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1 - The Liberal Tradition in America

A Historical-Institutionalist Approach to US Language Policy

from Part I - Theoretical Orientations

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  18 July 2019

By
Selma K. Sonntag
Edited by
Thomas Ricento
Thomas Ricento
Affiliation:
University of Calgary
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Summary

Using a historical institutionalist approach, I demonstrate how institutionalized norms stemming from the liberal tradition in America have informed its language regime by tracing the path dependency of language policy and the critical junctures when changing norms lead to policy shifts. In the early republic, liberal norms enshrined in the Constitution informed a minimalist language regime. At the turn of the 19th century, norms shifted to reflect rapid industrialization and mass immigration, informing attempts at restrictive language policies. At the critical juncture of the civil rights movement, the monolingual language regime was challenged by new norms of what constituted a liberal democratic society. Neoliberal norms of the Reagan presidency facilitated the success of the English-only movement in changing language policies at the state-level. Neoliberal cosmopolitanism of the new millennium re-introduced minimal multilingual policy initiatives. I conclude by suggesting that Trump’s election represents a shift to nationalist, albeit possibly illiberal, norms.

Keywords

United Stateslanguage policyhistorical institutionalismstate traditionlanguage regimeliberalismnormspath dependencycritical junctures
Type
Chapter
Information
Language Politics and Policies
Perspectives from Canada and the United States
 , pp. 27 - 44
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 2019

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