Language policy mechanisms and social practices in multilingual Luxembourg

Taking fluctuations in Luxembourgish language policy as a springboard for discussion, this paper is informed by two interrelated theoretical points that have been flagged in recent language policy scholarship. The first is the move to view language policy as encompassing much more than documents declaring “official” and “national” languages, which is connected to the assertion that language policy is never absent and that it is necessary for scholars to grapple with both explicit and implicit dimensions of policy. Second, a case is made for exploring the dynamics of language policy in a wide range of settings, considering both “top-down” implementations and acts “from below” ranging from compliance to resistance. A close look at the interrelationship between language policy mechanisms and social practices shows that events unfolding at the global and local levels need to be taken into account in addition to those at the level of the state.