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LANGUAGE POLICY IN MULTIETHNIC COUNTRIES
The papers in this thematic volume demonstrate that language policy in the post-Soviet
space and elsewhere reveals a fundamental tension that mirrors global shifts: the
conflict between state efforts to manage national identity and the organic reality of
human communication. While regional nationalization efforts often demonstrate
global patterns of securitization, the actual practices of speakers tell a different
story.
Language policy involves continuous interaction and compromises between
different processes. In reality, multilingualism is not an ‘insecurity’ to be solved,but the normal state of affairs for both individuals and the societies that unite them.
As demonstrated through the theory of social capital and speech accommodation
theory, individuals naturally navigate multiple discourse communities, shifting
between codes to build solidarity and access economic opportunities. Whether in
the hidden multilingualism of Moscow or flourishing of the many languages of New
York, linguistic practices are governed by a multi-scalar logic that transcends topdown
engineering.
By integrating the critical, structural, urban, and ecological approaches, we
move away from deficit models like semilingualism. Instead, we recognize that
society is held together not by a single standardized code, but by the dynamic
interplay of diverse linguistic repertoires. The modern multiethnic countries, with
their centrifugal models of nationalization and their complex urban hybrids, provide
essential data for a world increasingly defined by superdiversity and neoliberal
commodification of language. The studies presented here serve both as a record of
our current multilingual reality and a roadmap for managing the complex ethnic and
linguistic landscapes of the 21st century.
The ten articles in this issue form a scholarly mosaic, sequenced to seamless
transition from overarching theoretical and ideological frameworks to granular
empirical analyses of sociolinguistic cases. The articles directly address the
preceding theoretical issues, bridging the gap between historical legacies and
current trends.
