the knowledge of the past that informs the present. Suresh Canagarajah (“Ethnographic methods in language policy”), reviewing a number of major studies, goes on to demonstrate how the “first-hand, naturalistic, well-contextualized, hypothesis-generating, emic orientation” (155) that characterizes ethnographic methodology serves to illuminate all dimensions of LPP and their impact on individuals and communities. Ruth Wodak (“Linguistic analyses in language policies”), who presents critical discourse analysis as a tool for studying LPP, shows that there is much to be gleaned from examining not just policy documents and political discourse but also the complex ways in which individuals frame language policy issues in social interaction. Don Cartwright (“Geolinguistic analysis in language policy”) follows with two case studies, Welsh in the United Kingdom and Flemish in Belgium, that illustrate how research in human geography, with its focus on “the relative practical importance, usefulness, and availability of different languages from economic, psychological, political, and cultural perspectives” (196), reveals nuances in ethnolinguistic conflicts and how they are managed through LPP. Colin Baker (“Psycho-sociological analysis in language policy”) concludes the section with a review of constructs from psychological and sociological traditions that have emerged as central to LPP research, specifically language attitudes, ethnolinguistic vitality, language use, and language testing, and provides a critical discussion of concomitant data gathering techniques.

Part 3 rounds out the volume with the major themes that have emerged from language policy research. Jan Blommaert (“Language policy and national identity”) begins by explaining the role of language and language ideology in processes of nationalism and nation building, offering postcolonial Tanzania as a case in point. A trio of complementary chapters then addresses linguistic rights and opportunities in LPP. Stephen May (“Language policy and minority rights”) discusses the relatively recent focus on minority language protection, which is increasingly taking center stage in research and advocacy agendas as prospects for remedying linguistic inequities continue to emerge as language rights gain increasing political prominence. Tove Skutnabb-Kangas (“Language policy and linguistic human rights”) treats the linguistic rights that “are necessary to fulfill people's basic needs and for them to live a dignified life, and … therefore are so basic, so fundamental, that no state (or individual or group) is supposed to violate them” (273), explaining how they are (or are not) reflected in a variety of key international legal instruments. Christina Bratt Paulston and Kai Heidemann (“Language policies and the education of linguistic minorities”) concentrate specifically on education, pointing out that the disparities linguistic minority students experience must be understood in light of “a framework of comparative ethnic relations that attempts to account for the socio-historical, cultural, and economic-political factors” (295) that condition their educational opportunities. Joshua A. Fishman (“Language policy and language shift”) subsequently describes the intended and unintended consequences of language planning, noting that the impact of both explicit policies and “no-policy policies” on sociopolitical relationships among languages must be carefully considered. Timothy Reagan (“Language policy and sign languages”) turns to the hitherto under-researched, though gradually developing, area of sign languages with respect to LPP. In the final chapter of the volume, Robert Phillipson (“Language policy and linguistic imperialism”), highlighting the European context, discusses the linguistic inequality that accompanies the growing use of English as a lingua franca.

As an introductory text the book is impressive in its scope and range of topics. Taken as a whole, it provides a balanced picture of the field of language policy, even including multiple perspectives on controversial issues. Every chapter is exceptionally well written, balancing concise and cogent prose with the meticulous treatment of complex subject matter, although a reader highly familiar with social theory will find certain parts rather basic. Making the text further edifying as an introductory reader, each chapter also includes discussion questions, some of which provoke more insight than others, as well as a thoughtfully chosen annotated bibliography. In sum, this book is destined to become a classic that will stand on the bookshelf of every LPP scholar alongside Cooper's (1989) and Kaplan and Baldauf's (1997) seminal texts.