Cover not available

In:The Politics of Multilingualism: Europeanisation, globalisation and linguistic governance
Edited by Peter A. Kraus and François Grin
[Studies in World Language Problems 6] 2018
► pp. 65–88

Get fulltext from our e-platform
JBE logo with link
PDF logo with download linkDownload Book PDF
EPUB logo with download linkDownload Book EPUB
authorization required

Chapter 4
The impact of mobility and migration on the identity-constructing policy in Brussels

 | Vrije Universiteit Brussel – POLI-BRIO
Published online: 10 September 2018
DOI logo with link
https://doi.org/10.1075/wlp.6.04jan
Abstract
The Belgian model is based upon monolingual territories and the integrative power of the two traditional “imagined communities” of Dutch and French speakers. The institutionalisation of this policy in the 1970 led to a particular political model without a national language, national political parties, national education or national media.
For Brussels, this resulted in a complex model of dual bilingualism with two language communities and a situation of partial power-sharing. Since then, however, Brussels has been subject to a diversified form of migration which has led to the current situation in which half of the population has non-Belgian roots. This results in a highly multilingual and multicultural environment.
However, this identity-constructing policy based upon the two traditional language groups no longer meets the expectations of this diverse population. This chapter focuses on the confrontation between top-down identity-constructing bilingual policy and the framing of the political debate, on the one hand, and the sense of belonging in a multilingual and multicultural setting, on the other.
Article outline
  • 1.Introduction
  • 2.The basis of Belgian language policy: From a personality to a territoriality principle
  • 3.Urban bilingualism according to Brussels standards
  • 4.From bilingual to multilingual Brussels
  • 5.The end of traditional language socialisation
  • 6.Language, identification and political consequences
  • 7.The spearhead function of civil society
  • 8.Conclusions
  • Notes
  • References
References (28)
References
Anderson, Benedict (1991). Imagined Communities: Reflections on the Origin and Spread of Nationalism. London: Verso Books.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Centre for Strategy and Evaluation Services (CSES) (2013). Study on Practices of Integration of Third-Country Nationals at Local and Regional Level in the European Union. Brussels: European Union,.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Clyne, Michael, and Sandra Kipp (1999). Pluricentric Languages in an Immigrant Context: Spanish, Arabic and Chinese. Berlin: Mouton de Gruyter, 1999. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Constanzo, Joseph, and Fatima Zibouh (2014). “Mobilisation Strategies of Individual and Institutional Actors in Brussels’ Artistic and Cultural Scenes”, Identities: Global Studies in Culture and Power, 21 (1): 42–59. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
De Metsenaere, Machteld (1990). “Thuis in gescheiden werelden. De migratoire en sociale aspecten van verfransing te Brussel in het midden van de 19e eeuw”, Revue Belge d’Histoire Contemporaine, 21 (3/4): 383–412.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Dewachter, Wilfried (2001). De mythe van de parlementaire democratie. Een Belgische analyse. Leuven: Acco.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Etats Généraux de Bruxelles (2010). La société civile bruxelloise se mobilise. Bruxelles: Le Cri.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Houben, Marc (2005). International Crisis Management: The Approach of European States. London: Routledge.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Janssens, Rudi (2001). Taalgebruik in Brussel. Taalverhoudingen, taalverschuivingen en taalidentiteit in een meertalige stad, Brusselse Thema’s 8. Brussels: VUBPRESS.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
(2007). Van Brussel gesproken. Taalgebruik, taalverschuivingen en taalidentiteit in het Brussels Hoofdstedelijk Gewest. Brussels: VUBPRESS.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
(2013). Meertaligheid als cement van de stedelijke samenleving. Een analyse van de Brusselse taalsituatie op basis van Taalbarometer 3. Brussels: VUBPRESS.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
(2014a). Le multilinguisme urbain: Le cas de Bruxelles. Brussels: Racine Campus.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
(2014b). Taal en identiteit in de Rand, Een analyse van de taalsituatie in de Rand rond Brussel op basis van de BRIO-Taalbarometer. Brussels: VUBPRESS.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
(2015). “The Brussels’ Language Conflict: Political Mind-set versus Linguistic Practice”, International Journal of the Sociology of Language, 235: 53–76.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Janssens, Rudi, and Joost Vaesen (2015). “In Contact and/or in Conflict? Ethno-cultural Markers, Language and Schooling in Post-war Brussels”, in: C Peersman, Gijsbert Rutten and Rik Vosters (eds), Past, Present and Future of a Language Border: Germanic Romance Encounters in the Low Countries, pp. 255–274. Berlin: Walter de Gruyter. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Javeau, Claude (2016). “Language and Identity Politics in Belgium”, in: Christina Späti (eds), Language and Identity PoliticsLanguage and Identity Politics: A Cross-Atlantic Perspective. New York: Berghahn Books.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Komter, Aafke, Jack Burgers and Godfried Engbersen (2000). Het cement van de samenleving: een verkennende studie over solidariteit en cohesie. Amsterdam: Amsterdam University Press.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
McAndrew, Marie, and Rudi Janssens (2004). “The Role of Schooling in the Maintenance and Transformation of Ethnic Boundaries Between Linguistic Communities: Contrasting Quebec and Belgium”, Canadian Ethnic Studies / Études Ethniques au Canada, 26 (3): 61–83.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Nassaux, Jean-Paul (2011). Le nouveau mouvement bruxellois, Bruxelles: CRISP. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Omoniyi, Tope, and Joshua A. Fishman (eds) (2006). Explorations in the Sociology of Language and Religion. Amsterdam: John Benjamins Publishing Company. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Putnam, Robert (2000). Bowling Alone: The Collapse and Revival of American Community. New York: Simon & Schuster. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Smolicz, Jerzy (1981). “Core Values and Cultural Identity”, Ethnic and Racial Studies, 4 (1): 75–90. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
(1991). “Language Core Values in a Multicultural Setting: An Australian Experience”, International Review of Education, 37 (1): 33–52. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Van Mensel, Luk (2014). “Language Labels, Language Practices. A Multiple Case Study of Parents with Children Enrolled in Dutch-medium Education in Brussels”, Doctoral Dissertation, University of Namur.
Vertovec, Steven, and Susanne Wessendorf (2010). The Multiculturalism Backlash: European Discourses, Policies and Practices. Abingdon: Routledge. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Witte, Els (2009). Political History of Belgium. Brussels: VUBPRESS.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Witte, Els, and Harry Van Velthoven (1999). Language and Politics: The Belgian Case Study in a Historical Perspective. Brussels: VUBPRESS.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
(2011). Languages in Contact and in Conflict. The Belgian Case. Kalmthout: Pelckmans.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Cited by (7)

