<div dir="ltr"><br clear="all"><div><h1>Language Barriers: The Politics of Identity in Ukraine, China and Canada</h1>
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<p>The interaction between language and national identity is
rendered particularly complicated, and visible, when a country’s borders
contain more than one native tongue. In such cases, language policy can
be determinant in managing, or exacerbating, political tensions among a
country’s various language groups. Nicolai Petro examines the
deep-seated and unresolved concerns at the heart of Ukraine’s language
divide, and the history behind them. Arienne Dwyer argues that China’s
language policy, in particular the triumph of Mandarin, has become a
vehicle of choice for projecting global soft power. And Jack Jedwab
explains why four decades of efforts toward bilingualism have not
significantly reduced Canada’s language gap.</p>
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<h2>Articles in this feature</h2>
<h3><a href="http://www.worldpoliticsreview.com/articles/13758/ukraine-s-ongoing-struggle-with-its-russian-identity">Ukraine’s Ongoing Struggle With Its Russian Identity</a></h3>
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By <a href="http://www.worldpoliticsreview.com/authors/1116/nicolai-n-petro">Nicolai N. Petro</a>,
May 6, 2014,
<a href="http://www.worldpoliticsreview.com/features/list">Feature</a>
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<p>In Ukraine, language politics is so contentious that
politicians will go to great lengths to deny that the issue even exists.
Ukrainian politicians often say that the issue only comes up during
elections, but the same politicians have also come to blows in
parliament over the issue. To appreciate the deep-seated and unresolved
concerns that lie at the heart of the language issue, we need to look at
who actually uses which language, and the cultural and political
agendas behind one’s choice of language. <a href="http://www.worldpoliticsreview.com/articles/13758/ukraine-s-ongoing-struggle-with-its-russian-identity" class="">more</a></p>
<h3><a href="http://www.worldpoliticsreview.com/articles/13760/china-s-language-policy-goes-global">China’s Language Policy Goes Global</a></h3>
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By <a href="http://www.worldpoliticsreview.com/authors/1117/arienne-m-dwyer">Arienne M. Dwyer</a>,
May 6, 2014,
<a href="http://www.worldpoliticsreview.com/features/list">Feature</a>
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<p>Twenty years ago, the Chinese language was seen by most
outside of China and Taiwan as obscure, possibly nearly unlearnable.
Nowadays, however, Mandarin Chinese language instruction worldwide is
experiencing huge growth. Meanwhile, Mandarin has also eclipsed all
other varieties of Chinese as the premier language of China, even as
ethnic-based flare-ups continue to persist in regions like Tibet and
Xinjiang. In all of these cases, language identity and Chinese language
policy is key to understanding events. <a href="http://www.worldpoliticsreview.com/articles/13760/china-s-language-policy-goes-global" class="">more</a></p>
<h3><a href="http://www.worldpoliticsreview.com/articles/13761/canada-s-enduring-language-divide">Canada’s Enduring Language Divide</a></h3>
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By <a href="http://www.worldpoliticsreview.com/authors/1118/jack-jedwab">Jack Jedwab</a>,
May 6, 2014,
<a href="http://www.worldpoliticsreview.com/features/list">Feature</a>
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In the early 1960s, Canada’s Royal Commission on
Bilingualism and Biculturalism warned that relations between English and
French Canadians had so seriously deteriorated that their will to live
together was in jeopardy. Underlying these concerns were fears about the
future of the French language in the country. Some four decades
following the introduction of Canda's policy of official languages,
however, it would be difficult to contend there has been meaningful
growth in the degree of bilingualism. <br><br><a href="http://www.worldpoliticsreview.com/features/131/language-barriers-the-politics-of-identity-in-ukraine-china-and-canada">http://www.worldpoliticsreview.com/features/131/language-barriers-the-politics-of-identity-in-ukraine-china-and-canada</a><br>
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