<div dir="ltr"><h2 class="">New by Arnulf von Scheliha and the Late Neville Alexander: <i>Language Policy and the Promotion of Peace</i></h2>
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by Linette on Nov 19th, 2014
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<p><a href="http://bookslive.co.za/bookfinder/ean/9781868887491"><img src="http://i.imgur.com/Pnj7k5f.png" alt="Language policy and the promotion of peace" height="100" align="left"></a><i>Unisa Press presents <a href="http://bookslive.co.za/bookfinder/ean/9781868887491">Language policy and the promotion of peace: African and European case studies</a>, edited by Arnulf von Scheliha and the late Neville Alexander:</i></p>
<p>This book brings together the contributions of 12 scholars engaged in
language activism, in research and in promoting peace. The writers are
keenly attuned to the potentially genocidal consequences of language
differences. In the articles they have written, they make compelling
cases for indigenous non-hegemonic languages to be used and promoted,
not only as a means of communication but to preserve the multilingual
communities inhabiting the world. The book is a product of a collegial
effort resulting from a symposium on Language Policy and the Promotion
of Peace or the Prevention of Conflict, which was held at the <a href="http://www.uni-osnabrueck.de/en/home.html" target="_blank">University of Osnabrück</a>, Germany, in 2011.</p>
<p>While many different “angles of vision”, positions, approaches and
emphases are argued in the contributors’ commentaries and in their case
studies, the 12 scholars and activists are united in their call for a
multilingual global habitus. Alexander, the principal editor of this
compilation, spent about 30 years studying and making policy proposals
about the language question in South Africa. 11 languages are officially
recognised by the post-apartheid government, and yet only two, English
and Afrikaans, enjoy high-status functions in official communications.
Alexander persistently called for mother-tongue instruction for children
in their formative years of schooling. Sadly, this radical scholar and
acknowledged sociologist of language <a href="http://bookslive.co.za/blog/2012/08/27/neville-alexander-rip/" target="_blank">died of lung cancer while he was working on this volume in 2012</a>.</p>
<p>Co-editor Von Scheliha is professor of Systematic Theology at the
University of Osnabrück. His main research topics are political ethics,
interreligious hermeneutics, history of theology, and transformation of
religion in pluralistic societies. He was the main organiser of the
symposium that brought international scholars together to reflect on
language policy and the promotion of peace, and that provided the
wide-ranging “raw material” for this book.</p>
<p><u>About the editors</u></p>
<p><b>Neville Edward Alexander</b> (22 October 1936 – 27 August 2012)
was a major proponent of linguistic diversity and multilingualism. After
his release in 1974 from political imprisonment on <a href="http://www.robben-island.org.za/" target="_blank">Robben Island</a>,
he carried out pioneering work in the field of language policy and
planning in South Africa, contributing to the National Language Project,
and becoming founder and director of the <a href="http://www.praesa.org.za/" target="_blank">Project for the Study of Alternative Education in South Africa</a>
(PRAESA). In 1981, he was appointed Director of the South African
Committee for Higher Education (SACHED) in Cape Town. He also made an
influential contribution to the Language Plan Task Group (LANGTAG)
process instituted in 1996. His prolific research output on language and
education issues in South Africa is reflected in various academic
journals and books. He has also written on socialism, and in 2003
published <i>An ordinary country: Issues in the transition from apartheid to democracy in South Africa</i>. In 2003, he was co-chair of the steering committee set up under the auspices of the <a href="http://www.au.int/en/" target="_blank">African Union</a> to found the <a href="http://www.acalan.org/" target="_blank">African Academy of Languages</a>
(ACALAN) as the official language policy and planning agency of the
African Union; he afterwards served as a member on the board of ACALAN.
In 2004, he cochaired another steering committee for the Implementation
of the Language Plan of Action for Africa (ILPAA) in Yaoundé, Cameroon,
with the goal of establishing a frame of reference for the assessment of
government interventions in language infrastructure. In South Africa,
he was awarded the <a href="http://www.westerncape.gov.za/provincial-honours/order-of-the-disa" target="_blank">Order of the Disa</a>
in 2004 in recognition of his long-term commitment to socio-political
issues and education. In Barcelona in 2008, he won the Linguapax Prize
for his contribution to linguistic diversity and multilingual education
over more than 20 years.</p>
<p><b>Arnulf von Scheliha</b> was born in 1961. Since 2003, he has been a
full professor for Systematic Theology (Philosophy of Religion,
Dogmatics, Ethics) at the Institute for Protestant Theology, University
of Osnabrück, Germany. He is the scientific coordinator for the
programme Visiting Chair for Peace and Global Justice and is a member of
the board of the interdisciplinary Zentrum für Demokratie- und
Friedenforschung (ZeDF) (Centre for Democracy and Peace Research) at the
University of Osnabrück. His main research topics are political ethics
(especially normative fundaments, European religious culture and ethics
of peace), moral problems of modern lifestyle, interreligious
hermeneutics (especially the relations between Christianity, Judaism and
Islam), History of Theology in the 19th and 20th century in
consideration of social history and the history of ideas and the
transformation of religion in pluralistic societies.</p>
<p><u>Book details</u></p>
<ul><li><i>Language policy and the promotion of peace: African and European case studies</i> edited by Neville Alexander and Arnulf von Scheliha<br>
<a href="http://www.unisa.ac.za/default.asp?Cmd=ViewContent&ContentID=97192">Book homepage</a><br>
EAN: 9781868887491<br>
<b><a href="http://bookslive.co.za/bookfinder/ean/9781868887491">Find this book with BOOK Finder!</a></b>
</li></ul><p><a href="http://unisapress.bookslive.co.za/blog/2014/11/19/new-by-arnulf-von-scheliha-and-the-late-neville-alexander-language-policy-and-the-promotion-of-peace/">http://unisapress.bookslive.co.za/blog/2014/11/19/new-by-arnulf-von-scheliha-and-the-late-neville-alexander-language-policy-and-the-promotion-of-peace/</a><br></p><br clear="all"><br>-- <br><div class="gmail_signature">**************************************<br>N.b.: Listing on the lgpolicy-list is merely intended as a service to its members<br>and implies neither approval, confirmation nor agreement by the owner or sponsor of the list as to the veracity of a message's contents. Members who disagree with a message are encouraged to post a rebuttal, and to write directly to the original sender of any offensive message. A copy of this may be forwarded to this list as well. (H. Schiffman, Moderator)<br><br>For more information about the lgpolicy-list, go to <a href="https://groups.sas.upenn.edu/mailman/">https://groups.sas.upenn.edu/mailman/</a><br>listinfo/lgpolicy-list<br>*******************************************</div>
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