Language Rights and Political Theory

Language Rights and Political Theory. Edited by Will Kymlicka and Alan Patten. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2003. 368p. $99.00 cloth, $24.95 paper.

Language rights and language policy are significant issues in contemporary politics and have become an important subject for political theorists today. Yet until now, there has been no major work or edited volume dealing with language rights from the standpoint of normative political theory. Will Kymlicka and Alan Patten have put together a volume of essays to remedy this situation. According to the editors of this valuable collection, linguistic diversity has emerged as a major source of controversy in a number of distinct political contexts. In their comprehensive introduction to the topic, and the volume, they identify these contexts as including at least five areas: Eastern Europe, regional languages/minority nationalisms, immigrant integration, European Union/transnational democracy, and indigenous languages/biodiversity. As political theorists in recent years have explored ideas of citizenship, nationhood, multiculturalism, and deliberative democracy, it has become increasingly evident, they say, that political theories often rest on presuppositions about people's language repertoires. It is important that these presuppositions, and their implications, be explored and subjected to critical scrutiny. The aim of this collection is to do precisely this. In the end, it is entirely successful in its ambitions. The chapters are of high quality and deal with issues that are important. Anyone presently interested in working on language rights in political theory should begin here.