LANGUAGE POLICY AND THE PROMOTION OF PEACE, African and European case studies

135pp., paperback, Pretoria, 2014.

A collection of essays that argue for the use and promotion of indigenous, non-hegemonic languages as a means of communication and to preserve multilingual communities. This volume is the outsome of a symposium on Language Policy and the Promotion of Peace or the Prevention of Conflict, held at the University of Osnabrück, Germany, in 2011.

Contributions include:
"Conditions Under Which Language Policy Affects Social Stability" by Neville Alexander
"The Role of Language in the Process of Constructing, Preserving and Reinforcing Peace in Africa" by Etienne Sadembouo and Maurice Tadadjeu
"Language Policy and Identity Conflict in Relation to Afrikaans in the post-apartheid Era" by Jon Orman
"The Language Issue and the Quest for Lasting Peace in Africa: prospects and challenges" by Sozinho Francisco Matsinhe.


Linguist, educationalist, academic and anti-apartheid struggle veteran Neville Alexander, the principal editor of the compilation, was a proponent of a multi-lingual South Africa, and did pioneering work in the field of language policy and planning via organisations such as the National Language Project, the Project for the Study of Alternative Education in Southern Africa (PRAESA), the South African Committee for Higher Education (SACHED) and the LANGTAG process. In 2008 he received the Linguapax Prize in recognition of his contributions to linguistic diversity and multilingual education. He died in August 2012, while working on the book.
Arnulf von Scheliha is Professor of Systematic Theology at the University of Osnabrück.