1 - Introduction

Summary

The introductory chapter breaks down the main features of what a focus on language policy in action entails. I discuss what recent reconceptualisations of ‘language’ mean for how we understand language policy, arguing in particular for a need to focus on how the exercise of authority in language alters the balance of power in discourse. Language policy is presented as a form of sociocultural practice and broken down into five broad actions: constructing, debating, interpreting, enforcing, resisting. The foundations of the critical approach of the book are also presented.