Languages and borders

It is both widely agreed and frequently observed that the borders of nation states and languages do not match. This seemingly straightforward claim is sometimes made to celebrate and valorize linguistic diversity within a state, or to critique the fantasy of the linguistically homogeneous nation state where linguistic and political borders seamlessly align. What this claim leaves unexamined, however, is language borders themselves. It takes language borders to be precisely what they are not: natural, apolitical, and uncontested.

This book examines where, how, and by whom linguistic borders are drawn. It looks at how language borders interact with other borders, particularly state borders, and how these interactions impact people's lives. In particular, we examine the negative effects that language borders produce as a form of structural violence (Galtung, 1969; Farmer, 2004).

This focus on borders, particularly state borders, as sites of violence, has become particularly pronounced in recent years, in the context of rising populism and exclusionary nationalism, as well as numerous border crises around the world: the 2015 European migrant crisis; Brexit and the looming border with Northern Ireland; the ongoing tragedies and travesties of Australian border ‘protection’; the persecution of Rohingya in Myanmar and their flight across the border to Bangladesh and India; the detention camps on the US-Mexico border; border conflicts between India and China cross the Himalaya; and ongoing efforts to parse citizens and foreigners in India, to name but a few.