Cited by seven other publications

Blanckaert, Benjamin
2025. Crossing the Rubicon: Strategies and Motivations behind Cross-ethnolinguistic Vote-seeking in the Brussels Capital Region. Ethnopolitics 24:4 ► pp. 382 ff. DOI logo
Blanckaert, Benjamin, Silvia Erzeel & Didier Caluwaerts
2025. Why Do Voters Vote for ‘the Other Side’? Instrumental and Expressive Motives for Cross‐Ethnolinguistic Voting in Brussels. Nations and Nationalism DOI logo
Kraus, Peter A. & Margaret Manale
2025. Adieu à la diversité : comment la technocratie détermine la politique linguistique de l’Union européenne. L'Homme & la Société n° 221:2 ► pp. 75 ff. DOI logo
Blanckaert, Benjamin & Didier Caluwaerts
2023. Do birds of a feather flock together? Patterns of ethnolinguistic group representation in the Brussels Capital Region. Swiss Political Science Review 29:4 ► pp. 379 ff. DOI logo
Blanckaert, Benjamin & Didier Caluwaerts
2024. Out of Many, One? Exploring Ethnolinguistic Identity Appeals in the Brussels Capital Region. Publius: The Journal of Federalism 54:4 ► pp. 683 ff. DOI logo
Garibova, Jala
2022. The Azerbaijani Diaspora in Turkey: Integration, Reintegration, and the Production of Identity. Nationalities Papers 50:4 ► pp. 770 ff. DOI logo
Schutter, Helder De
2021. Personality and territoriality in theory and in Belgium. Language Problems and Language Planning 45:2 ► pp. 218 ff. DOI logo

This list is based on CrossRef data as of 24 november 2025. Please note that it may not be complete. Sources presented here have been supplied by the respective publishers. Any errors therein should be reported to them.

Mobile Menu Logo with link to supplementary files background Layer 1 prag Twitter_Logo_Blue