Languages Of Politics

Now available in its 3rd edition, with new commentary on political psychology and communication in the Trump era, Kling's book could not be any more timely, as Americans--whether as media pundits or conversing at a party--talk past one another with even greater volume, heat, and disinterest in contrary opinions.The Three Languages of Politics it is a book about how we communicate issues and our ideologies, and how language intended to persuade instead divides.

Language is Politics discusses power relations between languages in the world, with a particular focus on English. Even though English is the most widely spoken and the most powerful language worldwide, it is not the lingua franca it is often supposed to be. The basic tenet of this book is that languages do not exist in the natural world; they are artefacts made by humans. The book debunks some common myths about language and it suggests that we should be more modest in our assumptions, for instance concerning the linguistic uniqueness of our own species. The author argues in favour of an ecological or balanced approach to language. This approach sees humans and other animals as part of the larger ecosystems that life depends on. As in nature, diversity is crucial to the survival of languages. The current linguistic ecosystem is out of balance, and this book shows that education can help to restore the balance and cope with the challenges of a multilingual and multicultural world. With an ecological approach to language and a focus on narratives and personal language histories, this will be key reading for researchers and academics, as well as students of English language and linguistics.

Multilingualism is an ever-present feature in political contexts around the world, including multilingual states and international organizations. Increasingly, consequential political decisions are negotiated between politicians who do not share a common native language. Nils Ringe uses the European Union to investigate how politicians’ reliance on shared foreign languages and translation services affects politics and policy-making. Ringe's research illustrates how multilingualism is an inherent and consequential feature of EU politics—that it depoliticizes policy-making by reducing its political nature and potential for conflict. An atmosphere with both foreign language use and a reliance on translation leads to communication that is simple, utilitarian, neutralized, and involves commonly shared phrases and expressions. Policymakers tend to disregard politically charged language and they are constrained in their ability to use vague or ambiguous language to gloss over disagreements by the need for consistency across languages.

Language, this book argues, is political from top to bottom, whether considered at the level of an individual speaker's choice of language or style of discourse with others (where interpersonal politics are performed), or at the level of political rhetoric, or indeed all the way up to the formation of national languages. By bringing together this set of topics and highlighting how they are interrelated, the book will function well as a textbook on any applied or sociolinguistic course in which some or all of these various aspects of the politics of language are covered.

The Languages of Politics/La politique et ses langages provides a multifaceted view of major approaches to the study of political discourse from an interdisciplinary perspective. To date, most contributions to the analysis of political discourse have come from the fields of rhetoric, (critical) discourse analysis, cognitive linguistics, pragmatics, lexicology, lexicography, and, more recently, multimodal discourse analysis. The papers in this volume build their investigations on these perspectives, and provide new and diversified insights into this vast area of research. Besides considering multiple approaches, the book also adds to the current debate on the languages of politics by combining a range of theoretical and methodological considerations, and by featuring contributions in both English and French.

In an increasingly multicultural world, the relationship between language and identity remains a complicated and often fraught subject for most societies. The growing political salience of questions relating to language is evident not only in the expanded implementation of new policies and legislation, but also in heated public debates about national unity, collective identities, and the rights of linguistic minorities. By taking a comprehensive approach that considers both the inclusive and exclusive dimensions of linguistic identity across Europe and North America, the studies assembled here provide a sophisticated look at one of the global era’s defining political dynamics.

The Routledge Handbook of Language and Politics provides a comprehensive overview of this important and dynamic area of study and research. Language is indispensable to initiating, justifying, legitimatising and coordinating action as well as negotiating conflict and, as such, is intrinsically linked to the area of politics. With 45 chapters written by leading scholars from around the world, this Handbook covers the following key areas: Overviews of the most influential theoretical approaches, including Bourdieu, Foucault, Habermas and Marx; Methodological approaches to language and politics, covering – among others – content analysis, conversation analysis, multimodal analysis and narrative analysis; Genres of political action from speech-making and policy to national anthems and billboards; Cutting-edge case studies about hot-topic socio-political phenomena, such as ageing, social class, gendered politics and populism. The Routledge Handbook of Language and Politics is a vibrant survey of this key field and is essential reading for advanced students and researchers studying language and politics.

With nearly 600 cross-referenced entries, The Language of Canadian Politics offers brief essays on the many facets of the Canadian political system, including institutions, events, laws, concepts, and public policies. Concisely written, it is an important resource for people interested in contemporary politics, as well as those interested in the historic context of contemporary political behaviour. Readers not familiar with Canadian government and politics will find the book an invaluable introduction; others will welcome this updated indispensable reference. The fourth edition builds on the strengths of earlier editions. Almost every entry has been revised to reflect contemporary Canadian political events, and many new ones have been added. The results and immediate aftermath of the 2006 federal election are included in various updated entries. There are entries on the merged Progressive Conservative and Canadian Alliance parties as well as new entries on the Anti-Terrorist Act, the Public Safety Act, and the Council of the Federation. The Sponsorship Scandal and the Gomery reports are included in several entries. There is new information on National Security Certificates, and the O’Connor inquiry into the "extraordinary rendition" of Maher Arar comprises part of the revised material on commissions of inquiry. As a further resource, Internet sites have been added to many of the entries.