The status of English as a global language is deeply divisive and hotly contested. The Local Politics of Global English analyzes linguistic globalization in five countries that differ greatly in both their degree of global integration and their use of English. By drawing on the work of language scholars and the growing field of globalization studies, the author provides a revealing portrait of how politicians, activists, scholars and policy-makers in the United States, France, India, South Africa, and Nepal are debating the questions that plague local controversies over global English. Concepts of hegemony and resistance, elites and subalterns, and liberalization and democratization are incorporated into case studies that provide insight into the politics of linguistic globalization from above and from below. Of interest to students of politics and culture, as well as teachers and learners of language, The Local Politics of Global English is a detailed examination of a timely and controversial topic.

By Selma K. Sonntag

Chapter 1 Introduction: What is Global English?
Chapter 2 Globalization and the Politics of Language
Chapter 3 Language Politics in the United States: Projecting a Global Vision?
Chapter 4 Language Politics in France, or How Do You Say "Junk Food" in Breton?
Chapter 5 Subaltern Language Politics in India
Chapter 6 Language Politics in Democratic Transitions: Comparing South Africa and Nepal
Chapter 7 Understanding Linguistic Globalization